SD cards- request suggestions pls for new owner

Pamela Richardson · 09-22-2015, 06:23 PM

Hello everyone! I have just bought a K3, and would really appreciate suggestions re what SD cards to buy. I have some class 10 SD cards (speed of 48 MB/s), with 32 GB. However, I have been advised by the forum member who sold me the camera that I will need some very fast SD cards. I will be using one SD card to save the RAW files, and the other SD card to save the JPG files.

I am also not sure which card slot I should use to save video- any suggestions? Presumably, the SD card saving the RAW files will fill up faster.

I have just received my K3 in the mail about an hour ago, and I have yet to open the box. Hence, I have not read the manual yet. I apologize in advance if my questions here duplicate any information in the manual.

I am excited to join the Pentax Forums just last week, and to now be part of the K3 group!

I am about to go camping for a while, to shoot landscape photographs in the northern wildnerness of Ontario! Yay! I will of course have to look out for the bears!

Thanks in advance for your kind suggestions, from Pamela Richardson

derekkite · 09-22-2015, 06:28 PM

Sandisk extreme pro 95mbs. They are reliable and fast. Buy from a reputable dealer because there are counterfeits out there.

Pamela Richardson · 09-22-2015, 06:35 PM

Originally posted by derekkite

Sandisk extreme pro 95mbs. They are reliable and fast. Buy from a reputable dealer because there are counterfeits out there.

Hello Derekkite, Wow, thanks so much for your fast reply! I am very grateful. I have seen some Lexar Professional 95 MB/s cards on sale at my local BestBuy ca. Is that brand reliable at all? Thank again!
Regards, Pamela

**jatrax** · 09-22-2015, 06:58 PM

Originally posted by Pamela Richardson

I have some class 10 SD cards (speed of 48 MB/s), with 32 GB. However, I have been advised by the forum member who sold me the camera that I will need some very fast SD cards.

That depends. Are you shooting landscapes one shot at a time with a pause to check your work, re-compose etc? If so, any class 10 card will work just fine. Or are you shooting sports or attacking bears where you want to shoot continuous as fast and as long as possible? If so then, yes, you need a fast card.
For a recommendation SanDisk Extreme Pro 95mbs. These are solid and reliable. Other brands should also work, but after trying a number of brands over the years I have settled on the Extreme Pro line and that is all I buy now.

I don't know how many images you shoot in a day but a 32gb card will hold 550 - 600 RAW files. That is more than I shoot in a week but everyone is different. If you are putting jpeg on one card and RAW on the other then the only thing that matters is the number of RAW files that fit on the card, the jpegs will of course not be as large.

Originally posted by Pamela Richardson

I have not read the manual yet.

You really should, unless you have recent experience with k-5 or similar Pentax camera. You can get questions answered here very quickly but without reading the manual you might not know what question to ask if that makes sense.

derekkite · 09-22-2015, 07:34 PM

Originally posted by Pamela Richardson

Hello Derekkite, Wow, thanks so much for your fast reply! I am very grateful. I have seen some Lexar Professional 95 MB/s cards on sale at my local BestBuy ca. Is that brand reliable at all? Thank again!
Regards, Pamela

I've not tried that particular one, but I've had Lexar cards fail. Others may have more experience. The Sandisk ones have been very reliable, heavy usage over time. I bought the first one when I used the K-5 and it still works.

**macman24054** · 09-22-2015, 08:01 PM

I have gotten fast and reliable service from Sandisk extreme plus and extreme pro cards

Topsy · 09-22-2015, 11:24 PM

My Lexar cards luckily haven't let me down, however I've had sandisk cards fail on me in the past..

I think it's sadly a bit of a gamble no matter what brand you buy!

**gaweidert** · 09-23-2015, 03:24 PM

Welcome aboard.

I recently got some SanDisk Extreme Plus cards on sale at Best Buy. They were 32 gig cards and were on sale for $29.99 each. i don't know if they still are. Very good price for a great card. They are a bit slower than the Extreme Pro, but still faster than the K3 can write.

