For some reason, I assumed that I could use an old SD reader with my new-fangled SDHC cards.

I'm going to need a new card reader, aren't I?

Please answer quick, UPS dude is on the way with my new camera (hmc150)!

Right, you need a card reader that specifies sdhc ... and some we have tried don't work..we have had good luck with the Lexar SDHC reader, model RW047-7000...hth / Battle Vaughan/miamiherald.com video team

Newegg sells a bunch of different card readers. Here's one you might consider:

Newegg.com - Transcend TS-RDP8W USB 2.0 All-in-One Multi Card Reader - Card Readers (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208471)

I've not yet found any that don't work - including real cheapies. Could it be old USB1 versions that are the problem? I assume there were some?

OIY! Genius! Ya know, I really am pretty smart. I just find it hard to prove from time to time.

Amazon is selling a combo Transcend 16gb with reader for less than the cost of the card by itself!

Be sure you are buying directly from Amazon. Buying flash memory, from an unknown third party, is a very iffy proposition. Inferior, counterfeit flash memory is quite common.

Yeah, I got the Amazon special Frustration-Free Packaging. But I'll send 'em back and get the combo setups.

I just looked at bestbuy: $160 for a 16GB class 6. Amazon $40. THAT is a markup!

Here is what I did. I primarily use Transcend 16 GB SDHC cards (Model TS16GSDHC6) in my Sony PMW-EX1 camera. I purchased quite a few of them because they are so cheap and work so well. I decided I wanted a card reader so the next time I bought one I bought the combo card and reader Andy mentioned above:

Amazon.com: Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card with Card Reader TS16GSDHC6-S5W: Electronics (http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Class-Memory-Reader-TS16GSDHC6-S5W/dp/B0010Z28XG)

It was the same card with a card reader.

The card reader works great with both SDHC and SD cards and the reader cost practically nothing.

John

How do you use SDHC cards in an EX1?

Amazon.com: Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card with Card Reader TS16GSDHC6-S5W: Electronics (http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Class-Memory-Reader-TS16GSDHC6-S5W/dp/B0010Z28XG)

It was the same card with a card reader.


Yeah, just ordered one. I'll return one of the solo cards.

How do you use SDHC cards in an EX1?

You need firmware 1.11 and certain specific Express Card adapters and SDHC cards as described here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/138485-summary-sdhc-substitute-sxs-cards.html

John

Dang. I'm way, way, way more interested in getting an EX1 now. Will that work with 32GB SDHC cards?

I was just looking at Convergent Design's brochure for the new nanoFlash that's coming out in June.

With an EX1 or EX3, combine that Express Card adapter with a nanoFlash unit, and you've got excellent quality, redundant recording (approaching fail safe - super quality 4:2:2 on CF cards, with "low quality" backup on SDHC cards!) for astonishingly low cost (after biting the bullet for the cost of the nanoFlash unit).

This is just the sort of thing that should start putting some real market pressure on Sony and SanDisk to drop SxS card prices down to more reasonable levels.

This is interesting... just yesterday I got an 8gb Sandisk SDHC card (for non-video uses) and was not able to get it to work properly. I was using the internal card reader slot on a brand new Dell Inspiron E7400 with Vista Home Premium 64bit. The card appeared to mount and work properly, showing about 8GB free space. I started copying a large number of files, and after about 2GB copying I started getting errors for every file.

I tried using my older USB card adaptor and it mounted and showed the files. Tried reformatting the card twice and it failed. So I tried formatting in the internal card slot and it seemed to be doing its thing, but hung forever as the progress bar reached the end. After that I could not get the card to appear at all on the Dell or on my MacBook Pro either.

Returned it to the store for an exchange, thinking the card was bad. Have not tried using the replacement card yet, but am wondering if the card was actually bad or if it was some other issue?

Boyd, I don't have hard info, only my experience, but I've had three SDHC card readers --
one would read one brand of card and not another, one would not read either brand, and one (the Lexar I mentioned above) reads all the cards I have tried. Not pushing any brand, but I'm guessing there is some kind of variance in cards and/or readers that makes matching your cards and reader important.

AFAIK there are no USB 1 SDHC card readers, as someone asked, but the standard sd card readers, or card reader slots (I have a built in my desktop that is) may be. I have never gotten an older sd reader to work with the hc cards. /BVaughan

Thanks Battle. I spent awhile today trying to shake this down, and after updating some drivers and reading stuff on various forums I came to the conclusion that my Dell Inspiron 530's internal SD card slot is simply not SDHC compatible. I'm sure that's the case with my cheapo GE USB card reader too.

It was late Sunday afternoon and I didn't feel like making the long trek to Best Buy to get a new card reader, so I hit upon a solution which might not be so obvious and could help someone else. My Nuvi 5000 GPS has an SD card slot and USB2 interface. Popped the card in there, plugged into the computer and bingo! Worked perfectly for copying about 5GB of files to an 8GB SDHC card. Come to think of it, I probably could have done the same with my Nikon too.

So, in a pinch, see if you have a camera or GPS that can be used as a card reader... it worked for me.

I have never gotten an older sd reader to work with the hc cards. /BVaughan

No older SD readers will be compatible with SDHC. While the physical form factor of the two appears identical, and the contacts also look identical SDHC is a different media design internally.

I remember when SDHC was announced it was stated in reviews I read that the new SDHC cards would require a newly designed reader. Limited backward compatibility with SD cards exists in most cameras and flash recorders designed for SDHC because the contacts are identical.

And on a side note it is generally best (if not required) to format, clear, initialize, or delete data from SD and SDHC cards in the camera and not the computer. I forgot a couple of times and wound up with a media card the camera would not recognize, both times initializing the media in the camera cleared it up.

I got 3 of the little USB readers that were sold with Sandisk SDHC cards and those work fine with Sandisk and PNY cards.