SDHC Reliability

[Colin Rowe]

Originally Posted by John Peterson

I have to follow up on this. After testing these Class 10 16GB Transcend cards at home with no errors I took them on vacation last week and BOTH gave me repeated Media Restore errors. I ended up using my other cards. I am returning them and I would recommend that you not buy them at all.

John

I have been using Transcend 16 gb class 6, both , green belt and 2 early red belt cards for over a year in EX1s. A couple of months ago I purchased a couple of 16gb class 10 Transcends, these class 10 cards have been used on at least a dozen occasions, none of my cards have ever missed a beat. I tried an ATP 16gb class 10 in a lockable MxM adaptor and got restore errors every time. I think it goes to show that we need to find something that works for us, and as individuals we are confident with, and stick with it.

[Marcus Durham]

Originally Posted by Colin Rowe

I tried an ATP 16gb class 10 in a lockable MxM adaptor and got restore errors every time. I think it goes to show that we need to find something that works for us, and as individuals we are confident with, and stick with it.

Something sounds very wrong there. I suggest you contact MxM for advice. They are in a far better position to advise what the problem may be. It may even be something silly such as an incompatibility between an older adaptor and a new card, or firmware issues in your camera.

The problem with people finding their own solutions is that the people who have gone out and blindly purchased cards are the ones who have been bitten. There is an argument for safety in numbers. Your Transcends are fine as are many other peoples. But do you know when the cards were manufactured? The cut off point seems to have been the middle of last year. Whatever change Transcend introduced, the cards were very reliable before the change, but unreliable after. If all your cards predate this change over, then great. It may even be they used multiple factories and only one batch has the problem. We don't know. All we do know is that the problems all surfaced at the same time.

As for the class 10 Transcends, we simply haven't heard that much about them as yet, but having been burned I am naturally wary.

[Colin Rowe]

The problem I had with the ATP class 10 card was discussed on the forum a few months ago. MxM were apparently aware of the problem, and were looking into it. All the files were safe on the card, and could be downloaded to a PC, it was when I tried to replay the files with the card in the camera, that the restore warning appeared, it didn't exactly fill me with confidence. My red belt Transcends were purchased very early in the year. I believe the problem with Transcend cards came about when they changed from single to dual layer technology, (someone will correct me if that is not an accurate description), but it was pretty well established that the problem started when the new technology was used in manufacturing these cards. As for the class 10 Transcends, faultless, to date, I use them with confidence on any shoot.

[Zoran Vincic]

With EX1 (1.20 fw) I use 16 gig sandisk extreme class 10 sdhc cards in hoodman adapter, absolutely flawless. Not a single problem.

And full 60fps overcranking works too, the cam fills the whole card without a problem.

I have a couple of 16 gig class 6 transcends as a spare, and generally they work fine too but they aren't able to do a full speed overcrank, I get a media error after few mins if recording

[William Griffin]

hey Zoran,

are you talking about his Sandisk card:

Amazon.com: SanDisk 16GB Extreme - SDHC Class 10 High Performance memory card…

 

Amazon.com: SanDisk 16GB Extreme - SDHC Class 10 High Performance memory card…

As I have a slow-mo shoot next month and was going to buy, at a higher cost, a normal SxS 16GB Sony card from B&H Video out of New York.

thanks

[Anthony McErlean]

Originally Posted by Colin Rowe

.. MxM were apparently aware of the problem, and were looking into it.

A while back I emailed MxM about a different matter and they also included this information about the ATP cards in their reply to me.

"There was an incident a while ago when they released 16GB class 10 which a small hiccup…media would play on the camera with an occasional error, but the footage was fine and it recorded without errors. However, ATP got on board and quickly released an upgraded firmware for this memory card, to make sure this was corrected and fully rectified and compatible with Sony’s cameras"..

[John Peterson]

Originally Posted by Marcus Durham

The problem with people finding their own solutions is that the people who have gone out and blindly purchased cards are the ones who have been bitten. There is an argument for safety in numbers. ..

