GH1 Memory Card Question
 

Next up, question about recording memory. I originally ordered a SanDisk 16GB Extreme SDHC for my GH1. Works great, no complaint, but I'm thinking about getting more recording media and just trying to figure out if I should justify the expense again. I bought the higher end option (I think) but now I'm trying to figure out if I should continue down that path, or go basic. I've seen basic as much as a pack of 4GB cards from Costco.

Any opinions?

If it works don't knock it, you can see the disasters all over the pages with cards, if you value your media, don't take chances, also means when you upgrade cameras you have cards that are ready to go and no waste

I use the same cards on my JVC HM700, so far so good...(and GH1)

I have a Patriot 16GB Class 6, and an older A-Data 8GB Class 6 - both work great in my GH1. The Patriot was some $40, and the A-Data was less than $20, if I recall correctly...

re:
 

Thanks guys.

Only thing I would recomment is lots of smaller cards rather than one big one. You already have a 16gb card which should last you a couple of hours, easily enough for most event work .So for the rest of your cards, get smaller (4gb or 8gb) cards. Not only are they cheaper per GB, if you have a card failure or lose one or accidentally reformat one you'll lose a lot less footage than if you'd lost 16gb worth of footage.

I've been shooting a few events now on a Transcend 16 GB card. No problems here. I shoot a catholic ceremony and had it running for about 80 minutes.

The idea of using smaller cards is a good one if you're able to shoot in short increments. I do a lot of weddings, so the larger capacity cards work best for me.

re:
 

Have any of you test the regular SanDisk SDHC (not the Extreme) which has 20 MBps speed? I see them for sale at Costco for really cheap and wondering if it's worth buying or not.

I've use the SanDisk 'Video' cards which are class 4. They were the cheapest Sandisk ones available when I bought them but now I can't find them anywhere.

They work perfectly and I've never had any problems at all. The GH1 video is only 17mbps so doesn't require very fast cards - one of the reasons i chose it over the Canon's.

Bizarre error
 

Error message that keeps popping up now on my GH1.

Motion Recording was cancelled due to a limitation from the writing speed of the card.

Or something similar (that's not quite verbatim but close). The strange thing is, I'm still trying using my good SanDisk extreme card. It's always been fine before, but now all of a sudden it's not working. It's especially bad when I'm shooting 60fps (which it also never had a problem with before. Anybody else expereincing that? Is my card going bad perhaps?

Ironically, when I use my slower quality SD cards out (the kinds you can buy at Costco for super cheap), those which have a slower write speed 15 MBs instead of 30 MBs they work without that error message.

Send that card back! It should have a warranty or guarantee or something. Looks like you might've just got unlucky with your card.

This is exactly the reason I prefer several smaller cards if you can use them. If a stiuation like this arises, you simply put that card back in your back and pull out a new one and keep shooting. Depending on how many cards you have, you might only lose 1/4 or 1/8 of your total memory by losing an 8gb card, but a 32 gig card could mean you lose all your available memory!

Good luck, and I hope you didn't lose anything critical!

re:
 

Hey John. I'm glad I listened to you when you made this suggestion a few weeks back, and bought a few smaller cards. Saved my a#$ on a gig I had the day the bizarre warning started popping up.

Be sure to reformat that card as well. It may have gotten fragmented.

Barry, when you say reformat the card, were you talking about the dud one or the one which worked?

I'm just curious because If I was in that situation, I would not want to reformat the bad card and have the problem go away, but possibly happen again at a critical moment. I'd much rather send the card off to be replaced/fixed under warranty.