[LSR]

I've had no problems what so ever with the 8gb PNY Class4 (gold/black packaging, made in Japan) for $49 at Best Buy when on sale 1/2 price, and the Kingston 8gb Class4 (also made in Japan) $49 at Futureshop when on sale 1/2 price.

Both have lifetime warranties, both keep up no problem with my K10D and it's RAW+ writing.

[Jun Park]

Hi, Will. It sounds like the wedding photography is going well.

I am also hesitant to put too many pictures on a single card because as the primary event photograper, you're not allowed to tell the client "My card died. Sorry." So I only use 2 GB cards, though I am considering using 4 GB cards but keeping the number of pictures to under 200 or so per card.

I personally use Sandisk Extreme III and ATP Promax cards. My experience has been that these cards are very fast and very rugged. I also have a Sandisk Ultra II but I have noticed significantly longer write times with the Ultra II versus the Extreme III or ATP Promax cards on both the K10D and the K20D. I'm will to pay for fast cards because you can't change out to a new card until the camera is finished writing to the current card. And as you may know, seconds can matter in event photography!

I have figured out the types of 2 GB cards in the last year, but with the K20D producing huge files, it seems it's time to move up to 4 GB or even 8 GB storage cards. They must be reliable, affordable and fast, in that order or priority. I'll be shooting weddings and other events with these cards and don't want to lose images. But I don't want to pay $100 per card just to make myself feel good.

Anybody got a suggestion re 4 GB or 8 GB cards that will work in the K20D? I just looked at Amazon.com and there don't seem to be as many choices at that capacity as there are at 2 GB. Would this 4 GB Kingston card, for example, be a good one for the K20D? I've always had good experiences with Kingston memory and this one's cheap. I also found this Lexar 4 GB Platinum II 60x SDHC card over at B&H. Has one 5-star review, but it costs twice as much as the Kingston.

Will

P.S. Sorry if someone notices this is kind of a cross post. I asked this question in a thread in the dslr forum by accident, then realized it should be here.

[WMBP]

I am also hesitant to put too many pictures on a single card because as the primary event photograper, you're not allowed to tell the client "My card died. Sorry." So I only use 2 GB cards, though I am considering using 4 GB cards but keeping the number of pictures to under 200 or so per card.
... I'm will to pay for fast cards because you can't change out to a new card until the camera is finished writing to the current card. And as you may know, seconds can matter in event photography!

This is a difficult issue, I think.

With the K20D's huge files, it seems that bigger cards are necessary. And of course I get far fewer raw files on an 8 GB card using the K20D than I'd get using the K10D. Since the files are about twice as big as those from the K10D, it's as if I've jumped from a 2 GB card to a 4 GB in terms of the number of photos that each card can hold.

Changing cards is a pain and a distraction, and when I use small cards it seems I always have to change at awkward moments. So the best policy is to have cards that are much bigger than I need, and to change when it's convenient. For the wedding I shot a couple of weeks ago, I did the shots at the salon on a 2 GB card. For the church ceremony, I used an 8 GB card in the K20D and a 2 GB card in the K10D. Took those cards out afterwards and replaced them with fresh 8 GB and 2 GB cards, for the K20D and K10D respectively, for the reception. That's a total of (8 * 2) + (2 * 3) = 22 GB of storage. Now I didn't shoot 22 GB of photos, but I also didn't have to worry about changing cards suddenly.

I doubt that new 8 GB cards are more likely to fail than older 2 GB cards. Of course, if one did fail, it would have more photos on it than a 2 GB card.

But on the other hand, the more used cards I have to keep track of during the event, the greater the odds that I'll either lose one or overwrite it accidentally. Of course I have careful procedures that designed to prevent me from doing this. I'm just saying that there is more than one way to lose photos. To be honest, I think the odds of the card failing irrecoverably are smaller than the odds of me simply LOSING a card.

Shooting with 2 cameras means that I'm getting some shots on to different cards. It would be nice if the K20D could write to two different cards simultaneously, but I wouldn't pay $500 more for it.

Ultimately, cards are a lot like film cannisters. You still have to be careful and hope that something bad doesn't happen between the shot and the darkroom.


Will

[Jun Park]

LOL! I certainly agree that the risk of losing a card is much greater than the probability of card failure (at least in my case.) As for keeping track of cards during a shoot, I use a couple of Hakuba media card cases

Hakuba | DMSP-SD8 SD Card Case | DMSPSD8 | B&H Photo Video

When a card is full, I simply put it back into the case upside down. I'm a fan of the Hakuba case because it is very slim and will fit comfortably into the pocket of a suit jacket or slacks.

But you're right in that this is something that is difficult to figure out and there is no one single solution that works for everyone. Good luck and please let me know if I can offer any comments or suggestions.

This is a difficult issue, I think.
But on the other hand, the more used cards I have to keep track of during the event, the greater the odds that I'll either lose one or overwrite it accidentally. Of course I have careful procedures that designed to prevent me from doing this. I'm just saying that there is more than one way to lose photos. To be honest, I think the odds of the card failing irrecoverably are smaller than the odds of me simply LOSING a card.
Will

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[krs]

Behold, the 8 GB Sandisk Extreme III SDHC. It's rated at 20 Mb/s and it has a $40.00 rebate right now. Normal price is $79.99, so final price is $39.99.

Thanks for this. I was looking to buy an SD card, and this fits the bill perfectly!

[Ben_Edict]

I would – after some good and some poor experiences with no-name cards – always go for SanDisk - nothing else. As my K20D just arrived I am myself looking for new cards. With my K10 I only used Sandisk Ultra II 2 GB cards, which worked totally reliably. Also, they were noticeably faster than cheaper cards with even a higher speed rating…

I will stick with cards not holding more than app. 100 images. Better swapping cards, than loosing too many pics with one big but faulty card. For any shoot I always carry 4 to 6 cards and a Hyperdrive to store the images and free the cards. The Hyperdrive has also proven its complete reliability.

So I will today order a couple of Sandisk Extreme III 4 GB cards for the K20 and I am sure, they will work as advertised. If you work commercially - like your wedding assignments – there is no excuse for saving a few bucks on cards, but perhaps loosing hundreds through a faulty card.

Ben

[xGene]

As someone mentionned previously above, you can get a lemon from any brand. I use to swear by SanDisk, until an Extreme III (4GB) failed on me during a wedding shoot. Was using the K20D. Writing issues with purple and yellow banding on both RAW and JPEG's. I am now using Patriot Class 6 16GB ($69 at MemoryExpress here in Canada) and never had any problem, so far... I also now use 16GB because the size of the RAW's with the K20D... plus I always shoot RAW + jpeg** for monitoring purposes. I agree with Ben though that you're at risk of loosing big if one fails... I might revise my strategy.

Cheers. Gene

[andyhewitt3]

didn't read all the posts so if this has been covered forgive me but I just saw 4GB Sandisk Ultra II SD cards at Best Buy for $34.99.

[tinyt187]

First post... I have had outstanding luck with Transcend in general, with several 2GB fast and reliable 150x speed performance. I've also been using a class 6 8GB SDHC for almost a year with 0 issues. Amazon and Newegg have a great deal on them right now at about ~$35.