SD card differences?

[PeterAit]

I see 32 GB class 10 SDHC cards for prices ranging from $45 (Transcend) to $99 (SanDisk). Given that both - at least in theory - conform to the same capacity and speed specifications, why such a price difference?

[PierreVandevenne]

Mostly brand name. I've never seen any real world significant performance difference between reasonable brands (sandisk/lexar/kingston/transcend....) equivalent cards. That may depend a bit on the brand of camera/video/card reader equipment you use, but I have never observed mor than a 10% difference, with Kingston usually the fastest on my rig.

[Rhossydd]

why such a price difference?

There's a little more to the spec. than just write speed and capacity. The high end cards often handle low temperatures better, which may be an issue for some. Also their working life may be longer. You sometimes also get additional value with high end cards too (Not sure if it's the same with SD, but the better SanDisk CF cards come with a data recovery program that works well if you accidentally delete images). Plus you get meaningful guarantees from the big manufacturers.

Also beware of dirt cheap cards of any brand from auction sites etc., there are a lot of fakes out there that won't even format to their claimed capacity.

Given how much you need to trust memory cards, worrying about $50 difference in the context of your overall investment in kit seems futile. The difference is usual now less than you'd pay for film for a shoot.

[PierreVandevenne]

Correct. But assuming the most expensive card is always the best isn't always true. Far from it.

Since 2004, the situation has improved a lot, but have a look at this.

http://www.datarescue.com/laboratory/cfcompare/index.htm

The poorly build card was about 4 times the price of the well build one.

[Rhossydd]

2004...........
The poorly build card was about 4 times the price of the well build one.

It doesn't give any price comparisons on that web page.
2004 was also a long time ago in the history of memory cards, who'd ever buy a 256mb card now ?

[Steve Weldon]

I see 32 GB class 10 SDHC cards for prices ranging from $45 (Transcend) to $99 (SanDisk). Given that both - at least in theory - conform to the same capacity and speed specifications, why such a price difference?

It is confusing.  In some cases there is very little difference, in some there's a lot.  The trick is in knowing which one is which.

This can be eased by trusting a high-end manufacturer with a good reputation, or by doing a bunch of research until you're otherwise satisfied.  Paying the price for a high-end card like Sandisk 'can' be more cost effective than spending time doing the research.. and depending on whether or not photography is a hobby or a profession the cost of making a wrong choice can be rather high.

It's about more than speed.  It's about compatibility of the embedded controllers, factory support, environmental operating specifications, build quality, and peace of mind.

IMO Transcend is not a brand I would consider.  Their physical construction is weak/cheap. 

[John.Murray]

Another thing to look for is compatibility; the higher end Sandisk cards have often relied on proprietary on card controllers requiring device driver software to be installed on the host.  If you stick with that and don't mind the potential issues with other USB devices, or operating patches / upgrades, or other applications that rely on USB connectivity - you should have no problem   As you might guess, I'm not a big fan of Sandisk......

[Rhossydd]

the higher end Sandisk cards have often relied on proprietary on card controllers requiring device driver software to be installed on the host. 

Never come across that myself despite owning very many SanDisk cards since the early days of digital photography. care to give an example of what you're referring to ?

As you might guess, I'm not a big fan of Sandisk......

That must be a small club you're in, in my experience SanDisk is the most widely compatible and respected card manufacturer.

[John.Murray]

http://sandisk.com/sandisk-support/driver-download-wizard

My point here is you will not get published performance from a sandisk device *unless* you install their software.  Why is this a problem?  Because every USB device on your computer will now have to pass through Sandisk's device driver - unacceptable - at least to me....

There are plenty of cards that don't require any device driver support - that offer better performance.  I've personally had good results with Lexar

[Rhossydd]

you will not get published performance from a sandisk device *unless* you install their software. 

None of that is needed for their memory cards.
Go read that list; it's all for card reader hardware devices, MP3 players, WiFi cards and non-standard USB sticks.

This thread is about SDHC memory CARDS, SanDisk cards need no special drivers to be used.

[PierreVandevenne]

It doesn't give any price comparisons on that web page.
2004 was also a long time ago in the history of memory cards, who'd ever buy a 256mb card now ?

Since I wrote that page after working with tons of failed cards at the hardware level, you'll have to trust me on the pricing issue. Any reasonably astute observer has enough information in the picture anyway.
Yes, 2004 was a long time ago and I wrote that the situation has improved a lot since then.
My point is: the patronizing attitude of saying "what's $50 if your work is important" only makes sense if it is grounded in reality or backed up by evidence. The good news is that current cards of major brands are of good build quality and offer similar performance. The bad news is that there is no reliable way to tell which cards will have overheating controllers, firmware issues etc. And price certainly isn't an indicator.

[Rhossydd]

the patronizing attitude of saying "what's $50 if your work is important" only makes sense if it is grounded in reality or backed up by evidence.
...........................
And price certainly isn't an indicator.

That's not been the experience of mine nor any of the people I know who use memory cards. It's also very rare to read of people having difficulties with the two top brands of cards, and SanDisk* generally seems to have had less reported problems than Lexar WRT compatibility.

I'm not convinced at all my the argument that price isn't an indicator. Dirt cheap cards are far more likely to be problematic, than genuine top brand cards.


*The only issue I've read of with SanDisk cards is the recent spate of them being 'bricked' by the Leica M9.

[PierreVandevenne]

Clearly, your experience of card failures is at the level of my experience with pro video.  

But you have at least read this

http://www.gillavi.com/blog/leica/leica-m9-sandisk-failure/

Great. Kind of illustrates the point I was making. Besides, Leica and Sandisk obviously are in full control, aren't they? It would be funny if people weren't losing valuable stuff.

Leica puts the blame on bad cards and suggests the S2, which "doesn't have this problem" (does that mean that the S2 works fine with "bad" cards?). Sandisk blames a bad batch and exchange cards for new ones that show the exact same issue. Does that mean that Sandisk knowingly ships bad cards and doesn't recall them or does that mean that Sandisk doesn't understand the firmware issue Leica has?

The answers are left as an exercise for the buyer, at his expense.
 
Still, Sandisk is a good brand, but you should definitely read more: these type of incidents happen on a regular basis Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Lexar, Sandisk etc... have all had incompatibilities. Samsung shipped a defective controller with its 512MB generation. Etc...

And try to open a few cards, then you'll realize quite a few different brands, priced at very different levels, are the exact same reference design (Samsung being the most frequent, but the other big names license controllers, designs and mem chips as well).