DSandisk vs. Transcend vs. hoodman Raw SDHC cards

Anthony McErlean · September 7th, 2009, 11:43 AM

Hi Craig, yes, 2nd test the exact same. There must be something wrong with the card in slot B. I watch for the change over and card A seamed to record OK, again it looked as if it recorded through without error, I switched the camera off and on again and got the media restore message. I'm recording to card B for now just to see what happens.

Anthony McErlean · September 7th, 2009, 12:05 PM

Card B recorded to end then, Media Error, Media needs to be restored. Looks like card B is faulty.

I'll test the other card now and get back.

Anthony McErlean · September 7th, 2009, 01:42 PM

Looks like the other 8gb card is faulty too. Once the card was full I got the media needs to restore message.

Thats a first for me. I'll try and return the cards.

Anthony McErlean · September 7th, 2009, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Seeman

..Generally thought I don't reformat the cards...

Craig, do you just format the card when new and "delete all clips" each time after that.
Is formating the card each time wrong.

Thanks in advance.

Paul Frederick · September 7th, 2009, 07:01 PM

Anthony,

I've had horrible luck with brand new (a month ago) Transcend cards. They don't seem to be as trusty as they used to be. Others are reporting many problems too. I would try a Hoodman card. They are more $$ but I have 4 and not one problem yet.

Anthony McErlean · September 8th, 2009, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Frederick

Anthony,

I've had horrible luck with brand new (a month ago) Transcend cards. They don't seem to be as trusty as they used to be. Others are reporting many problems too. I would try a Hoodman card. They are more $$ but I have 4 and not one problem yet.

Paul, I think your right about the transcend cards, wonder how Sandisk cards are holding up?

Hoodmans cards might be worth looking into. Wonder what the cost is to send a few over to me.

Thanks.

Gints Klimanis · September 8th, 2009, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anthony McErlean

Paul, I think your right about the transcend cards, wonder how Sandisk cards are holding up?
Thanks.

I had my first CF error on a Transcend 16GB card which usually spends its time in my wife's D90. The error occured in the D90. Personally, I'd rather spend top dollar for the best flash memory. I don't know the foundry for the Lexar or Transcend parts, but we do know that "floor sweep" parts exist for lower reliability due to manufacturing mistakes. For graphics chips, a part with one or more faulty shader engines is simply remarked as a different, lower end product sold and sold for less. I suppose that Transcend and the other budget flash distributors know that their consumer market won't figure out that their part lasts for a year.

Write performance degrades as the flash memory part fills to two thirds, from what I've read. Do we really know what happens to the Transcend when 50-100MB is left?

Bobby Kondrat · October 29th, 2009, 11:52 AM

Bout to use these SDHC cards for the first time on a series I have coming up. Been researching a lot and been testing the Hoodman RAW cards. I know there more expensive then other alternatives out there, but am willing to pay that if they are more secure. Have been testing two of the cards and have worked great.

I guess I'm just asking for anyone's thoughts on the Hoodman cards, and is the higher price worth the piece of mind. Want to be sure before I purchase a number of these.

Thanks in advance.

Gints Klimanis · October 29th, 2009, 05:25 PM

How are people testing these cards? The Transcend 16 GB Class 6 (green stripe) worked well for me until they filled up in my Sony EX1. Flash cards have a very slow write performance as they reach write capacity.

Marcus Durham · October 29th, 2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby Kondrat

I guess I'm just asking for anyone's thoughts on the Hoodman cards, and is the higher price worth the piece of mind. Want to be sure before I purchase a number of these.

Thanks in advance.

Take a look at the ATP Pro cards. They are more expensive than Transcends (and harder to source) but seem to offer better quality.

There was rumour of Hoodman cards being available in the UK shortly, however it might not be worth bothering with if Sony release a firmware upgrade so we can use their new adaptors and memory sticks.

Anthony McErlean · October 29th, 2009, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcus Durham

... however it might not be worth bothering with if Sony release a firmware upgrade so we can use their new adaptors and memory sticks.

I think I'll wait for the Sony adaptors too.

Marcus Durham · November 2nd, 2009, 06:37 PM

I've knocked together a blog entry that sums up my findings for the ATP cards and where to get them in the UK. It's nothing that I haven't posted on here already but I felt it a good idea to try and get everything into one place. This might be useful if we manage to locate more UK suppliers:

SDHC Shooting on the Sony EX1 | Media2u Video Production Blog

I've got 4 of them now and Amazon (the only UK supplier I can find) seem to have them back in stock again. The 4 I have seem to be consistent in testing so I'm now in the process of weeding out any Transcend that takes longer than 5 or 6 seconds to clear the red light.

Craig Seeman · November 2nd, 2009, 11:14 PM

Marcus, I notice you're looking at the 16GB cards. Actually the prices for the 32GB cards are less per GB which may be odd but true for the prices I've seen.

$119 US
https://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/SP...1241728748.jsp

€134
32GB ATP ProMax SDHC Class6 150x MLC

Marcus Durham · November 3rd, 2009, 02:39 AM

While the 32gb cards may be cheaper per mb the problem is that in the UK the 16gb cards are already rare. The 32gb cards simply aren't out there. The blog entry was partly inspired by one chap from this very forum who actually phoned me to ask about the ATP cards and where he could get them in the UK.

