Which brand of SD card should you buy? Does brand even make any difference? What's the ideal size should you buy? Is a big card better than having SD cards? Should I really be bother about the speed? This article will help you find the best SD card for camera.
You can easily replace camera itself, especially if they're insured. But the pictures you took from your adventure in Africa, food trip in Thailand, or tour in Cuba cannot be replaced.
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Rank | Image | Product Name | Our Rating | |
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2 |  | 97
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3 |  | 95
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4 |  | 93
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5 |  | 90
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**Below, you'll find more detailed reviews, but you can also click links above to check current prices and read customer's reviews on Amazon.
Top 5 Best SD Card for Camera
Secure Digital Cards or simply known as SD Cards, are the most commonly used memory card for cameras. It's because this type of memory card is an extremely versatile form of a card, as you can use it by other gadgets like smartphones, video cameras, or even video gaming systems.
Micro SD memory cards are commonly used these days, as it offers an even smaller size for you to use in the small mobile phones available in the market today.
Buying the Compatible SD Card
When talking about microSD cards, the form factor should be the first thing to consider. Every microSD card fits into every microSD card slot, but it does not mean it's going to work. There are three different SD card formats and standards, which define their compatibility.
The three formats, which you might possibly familiar about already are SD, SDXC, or SDHC. Every format is seen in the SD description, but they do not work similarly.
Because of this, the formats aren't backward well-matched, and you can't use newer cards in hardware which only supports the older formats.
There are big differences between three different formats:
- MicroSD: This has a capacity up to 2GB, which is suitable in any microSD slot.
- MicroSDXC: This a capacity of over 32GB and goes up to 2TB, and only is suitable for devices that can support the SDXC.
- MicroSDHC: This has a capacity of over 2GB and goes up to 32GB, and could be used in hardware that can supports either SDXC or SDHC.
On top of checking that the format of the card is suitable for your hardware, you have to check some other details, as well.
Card Sizes: One Large Card vs. Multiple Small Cards
The storage capacity of your memory card is another important thing you have to consider. Consider what type of photographer you are and the lifestyle you have. If you like taking a lot of photos, hoping for you to get a couple of good pics in them, then it's best for you to take one that has a big memory.
The size of card space you that you need should depend on what format you normally shoot (RAW files are normally bigger than JPEG format files,) and the number of shots you'll possibly take between getting to a computer to delete and backup your cards. Whenever I travel, I normally bring my laptop with me so I can easily backup them and clear my card.
There are still undergoing debates if buying one big-sized card is better or buying multiple small SD cards would be a better choice. The argument they apply for smaller cards is that when the card breaks or you accidentally wet your camera, you will lose fewer photos.
On the other hand, they say that it is less likely for the bigger sized cards to fail and they are mainly recoverable. You also have a bigger risk of dropping a card, sitting on it, getting it wet, losing it, deleting it accidentally, leaving it somewhere, and other things that you may not want to happen.
Speed Factor
When buying SD cards, one of the top considerations is the speed factor. Memory cards normally have speed ratings which have to be shown prominently on the card along with on the packaging. You have to ensure that these details are indicated and make sure that the staffs from the store you are buying your SD card from are knowledgeable about this.
Why knowing the speed is important? Well, because it is important when you decide to take successive photos. When you use a high-speed memory card, the photos are saved quickly and you are able to take as many photos as you would like without being worried about by the slowness of the card and the camera.
Speed Class
SD cards normally have the speed class number. The Speed Class indicated the minimum write speed of your memory card in megabytes per second or MBps. Take note that there are four different Speed Classes that are defined as follows:
- Class 2: At least 2MBps
- Class 4: At least 4MBps
- Class 6: At least 6MBps
- Class 10: At least 10MBps
Indicating the base level performance is helpful in identifying whether the SD card is appropriate for a particular task, but since it doesn't comment on its max speeds, it is precisely possible for a Class 2 card to be faster than a memory card which indicated Class 6. Class 10, on the other hand, has to be remarkably faster, though, as these cards carry a bus speed of 25 MBps.
Whether you have ejected your SD card while the camera was still writing or reading by accident, formatted or deleted the card when you shouldn't, or your card suddenly face an error, it is normally possible to retrieve them again, if not every data gas been cleared off.
There are SD cards just like SanDisk which comes with its own data recovery software packages. The one of SanDisk is known as RescuePro. This is known to be extremely effective. Another possible solution is known PhotoRescue is also broadly used and supposedly better than RescuePro offerings.
Beware of Fake Cards
Obviously, you'd want to avoid fake SD cards, but unfortunately, purchasing and selling fake memory cards are extremely easy.
If you find a very cheap branded SD cards from an untrustworthy seller, then there's a big possibility that it may be fake. Actually, a couple of years ago, a SanDisk engineer allegedly said that ½ SanDisk cards available in the markets were counterfeit.
Fake SD cards are formed to report the capacity that's written on the packaging, but essentially have far less. You would not notice this until the card fills up suddenly rapidly.