Well, actually I remember how so many just like you describe experimented for all of us in the early days of the quest for SDHC compatible media and reported back to us regarding their success or failure. They must have shelled out quite a bit in that endeavor in addition to a whole bunch of returns sometimes at cost to them. Hat's off to them all.
Some of those cards are no longer available so by all means experiment with some of the new ones and help us all out here. That is what I am trying to do with my reports on the Transcend 16GB Class 10 and the 16 GB SanDisk Extreme HD Video cards that I reported on.

Mention the camera, adapter, and the firmware. And show a link to exactly what you bought and where because some of the vendors show a different picture than the actual item they send as well as mistaken labels (such as "Extreme III" when it is actually just "Extreme" these days or "Ultra II" when it is now only "Ultra").The date of purchase is obvious from then post. Should help people I feel.

John

[Zoran Vincic]

Originally Posted by William Griffin

hey Zoran,

are you talking about his Sandisk card:

Amazon.com: SanDisk 16GB Extreme - SDHC Class 10 High Performance memory card…


As I have a slow-mo shoot next month and was going to buy, at a higher cost, a normal SxS 16GB Sony card from B&H Video out of New York.

Yes, that's the card. Fully overcranked (25 to 60) without a problem.

[Simon Wyndham]

After testing these Class 10 16GB Transcend cards at home with no errors I took them on vacation last week and BOTH gave me repeated Media Restore errors.

The Media Restore message is nothing to worry about. The camera does this often even with SxS cards.

[William Griffin]

Originally Posted by Zoran Vincic

Yes, that's the card. Fully overcranked (25 to 60) without a problem.

thanks...you just saved me alot of money.........

Bill

[John Peterson]

The Media Restore message is nothing to worry about. The camera does this often even with SxS cards.

It was frequent, consistent, and interrupted the camera while shooting. I say that is cause for worry. Has not happened to me with my other media. Of course, as I stated I was using a Kensington adapter in an EX1 with firmware 1.11 and the media was purchased in early July, 2010.

John

[Marcus Durham]

Originally Posted by John Peterson

[i]Of course, as I stated I was using a Kensington adapter in an EX1 with firmware 1.11 and the media was purchased in early July, 2010.

John

I'd suggest it was possible a combination of a Kensington adaptor and old firmware. I haven't tested the Kensington but given the design strides that the EX1 adaptor producers have made must mean that the performance can only be in line with the first bespoke EX1 adaptors.

But the real killer is probably the firmware. We've moved up a class and the controllers on the cards have changed. From memory my Class 10 did exhibit a problem on playback on first testing, but this vanished as I did the firmware update before the serious testing commenced. I can't make the card produce any restore errors now.

Finally it's good to hear that ATP are actually aware of the EX1 and ironed out the problems with their early Class 10 cards due to feedback. If true this is pretty amazing and it would mean that they would be the only manufacturer other than Sony (that we know of) that has tested their cards in our cameras,

[John Peterson]

Originally Posted by Zoran Vincic

Yes, that's the card. Fully overcranked (25 to 60) without a problem.

Good to know. Thanks for testing it for us.

John

[John Peterson]

Originally Posted by Marcus Durham

I'd suggest it was possible a combination of a Kensington adaptor and old firmware. I haven't tested the Kensington but given the design strides that the EX1 adaptor producers have made must mean that the performance can only be in line with the first bespoke EX1 adaptors.

But the real killer is probably the firmware. We've moved up a class and the controllers on the cards have changed. From memory my Class 10 did exhibit a problem on playback on first testing, but this vanished as I did the firmware update before the serious testing commenced. I can't make the card produce any restore errors now.

I have heard that the new firmware has increased compatibility for some. Haven't decided to update mine yet from 1.11

John

[Marcus Durham]

Originally Posted by John Peterson

I have heard that the new firmware has increased compatibility for some. Haven't decided to update mine yet from 1.11

John

And I'm afraid here lies the problem. The information about the new firmware has been widely available on this forum for months now and it is far more than just "increased compatibility for some". It is an important update for SDHC users. If you are going to insist on sticking with out of date firmware then you'd be better off using the existing tested Class 6 cards from Sandisk and ATP (although you may find they are now hard to get hold of).

But I'm afraid you really need to update your firmware. Certainly if the previous post is to anything to go by, you might be expecting to fully overcrank using the old firmware which won't work.