Of course you can import them (as I did for 2 cards) but the entire process was so slow, painful and expensive it's just far easier to get the 16gb cards from Amazon. In short I got stung for hefty international shipping, import duty and a extra delivery fee by a UK courier!

I wish some enterprising UK supplier would stock the ATP cards. The MxR stockists will happily sell you Transcends even though we know there are issues. Then again when I looked at the MxR website last week they were still recommending Transcend cards despite the reported issues. I'd be interested to hear their opinion of why they still think Transcend cards are still suitable.

[edit] Just looking at the price on that Dutch site you provided, the 32gb card is way more than twice the price. Amazon are charging approx £44 delivered for a 16gb but that site charges 134 Euros which is approx £120. So the cost per mb is higher.

Anthony McErlean · November 3rd, 2009, 03:37 AM

Marcus, mxmexpress dot com told me to contact Neil Hart from ProActive and convince him there is a need for ATP Pro cards.

I tried to get in touch with him but haven't spoke to him yet.

September 7th, 2009, 07:01 PM	#110
Paul Frederick Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: WestChazy, NY Posts: 291	Anthony, I've had horrible luck with brand new (a month ago) Transcend cards. They don't seem to be as trusty as they used to be. Others are reporting many problems too. I would try a Hoodman card. They are more $$ but I have 4 and not one problem yet. __________________ www.paulfrederickproductions.com

October 29th, 2009, 11:52 AM	#113
Bobby Kondrat Tourist Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New York, NY Posts: 4	HoodMan Bout to use these SDHC cards for the first time on a series I have coming up. Been researching a lot and been testing the Hoodman RAW cards. I know there more expensive then other alternatives out there, but am willing to pay that if they are more secure. Have been testing two of the cards and have worked great. I guess I'm just asking for anyone's thoughts on the Hoodman cards, and is the higher price worth the piece of mind. Want to be sure before I purchase a number of these. Thanks in advance.

September 7th, 2009, 11:43 AM	#106
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,076	Hi Craig, yes, 2nd test the exact same. There must be something wrong with the card in slot B. I watch for the change over and card A seamed to record OK, again it looked as if it recorded through without error, I switched the camera off and on again and got the media restore message. I'm recording to card B for now just to see what happens.

September 7th, 2009, 12:05 PM	#107
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,076	Card B recorded to end then, Media Error, Media needs to be restored. Looks like card B is faulty. I'll test the other card now and get back.

September 7th, 2009, 01:42 PM	#108
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,076	Looks like the other 8gb card is faulty too. Once the card was full I got the media needs to restore message. Thats a first for me. I'll try and return the cards.

October 29th, 2009, 05:25 PM	#114
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	How are people testing these cards? The Transcend 16 GB Class 6 (green stripe) worked well for me until they filled up in my Sony EX1. Flash cards have a very slow write performance as they reach write capacity.

November 2nd, 2009, 06:37 PM	#117
Marcus Durham Major Player Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 693	I've knocked together a blog entry that sums up my findings for the ATP cards and where to get them in the UK. It's nothing that I haven't posted on here already but I felt it a good idea to try and get everything into one place. This might be useful if we manage to locate more UK suppliers: SDHC Shooting on the Sony EX1 \| Media2u Video Production Blog I've got 4 of them now and Amazon (the only UK supplier I can find) seem to have them back in stock again. The 4 I have seem to be consistent in testing so I'm now in the process of weeding out any Transcend that takes longer than 5 or 6 seconds to clear the red light.

November 2nd, 2009, 11:14 PM	#118
Craig Seeman Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Posts: 3,841	Marcus, I notice you're looking at the 16GB cards. Actually the prices for the 32GB cards are less per GB which may be odd but true for the prices I've seen. $119 US https://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/SP...1241728748.jsp €134 32GB ATP ProMax SDHC Class6 150x MLC

November 3rd, 2009, 02:39 AM	#119
Marcus Durham Major Player Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Hampshire, UK Posts: 693	While the 32gb cards may be cheaper per mb the problem is that in the UK the 16gb cards are already rare. The 32gb cards simply aren't out there. The blog entry was partly inspired by one chap from this very forum who actually phoned me to ask about the ATP cards and where he could get them in the UK. Of course you can import them (as I did for 2 cards) but the entire process was so slow, painful and expensive it's just far easier to get the 16gb cards from Amazon. In short I got stung for hefty international shipping, import duty and a extra delivery fee by a UK courier! I wish some enterprising UK supplier would stock the ATP cards. The MxR stockists will happily sell you Transcends even though we know there are issues. Then again when I looked at the MxR website last week they were still recommending Transcend cards despite the reported issues. I'd be interested to hear their opinion of why they still think Transcend cards are still suitable. [edit] Just looking at the price on that Dutch site you provided, the 32gb card is way more than twice the price. Amazon are charging approx £44 delivered for a 16gb but that site charges 134 Euros which is approx £120. So the cost per mb is higher.

November 3rd, 2009, 03:37 AM	#120
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,076	Marcus, mxmexpress dot com told me to contact Neil Hart from ProActive and convince him there is a need for ATP Pro cards. I tried to get in touch with him but haven't spoke to him yet.