Take lots of photos before you go so that you can get used to the camera. The beauty of digital is instant access to an image.

totsmuyco · 09-24-2015, 06:08 AM

Where I live, I find it hard to get sandisk extreme cards. What we have are sandisk extreme micro SD cards. I've read some feedback here that using micro SD compresses the files too much. Can anyone give opinions regarding micro SD before I buy? Thanks.

MasMax · 09-24-2015, 01:54 PM

Welcome to the forums Pamela and congratulations con you K3, it is indeed a great camera.

Over the years I have been using different brand name cards (Panasonic, Lexar, Samsung and Sandisk) that where mostly class 10 and lower, since I was using a 12 Mp non-Pentax camera system. Recently I decided to Jump ship and hop con the Pentax bandwagon and was faced with the same situation you are now.

Perhaps I have been lucky, but I have never had an SD fail on me yet thus when I needed to buy new SD cards for my new K-3 I decided to get some Lexar Professional 633x cards, since they have always been reliable and where on sale at the moment; so far they have worked perfectly for the kind of shooting that I do.

Keep in mind the the Lexar has a read speed of up to 95Mb/s but a much lower write speed than the SanDisk and while read speed is very important, write speeds is equally important; but so far I have no complaints about the performance on these Lexar cards since they have been holding up great.

Like you, I also shoot JPG and RAW and I always have my camera in burst mode since I always take more than one picture of everything I shoot, specially if I'm shooting at lower speeds and I can attest that the Lexar cards have performed very well.

Out of curiosity I'm planning on ordering some SanDisk Extreme PRO cards since they have a read speed of 95 Mb/s and a write speed of 90 Mb/s just to see how well they perform comprared to the Lexar, since the SanDisk write speeds are almost double of what the Lexar write speed is;If I see that there is no mayor difference in performance then I will continue to buy the Lexar cards.

In short all I can tell you is that through the years my Lexar cards have been very reliable and the current 633x cards are holding up very well on my K-3.

I'm sure that either the Lexar or the Sandisk Extreme cards will work great for you, just keep in mind that the SanDisk has a better write performance than the Lexar.

Craig66 · 09-24-2015, 08:29 PM

SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC/SDXC UHS-I Memory Card are a great card. I have a 32GB as main and 16GB in second slot on my K3-II. I've heard good reports about the Lexar also. Lexar can be a little cheaper.

https://www.sandisk.com.au/home/memory-cards/sd-cards/extremepro-sd-uhs-i

Lexar® Professional 633x SDHC?/SDXC? UHS-I cards | Lexar Australia

Pamela Richardson · 09-24-2015, 11:20 PM

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to make your recommendations to me. I am most grateful. I had not previously known that the listed speed on the card was the READ speed - I had always assumed that it was the write speed, which of course is more important to me. Thankfully I haven't shot bursts on my previous Panasonic Lumix, so I don't anticipate doing bursts on the Pentax in the next few weeks while I am camping, since I mainly shoot landscapes. I will get a fast Sandisk card as soon as I get back though, as I was interested to note that their write speeds are higher than other brands (apparently!?). And now that I am a proud owner of Pentax K3, I assume that the sky is the limit regarding shooting action shots, and doing other creative things, so I will possibly be doing bursts in the future! I really appreciate being part of the forum. Thank you to one and all for your kind assistance! Regards, Pamela Richardson

goldenarrow · 09-25-2015, 06:36 PM

I have tried SanDisk, Lexar, Sony, Transcend, Samsung. All were generally reliable but the SanDisk were the only ones over time that were 100% reliable. I currently have SanDisk 64GB Extreme in slot 1 for DNG (raw) and SanDisk 16GB Ultra in slot 2 for JPG's. Seems ok so far. Early reports were both cards had to be the same but have not heard that recently. Landscape photography usually do not need super fast cards but to each his own....

