SD card classes, what are '4' '6' and 10 etc.

sebastianj

I have seen SD cards as class 4, 6 and 10. Does any one know what is the difference between them.
thanking you all,
kind regards
sebastian

spannerzone

It's the read and write speeds, so the higher the number the more data it can read or write.... basically if you have a basic digital camera it won't really matter but if it's a camcorder or camaera that can record HD movies then you want a faster card to be able to cope with the higher amount of data that's going to be recorded to the card.

If you had a class 4 SD card and tried to record HD movies then the card might not be capable and so you'd end up with missing frames of data and could get jumpy video or such like.

More here

DCFC79

The higher the number the better the card is at read/write so i believe.

sebastianj

Spannerzone, thank you very much, there are so many new makes on the market, is it worth trying an unknown one.
sebastian

DCFC79

sebastianj wrote: »

Spannerzone, thank you very much, there are so many new makes on the market, is it worth trying an unknown one.
sebastian

Id go for well known makes, the ones ive used are samsung,

Rochdale_Guy

Don't forget some newer SD cards are labelled SD-HC, and won't work in older digital camera's.

spannerzone

I'd only use brand names AND buy from reputable retailers as there are MANY faked SD cards on Ebay and elsewhere, even Ebayers selling the cards don't know they're selling fakes in many cases!

The trouble with the fakes is that apparently they show as the correct size, eg 8GB but when you take pics or record video it just keeps writing, and writing, and it won't tell you when it's full and because the real size is say 1GB then it writes over the already saved data or trashes the data!!

sebastianj

thanks a lot for very valuable comments, now i know why branded ones are so expensive. thanks again,
sebastian

Peter999_2

Hi,

The ratings are just about the write speed of the cards:

Class Speed
Class 2 2MB/s
Class 4 4MB/s
Class 6 6MB/s
Class 10 10MB/s

Pete

Lifeforms

I have to agree with those above. Class 10 is a tad extreme to be fair, and most camera manuals will now say what is good for the camera. Class 6 or 8 is usually more than fine with the majority of cameras out there. When you get into the Extreme range of cards from Sandisk, then they're supposed to write faster than even class 10. Idk if that's the case or not. It is also dependent on the device itself, as can it even write as fast as your card can cope with?

Only buy branded, and by branded I'd say Samsung, Sandisk, Kingston, Lexar, Transcend (because of their warranty. But remember it's dodgy cards covered, not loss of pictures etc)

As per my preference, I only use Sandisk AND only buy from reputable places. Amazon itself (not marketplace), Occasionally play if it's exceptionally cheap, any high street stores, argos, tescos, currys etc (not the little corner shop owned by Fred from down the avenue) that have them on offer/sale. Because in store prices are stupidly priced over internet prices from reputable places.
Anywhere else and you're likely to get counterfeit goods.

sebastianj

thank you Peter999 for the spec, I am sure it will help many others.
Lifeform thanks for the explanation.
thank you again,
sebastian