HMC40 - Which SDHC Cards to Use/Avoid
 

I have been using Delkin 16gb class 6 cards, as I read several others have used with no problems. My questions are the following:
Are there any card brands, speeds, classes to avoid?
Is Class 6 necessary, or will Class 4 work just fine?
I see great deals on Lexar 8GB class 4 cards, platinum ii 60x, are these a no no?
I would appreciate knowing what people use and why.
thanks!

Hi Michael

Personally I would say get the best!! You cannot redo a shoot that was a "once off experience" and saving a few bucks on cheaper cards would be fatal.
My cams only shoot at the old 13mps bitrate but I still use Class 6 cards only. With the HMC40 I certainly wouldn't even contemplate a Class 4.

Stick to genuine brands also...you can get "copy brands" from Asia for a song but they are really not worth trusting. I personally use Transcend 8GB cards and they haven't failed me yet. Seeing a 16GB card for less than $50 should get the alarm bells ringing!!

Remember your cards are a much cheaper investment than tape anyway so splurge a bit and look for quality not price!! I dunno how true this is but I was also told never to fill up your card to capacity..stop at 90% and change rather than run out of space!!

Chris

Class-4 is sufficient for 24Mbps recording (with about 8Mbps headroom), assuming the card actually lives up to Class-4 performance. Usually Class-6 cards don't cost much more than Class-4 though. Transcend flash memory cards are relatively inexpensive, and lots of folks get good results with their products. A good place to buy is newegg.com. Check the customer feedback there, for particular cards. Definitely don't buy "bargains" from places you never heard of (like on eBay) - You'll probably wind up with counterfeits that won't perform. Always format flash memory cards in the camera, not with a computer.

I bought some Transcend class 6 16Gb for around $40. From Amazon.

Around $40 for a good quality 16GB Class-6 SDHC card is quite reasonable. Watch for sales at Newegg, and you can get them for a little less sometimes.