SDHC Class??

[pkilway01]

I recently purchased a new Samsung HMX-H100 digital camcorder. The Best Buy salesman told me I should purchase a SDHC class 4 or higher card to use in this camcorder. Reading the owners manual Samsung recommends a SDHC class 6 or higher card.

I was a bit confused as I didn't know that SDHC cards had classes to them, and am now confused about which class card to use.

Is the difference between Class 4 and Class 6 a big difference?

Anyone able to help me out? I just need to know if I'm going to need to return/exchange the 32Gb SDHC Class 4 card I purchased from Newegg.com.

 

[Kaido]

Class 6 is faster. I'd recommend Class 6 for shooting video and for dSLR cameras.

 

[akshatp]

Its all very confusing. Sandisk makes Ultra II cards labeled Class 2, but are actually Class 4 (or sometimes higher) in reality.

I use them in my Xsi and my HF200 and both shoot just as well as when I use my Class 6 Extreme III Sandisk card. I spent about two hours testing and comparing the two cards... The Extreme III was only better in transfer time to my computer (i.e. sustained read)

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: akshatp
Its all very confusing. Sandisk makes Ultra II cards labeled Class 2, but are actually Class 4 (or sometimes higher) in reality.

I use them in my Xsi and my HF200 and both shoot just as well as when I use my Class 6 Extreme III Sandisk card. I spent about two hours testing and comparing the two cards... The Extreme III was only better in transfer time to my computer (i.e. sustained read)

Yup. Poorly implemented standards ftl.

 

[Sahakiel]

If I remember correctly, the SDHC cards are rated by Class based on their minimum write speeds. They usually perform somewhat better than the rated class due to manufacturing variance. Generally speaking, it's just an easy way to market cards to consumers with a single speed rating. If you really care about read/write speeds, I suggest looking up tech docs or reviews.

 

[arrfep]

I've shot plenty of 720p on a Canon T1i with Class 4 cards, and never had a problem. One is a PNY 4GB and the other is a Lexar 8GB.