SDXC & Rebel Confusion
 

So from what I see, no media comes with the camera. Okay, so what are people getting with this thing? I've never used the SD family for media, so reading up on it is a bit confusing. SDXC is the new big thing, but right now there's not really any media for it just yet, but SanDisk is about to come out with a $350 64 gig card, but that will probably be quickly outsold by others soon, blah blah blah...

...so what are people's thoughts on that? Let's say for now I buy the T2i and I just need to record 1080i 24p footage. What's my cheapest working option? Can I get some no name brand off ebay that's rated a minimum of ___ write speed?

What's the minimum recording speed needed for 1080/24p? 30p? Does SDXC provide any advantage over other formats if that's all you are shooting? Or can you buy a cheaper... I don't know, SDsomething card instead? When does SDXC come into play with a T2i?

You'll probably want a Class 6 SDHC card. 16 gig cards run around $50, 32 gig cards around $100. They're not as much of a name brand, but I've had good luck with Transcends. I'm sure someone will come out with a rundown of all the options eventually, if you're really interested in top quality you may want to dig into the Sony XDCAM forum, the EX1 and EX3 can use SD cards via adapters and there has been a lengthy discussion there about cards and quality.

Canon recommends that you should use Class 6 cards as Jeff says. They warn you that any lower class card can affect the recording or playback of the video (in the manual). The T2i doesn't record 1080i, it's either 1080p24/25/30 or 720p50/60 (for HD) and record at 330 MB/minute.

right- that was a typo from typing "1080i" so many times in the past. Not sure what an interlaced-progressive frame would even look like!

So this might be a dumb question, but- the new SDXC standard is useful how? In this camera, I mean... is it only in that it has a higher theoretical storage capacity (2 tb)? I realize in the future, new cameras will be all over this, but for the Rebel, I just want to confirm that until SDXC sizes surpass other Class 6 SD card sizes, there's no advantage to the SDXC... just want to differentiate between hype and practical reality...

Sorry... I didn't realize you said "24p"... I was in a hurry and only read the "1080i". Woops. SDXC cards potentially offer up to 300MB/sec and a maximum capacity of 2TB. I haven't been able to find too much about them but I'm sure the ups and downs will become clearer once they are more commercially available. Click Here!

An additional feature of SDXC is that they can be formatted with a file system (exFAT) that allows individual file sizes to exceed 4GB.

SDXC Capabilities - SD Card Association

exFAT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The SDXC cards are available now:

SanDisk | Products | DSLR | SanDisk Ultra® SDXC? Cards

Of course, any device would need to be able to read and write exFAT formatted cards, so either they have to come that way from the factory or they would need a firmware update to do so.

I'm confused on one thing about that limit. Does that 4GB/file limit impact continuous recording time or not? Meaning, if I have a 16GB card, can I shoot continuously until I fill up the 16 GB, or do I have to stop/start each time a clip hits the 4GB limit?

Thats about it I'm afraid. 4gb = about 12 minutes

Have a look at p135 of the (downloadable) manual.

It talks about an indicator appearing to the right of the v/f with five bars. If the card can't keep pace with the data speed the camera is generating, the internal camera buffer starts to fill up, and the amount is indicated by the five bar display.

In other words, NO card is too slow for recording - but below a certain point, the slower the card, the shorter the continuous recording time

So, even with a 16GB card, once I hit "record" it will only record until it hits the 4GB threshold and then stop (like hitting the end of tape)? It will not continue recording, making a new clip as it goes?

Mike,

What actually happens when you record long "continuous" videos on a FAT32 file system is that the camera will actually automatically split the content into multiple files no larger than 2GB in order to circumvent the limitations of that file system. (You can still continue to record "continuously", in this situation.) To properly stitch them back together into one long video you will need software which can do this correctly; otherwise, you may end up with audio sync problems.

Yikes, that sounds awful! Or, is it really as bad as it sounds? What software is there that does this correctly? The impression I am getting is that this particular limitation makes these cameras bad choices (practically speaking) for documentary shooting; is that fair to say?

You cant record anything over 4gb as a continuos clip, about 12 minutes. There is no splitting of clips, just 4gb, thats it. There is a workaround to this.
When shooting wedding services, this is what I do.
1. Record a continuos sound track on a recorder such as the Zoom H4N.
2. I use 2 cameras, and record 11 minute clips on cam 1. Whilst cam 1 is on the bride and groom, cam 2 is taking infills on the congregation etc
3. Make sure cam 2 is recording before you stop cam 1, when cam 1 has finished writing to card hit record again, stop cam 2, make sure you have an overlap of recording.
3. Bit awkward this, you will need to be editing with Vegas on PC or Final cut Pro on a Mac.
sync all the clips to the audio track with Plural eyes Singular Software It works like a charm.
There is, at the moment no way round this 4gb limit, Using 2 cameras and the method above is one of the best solutions at the moment. The benefit is your Number 2 cam does not have to be continuously recording, it really is a lot easier than using the multi cam feature in NLEs.

What I said only applies to a true camcorder. DSLRs have their own limitations due to the heat generated by their larger sensors.

In addition, even if you use SDXC on the T2i, you're still limited to 4GB per video due to the limitations of the camera.

I realise that Randall. My post was specific to the questions regarding Canon DSLR