You can use software utilities like H2testw for Windows, or F3 for Linux or Mac in order to check if your SD cards are fake or not.
Top 5 Best SD Card for Camera
There are a lot of things to consider when buying an SD card, but when you get more understanding about specs, speed, and other important aspects, it gets much easier to find the best SD card for camera.
As a rule of thumb, make sure to buy a card ideal for a particular task. Through this, you are able to assure the best mixture of capacity and speed for your hardware to provide you with the best possible total performance.
To help you narrow down your choices, here is our list of top 5 best SD card for camera:
Via Amazon.com
This 32GB SDHC Memory Card Class 4 from SanDisk is an extremely protected stamp-sized SD memory card that you can use in different digital products which include mobile phones, digital music players, tablet PC, smartphones, digital video camcorders, and of course, digital cameras. SanDisk 32GB Class 4 SDHC Memory Card features a 15MB/s write speed and also has a security feature to protect your copyrighted data.
This 32GB SDHC Memory Card Class 4 from SanDisk is an extremely protected stamp-sized SD memory card that you can use in different digital products which include mobile phones, digital music players, tablet PC, smartphones, digital video camcorders, and of course, digital cameras. SanDisk 32GB Class 4 SDHC Memory Card features a 15MB/s write speed and also has a security feature to protect your copyrighted data.
98
/100
Editor's Rating: 98/100
Price On Amazon: from $12.99
Pros
Cons
Via Amazon.com
Transcend 32 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card has a maximum reading speed of 60MB/s and a maximum writing speed of 25MB/s, with a minimum transfer speed of 10MB/s. It is suitable for devices that contain SDXC and SDHC slots. This Class 10 SDHC card provides you with simple plug-and-play function, along with inbuilt ECC to detect and fix if ever a transfer error occurs.
This SD card is so versatile and it offers outstanding multi-platform suitability for SDXC and SDHC devices. When you pair it with a high-speed card reader, its UHS-I cards offer ultra-fast file transfer between computer and card at up to 85MB/s and 70MB/s correspondingly.
97
/100
Editor's Rating: 97/100
Price On Amazon: from $11.66
Pros
Cons
Via Amazon.com
The SanDisk Ultra 32GB Class 10 SDHC memory card is meant for photographers using compact-to-midrange point-and-shoot cameras and camera recorders. With the amount of speeds being advertised, you can rapidly shoot pictures and transfer the files.
This SD card performs well in consecutive speeds but gave up quite a bit to Samsung in random large-block writes. This card looks like most other standard size SD cards. It contains a black casing as well as a white sticker in front indicating class, speed, and capacity. There's a line to write the data of the card in front, and there's a lock on the side to avoid unintentional overwriting.
95
/100
Editor's Rating: 95/100
Price On Amazon: from $14.32
Pros
Cons
Via Amazon.com
Samsung EVO is a purpose built memory solutions for the average camera users who want storage capacity for a big amount of photos and shooting video. The Samsung EVO brags a life proof design that includes temperature, water, x-ray, and magnet resistance. Advertising numbers for the Samsung EVO line-up of microSD cards including 48MB/s transfer speeds with a UHS-I speed class.
93
/100
Editor's Rating: 93/100
Price On Amazon: from $27.80
Pros
Cons
Via Amazon.com
Designed for SD devices which are able to shoot full HD, 3D, and 4K resolution video, as well as burst and raw photography, this memory card from SanDisk is compatible with the UHS-I bus, and have a speed of U3 that guarantees slowest write speeds of 30MB/s. The reading speeds are supported up to 95MB/s and the writing speed maximum rate is 90MB/s.
Designed for extreme activities, 32GB Extreme PRO memory card by SanDisk are x-ray, shock, and temperature proof which is good in protecting the data. An integral write protects to guard the data, while progressive Error Correction Code device offers better card reliability and data integrity while writing and reading.
90
/100
Editor's Rating: 90/100
Price On Amazon: from $26.39
Pros
Cons
My advice is...
All in all, the best SD card for camera depends on their performance. If you have a budget, we'd suggest you get SanDisk Extreme PRO due to the impressive performance it offers, but if you don't have a budget and not care about the writing and reading speed but still want an remarkable memory card to save your photos, then SanDisk 32GB Class 4 SDHC Memory Card is for you. But if your care about the speed and will to add a couple of bucks, then you may want to choose between Samsung EVO 32GB Class 10, SanDisk Ultra 32GB Class 10, and Transcend 32 GB Class 10.
Most cameras used today to capture photos no longer require films as it is already replaced by memory cards. For a lot of people, this form of digital storage is a lot better and easy and convenient to using films.
Memory cards have become a very necessary accessory for a digital camera since it was introduced in the market. There are a lot of advantages provided by these storage accessories and having the capability to store hundreds, if not thousands of images is only one of them.
The images you capture are extremely more important than the camera itself. By choosing the proper memory cards and following some simple guides on this article, you are potentially able to save yourself from losing important photos caused by the unexpected events that may happen when we least expect it.
Do you like taking pictures when you travel? What SD card do you use? Share it in the comment below!