09-22-2015, 06:23 PM	#1
Pamela Richardson New Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Posts: 12	SD cards- request suggestions pls for new owner Hello everyone! I have just bought a K3, and would really appreciate suggestions re what SD cards to buy. I have some class 10 SD cards (speed of 48 MB/s), with 32 GB. However, I have been advised by the forum member who sold me the camera that I will need some very fast SD cards. I will be using one SD card to save the RAW files, and the other SD card to save the JPG files. I am also not sure which card slot I should use to save video- any suggestions? Presumably, the SD card saving the RAW files will fill up faster. I have just received my K3 in the mail about an hour ago, and I have yet to open the box. Hence, I have not read the manual yet. I apologize in advance if my questions here duplicate any information in the manual. I am excited to join the Pentax Forums just last week, and to now be part of the K3 group! I am about to go camping for a while, to shoot landscape photographs in the northern wildnerness of Ontario! Yay! I will of course have to look out for the bears! Thanks in advance for your kind suggestions, from Pamela Richardson

09-24-2015, 01:54 PM	#10
MasMax Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2015 Photos: Gallery Posts: 57	Welcome to the forums Pamela and congratulations con you K3, it is indeed a great camera. Over the years I have been using different brand name cards (Panasonic, Lexar, Samsung and Sandisk) that where mostly class 10 and lower, since I was using a 12 Mp non-Pentax camera system. Recently I decided to Jump ship and hop con the Pentax bandwagon and was faced with the same situation you are now. Perhaps I have been lucky, but I have never had an SD fail on me yet thus when I needed to buy new SD cards for my new K-3 I decided to get some Lexar Professional 633x cards, since they have always been reliable and where on sale at the moment; so far they have worked perfectly for the kind of shooting that I do. Keep in mind the the Lexar has a read speed of up to 95Mb/s but a much lower write speed than the SanDisk and while read speed is very important, write speeds is equally important; but so far I have no complaints about the performance on these Lexar cards since they have been holding up great. Like you, I also shoot JPG and RAW and I always have my camera in burst mode since I always take more than one picture of everything I shoot, specially if I'm shooting at lower speeds and I can attest that the Lexar cards have performed very well. Out of curiosity I'm planning on ordering some SanDisk Extreme PRO cards since they have a read speed of 95 Mb/s and a write speed of 90 Mb/s just to see how well they perform comprared to the Lexar, since the SanDisk write speeds are almost double of what the Lexar write speed is;If I see that there is no mayor difference in performance then I will continue to buy the Lexar cards. In short all I can tell you is that through the years my Lexar cards have been very reliable and the current 633x cards are holding up very well on my K-3. I'm sure that either the Lexar or the Sandisk Extreme cards will work great for you, just keep in mind that the SanDisk has a better write performance than the Lexar. Last edited by MasMax; 09-24-2015 at 02:05 PM.

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09-22-2015, 06:28 PM	#2
derekkite Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Nelson B.C. Posts: 3,782	Sandisk extreme pro 95mbs. They are reliable and fast. Buy from a reputable dealer because there are counterfeits out there.

09-22-2015, 06:35 PM	#3
Pamela Richardson New Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Posts: 12 Original Poster	Originally posted by derekkite Sandisk extreme pro 95mbs. They are reliable and fast. Buy from a reputable dealer because there are counterfeits out there. Hello Derekkite, Wow, thanks so much for your fast reply! I am very grateful. I have seen some Lexar Professional 95 MB/s cards on sale at my local BestBuy ca. Is that brand reliable at all? Thank again! Regards, Pamela

09-22-2015, 06:58 PM	#4
jatrax Site Supporter Join Date: May 2010 Location: Washington Cascades Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,991	Originally posted by Pamela Richardson I have some class 10 SD cards (speed of 48 MB/s), with 32 GB. However, I have been advised by the forum member who sold me the camera that I will need some very fast SD cards. That depends. Are you shooting landscapes one shot at a time with a pause to check your work, re-compose etc? If so, any class 10 card will work just fine. Or are you shooting sports or attacking bears where you want to shoot continuous as fast and as long as possible? If so then, yes, you need a fast card. For a recommendation SanDisk Extreme Pro 95mbs. These are solid and reliable. Other brands should also work, but after trying a number of brands over the years I have settled on the Extreme Pro line and that is all I buy now. I don't know how many images you shoot in a day but a 32gb card will hold 550 - 600 RAW files. That is more than I shoot in a week but everyone is different. If you are putting jpeg on one card and RAW on the other then the only thing that matters is the number of RAW files that fit on the card, the jpegs will of course not be as large. Originally posted by Pamela Richardson I have not read the manual yet. You really should, unless you have recent experience with k-5 or similar Pentax camera. You can get questions answered here very quickly but without reading the manual you might not know what question to ask if that makes sense.

