Best/good memory card for Nikon DSLR cameras, D7000 or other
 

I would like to get a good memory card that would work for a Nikon DSLR, the d7000 or other. I also have a Panasonic point & shoot camera that uses SD cards as well. I notice they come in different classes, the manual to my Panasonic advises to use class 6 or higher for shooting video, & would like to know if this would also work with a Nikon DSLR camera. What I am doing is getting a card for both my Panasonic that will work, & I will have one for when I eventually get a Nikon DSLR, as I notice the kits & bodies do not come with one.

I would like one that is modern & fairly fast but under $50.00.

I notice SD cards come in SDHC & SDXC which would be best to use in either my Panasonic or a Nikon DSLR camera?

Right now I am using a 4 gb class 4 SDHC memory SD card in my Panasonic point & shoot.

The larger the card, the slower it operates. If I were you, I'd opt for a Class 6 SDHC card. It's a fast card, and is still a pretty universal format (SDHC). I would not really go for the SDXC cards, because those have compatibility issues with devices and computers both. The reason for SDXC was to create larger discs, not necessarily faster ones. You can hold a lot of content on a 8GB card, even if you're shooting RAW and taking a lot of video.

Video is also not necessarily the space gobbler that some make it out to be. I use a really slow 16GB CF card on my camera, for shooting 720p video -- and I have zero problems doing so. Quite a bit of video fits on the card.

The most important issue, in my opinion, is the brand of card. Go with a reliable company that has made themselves a name in flash storage or memory. These would included Sandisk, Lexer, Kingston, Transcend and PNY. As far as pricing goes, all of my memory cards from Amazon right now, and cards in this size/class are around $15-20 each, with free shipping.

Buy from Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.ht...reative=390957

As much as I like Meritline and SUpermediastore for blank media, they tend to carry a lot of second-rate brands (Ritek/Ridata, PQI, Adata) and no-names (EasyStore) for only marginally lower prices, often without free shipping. And then the better grade cards, what few they carry, tend to be higher prices that Amazon. B&H and Adorama carry good cards, too, but are not offering free shipping.

If you're reading elsewhere online, realize most of the "Class 6 isn't fast enough" rhetoric, as it involves HD video shooting, is due to the use of crappy (or defective/overused) cards. Class 4 is a bit too slow, but you also do not require costly Class 10 cards -- that's just overkill, and not a wise use of your available funds.

Buy two 8GB cards, and see how it goes. That will run about $30 for a pair of Transcends from Amazon. If after using your camera for a while you decide that you need more, buy another pair of cards. I use the same logic for batteries, FYI. If you find yourself always needing another battery, buy another one at that time. There's no reason to buy a bunch of things you don't really need up front -- especially when you can buy them later one with no penalty.

It seems your Panasonic book gets at least one thing accurate!

After I was linked to the transcend class 6 8gb sd cards, I saw this;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B003VNKNEG

Should I have bought a pair of these instead? I just received the class 6 8gb cards today.

would the class 10 be much better than the class 6? for a DSLR for HD video recording on a DSLR? or my Panasonic point & shoot? would it be worth it to try & return or exchange the class 6's for the class 10's? or should I get a class 10 & see how it compares to the class 6?

If you want to buy another one, purely for video shooting needs, it won't hurt. The Class 6 cards will easily handle all photographs, and I would think it works fine to handle video capture, as well.

Most of the "speed" of a card is in transferring files from the card to the computer -- not the internal functions of the camera. As was mentioned above, even a dreadfully slow cheap knock-off CF card is perfectly capable of recording 720p/24 video without a single hiccup. A Class 6 SDHC should still be perfectly fine for 1080p/24 video from the D7000.

The Class 10 is honestly more for bragging right, camera buffer write speed with still images, and computer transfers.

I would certainly not return the Class 6 cards -- you'd lose several dollars on the return shipping, making it a loss overall. The $14 cost of a Class 10 card is peanuts compared to all the other costs of owning cameras. That's even lower priced that CompactFlash cards.

for the class 10 card & video purposes & the card I linked to, which would be best? the transcend 8gb card or the 16 gb card?

The larger the card, the slower it tends to be when transferring data to the computer. I'm not a big fan of using cards larger than 8GB. It's rather own a handful of smaller 8GB cards, as opposed to a single 16GB or even 32GB card. My opinion may change in the future, in coming years, but that's where I stand on the issue right now.

Then again, that's my thoughts on photo.

For video only, you may do better with a larger 16GB card. Less hassle to change when shooting, and video data makes a card get full far faster than still images.

So would I be best getting 1 of the transcend 8gb calss 10 card, & 1 of this card in 16 gb?

I was thinking of using the dual sots that the nikon d7000 has for 2 sd cards of the same size, & use one as a backup to the other. Or would it be better to shoot video on one & photo on the other?

This is what I do:

• When shooting photos only, two 8GB cards for mirroring
• When shooting photos + videos, the 8GB card for photos (unmirrored), and then 16GB for videos. The spare 8GB card be used as needed, either as overflow for more photos, or for more videos. Not too worried about lack of dupes for photos here, as keeping videos and photos on separate cards is more important to me.

... and I suggest you do the same. :)

which class card? 6 or 10? & 8gb or 16 gb should I use with my Panasonic point & shoot camera? it has only one card slot, & I shoot video & photo with it.

so far now, I have the 2 class 6 8gb transcend SDHC cards.

Two photo cards = Class 6 8GB SDHC
One video card = Class 10 16GB SDHC

That should be fine. So just add the Class 10 card if you want, and you'll be fine.
It's less than $15 shipped at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B003VNKNEG

Brand of the card tends to be more important than Class 6 vs Class 10.
Getting Transcend cards is a wise choice -- that really matters more than anything else.

from Wikipedia (and this information is accurate):
Note the word "minimum" -- better cards could work faster or better. And not all manufacturers use equal-grade materials, workmanship and product quality control. Hence the need to buy from better known quality brands, like Sandisk, Lexar or Transcend.

Using Class 6 for video will be fine. But just to be safe, you can get a Class 10 for your own piece of mind.
Class 6 for photography is plenty fast -- Class 10 would just be overkill.

There is also anecdotal evidence that sometimes Class 10 cards won't work on older devices. This is probably not very common, and then your new D7000 would most definitely be fine with Class 10 cards seeing as how it's a new body.

I think you're overthinking this a bit.

Just as an update to this...

It's been proven several times in 2011 that Class 6 and Class 10 have very little -- if any -- realistic differences in speed to the device in use, or even in transfer to/from a computer.

Prices also seem to have leveled a bit, between Class6 and Class 10.

So advice remains unchanged:
1. Class 6 for photo
2. Class 10 for video -- not that it would necessarily make a big difference, but could in theory

8GB Class 10 less than $15 shipped at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B003VNKNEG
8GB Class 6 cards for about $1 less than the Class 10: http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.ht...reative=390957

Now 16GB Class6 and Class 10 are exactly double the price of 8GB cards:
SDHC 16GB card deals at http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.ht...reative=390957

Again... Only buy Transcend, Kingston, Lexar, or SanDisk, and maybe PNY.
Avoid low cost no-name or budget brands.

Just wanted to share recent observations. :)