09-22-2015, 07:34 PM	#5
derekkite Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Nelson B.C. Posts: 3,782	Originally posted by Pamela Richardson Hello Derekkite, Wow, thanks so much for your fast reply! I am very grateful. I have seen some Lexar Professional 95 MB/s cards on sale at my local BestBuy ca. Is that brand reliable at all? Thank again! Regards, Pamela I've not tried that particular one, but I've had Lexar cards fail. Others may have more experience. The Sandisk ones have been very reliable, heavy usage over time. I bought the first one when I used the K-5 and it still works.

09-22-2015, 08:01 PM	#6
macman24054 Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Axton, VA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 461	I have gotten fast and reliable service from Sandisk extreme plus and extreme pro cards

09-22-2015, 11:24 PM	#7
Topsy Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 625	My Lexar cards luckily haven't let me down, however I've had sandisk cards fail on me in the past.. I think it's sadly a bit of a gamble no matter what brand you buy!

09-23-2015, 03:24 PM	#8
gaweidert Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Rochester, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,325	Welcome aboard. I recently got some SanDisk Extreme Plus cards on sale at Best Buy. They were 32 gig cards and were on sale for $29.99 each. i don't know if they still are. Very good price for a great card. They are a bit slower than the Extreme Pro, but still faster than the K3 can write. Take lots of photos before you go so that you can get used to the camera. The beauty of digital is instant access to an image.

09-24-2015, 06:08 AM	#9
totsmuyco Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Iloilo City Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,276	Where I live, I find it hard to get sandisk extreme cards. What we have are sandisk extreme micro SD cards. I've read some feedback here that using micro SD compresses the files too much. Can anyone give opinions regarding micro SD before I buy? Thanks.

09-24-2015, 08:29 PM	#11
Craig66 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Sapphire Coast. NSW. Posts: 141	SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHC/SDXC UHS-I Memory Card are a great card. I have a 32GB as main and 16GB in second slot on my K3-II. I've heard good reports about the Lexar also. Lexar can be a little cheaper. https://www.sandisk.com.au/home/memory-cards/sd-cards/extremepro-sd-uhs-i Lexar® Professional 633x SDHC?/SDXC? UHS-I cards \| Lexar Australia

09-24-2015, 11:20 PM	#12
Pamela Richardson New Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Posts: 12 Original Poster	Hello everyone! Thank you so much for taking the time to make your recommendations to me. I am most grateful. I had not previously known that the listed speed on the card was the READ speed - I had always assumed that it was the write speed, which of course is more important to me. Thankfully I haven't shot bursts on my previous Panasonic Lumix, so I don't anticipate doing bursts on the Pentax in the next few weeks while I am camping, since I mainly shoot landscapes. I will get a fast Sandisk card as soon as I get back though, as I was interested to note that their write speeds are higher than other brands (apparently!?). And now that I am a proud owner of Pentax K3, I assume that the sky is the limit regarding shooting action shots, and doing other creative things, so I will possibly be doing bursts in the future! I really appreciate being part of the forum. Thank you to one and all for your kind assistance! Regards, Pamela Richardson

09-25-2015, 06:36 PM	#13
goldenarrow Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Chicago Suburbs. Photos: Gallery Posts: 501	I have tried SanDisk, Lexar, Sony, Transcend, Samsung. All were generally reliable but the SanDisk were the only ones over time that were 100% reliable. I currently have SanDisk 64GB Extreme in slot 1 for DNG (raw) and SanDisk 16GB Ultra in slot 2 for JPG's. Seems ok so far. Early reports were both cards had to be the same but have not heard that recently. Landscape photography usually do not need super fast cards but to each his own....