Transcend Cards, MLC vs SLC/ 2 different class 6 cards
 

I found out that there are 2 different spec Transcend class 6 cards, one with SLC (single layer cell) and one with MLC ( multi layer cell).
This may explain the recent errors with Transcend cards.

Ok, i've been using the Transcend sdhc and MXR for a long time now, i must've been one of the first to do the firmware upgrade myself, "back in the old days", at the time i bought a load of Transcend cards, all have been fine so far,using kensington and later MXR adaptords, at a later date my colleague bought an EX1 and bought a load of Transcend cards, but, he bought his in 2 seperate batches, a couple of months apart. Recently he had a card fail on him, so our supplier swapped the card, no problem, now another card has failed, card swapped again no problem.
I examined all of our cards, and found that all of my cards have a small green stripe, these have all been ok, half of my colleagues card have a green stripe and half have a big red stripe, the red strip ones are the ones that have failed.

I remember when i bought my cards there was a choice of 2 Transcend cards, one with 133x write speed, one with 150x write speed, i bought the 133x, all with green stripe.
When i visted my supplier yesterday we looked at the packaging on the transcend cards, the green stripe Transcend cards now have 150x written on the packet, the red stripe Transcend now have nothing about write speeds on the packet, no 133x on the packet anymore.
Now i was under the impression that for a card to be classed as class 6 the write speed had to be over 100x, so maybe the red stripe card are over 100x but only just.
Another thing i noticed, the 150x green strip Transcends have SLC chips in them whereas the cheaper red stripe Transcends have MLC chips in them, SLC is better in many ways,
the links below explain better than i can.


Texas Memory Systems - Flash: SLC vs. MLC

http://www.edn.com/article-partner/CA6319917.html


So my thoughts are maybe "back in the old days" Transcend where using good chips in both 133x and 150x cards, but nowadays the cheaper non 133x use cheap chips.
I remember trying to cut down one of my first Transcend cards to try and get the EX1 door to close "back in the old days" he he, any way, the card had a Samsung chip inside, if someone out there has a recently failed red stripe card could they cut the card open and tell us what chip is inside.
For what it's worth, me and my colleague are going to buy a load of the faster green strip cards.


Paul.

As I own 4 8GB and 2 16gb Transend cards.....they all have no color stripe on them at all.....but these cards were gotten last January, so the questions is.....

where on the cards are the color stripe?


also, I have never had a card fail on me....using SDHC.

thanks

Interesting. I just looked at my cards, and 4 of them have the green stripe, and two have the red stripe. I bought them in two batches last december and january from Amazon. Got 3 each time, so at least one batch had both red and green stripe cards in the shipment.

I have not had a card failure yet, but I only have them for emergency backup, I always use my SxS cards first. I have used them a fair amount on really heavy shoot days, and have only had one clip on one card fail once. Can't say it was the card, since all the other clips were just fine.

I think I'll just take the red cards out of my gear bag, just in case! (maybe I'll play with them and try to get them to fail)

I just went to the Transend web site and the card on the page has "MLC"

here is the link:

Welcome to Transcend Online Store

Can I get some comments on the current brand of SDHC cards people are using and the current SxS cards (is the 32G size only available?).
I need to stock up extra cards. Also I worry about reusing cards over and over ... is this a problem?
Finally what sources/vendors are members buying from? Thanks.

Note that MxM is now recommending ATP ProMax cards.
MxM Express
They have a page with comments on their testing of cards
MxM Express Tips – memory cards

I'd thought I'd add
MxR (sold through Dolgin in the USA) seems to recommend (sell) Transcend cards.
MxR Expresscard Reader 32GB [e-1201-32] - $49.95 : Dolgin Engineering, Camera Power Solutions

And e-films MxR comments on testing on their site directly
http://e-films.com.au/shoppingcart/p...rd-Reader.html

Here on the transcend site, 2 types of class 6, the 150x is SLC chip.

Welcome to Transcend WebsiteStandard Memory,Flash Card,USB Flash Drive,Portable HDD,Multimedia Products,Card Reader,Proprietary Memory ,Digital Music Players ,USB Flash Module,Solid State Drive,Digital Photo Frames

Welcome to Transcend Online Store

I had and 8GB green stripe in my hand yesterday, the packet said SLC chip.

Paul.

Is this the green stripe you guys are talking about?

This is the package deal I bought back in June and July of this year. If the green stripe you are referring to is the one just under the brand name, then my two 16gig cards are stripe-free. There is a red stripe under the word "Transcend" but that's all. Should I be worried or not? They seem to work okay but I'm not trusting them on any paying jobs.

Yes that's the green stripe.
The red stripe is bigger and behind the word Transcend, ie Transcend is written on it not above it.

Paul.

Hmmm, so I need to keep an eye on them even more, huh? I ran them continuously when I first got them. I ran the camera filling both cards and spanning across both of them without incident. I've used them sporadically ever since but I don't trust them as much as my SxS cards. My "red stripe" cards came with the USB card reader like the one shown in the photo I included except they show "green stripe" cards in that shot. Weird. We might have to track this down via serial numbers in case the label changed before the internal chips did.

Thats an interesting find Paul. I looked at my cards and only two of them have the green strip.

How can we be sure when we order the Transcend cards that they will come with the green strip?

Tell your supplier that you want the ones which write at 150x speed.
The other ones USED to have 133x printed on the packet but now they have no such claims so who knows what speed the can write to.

Paul.

Transcend SDHC cards with 150x speed (SLC) are limited now only to 8GB capacity, vs. CF cards, which reach the capacity of 16GB with speeds up to 300x (may be, because they are physically almost twice larger...):

Welcome to Transcend Website - 150x SDHC Class 6 (SDHC SLC 150X)
Welcome to Transcend Website - 300x CompactFlash Card (CF SLC 300x)

Hmmm. Really confusing...

Welcome to Transcend Online Store

These are cards claimed to deal with 'High End' 1080p recording, with that 'Reassuringly expensive' badge on it. The all important 'V'

Then the cards you have...

Welcome to Transcend Online Store, but in the overview they show the label pattern that I have (from last year) with the RED band behind Transcend.

So the website doesn't seem to differentiate between the red band and the green stripe. Could it be that the early Red Stripe (last year) were the precursors to the TS16GSDHC6V cards, but when Transcend got wind of this, they created two product lines?

Or is it because, with 16 cards to cycle through, I haven't hit a wall yet? But then a colleague has a couple of rogue cards that are a matter of weeks old.

Ow... Brain hurts...

Thanks everyone, I'll look into that.

Are these the cards we should now be buying?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001V9NUF...mp-1-759170-21

Matt on the second link you post if you click in the Available In link on the right the 4GB, 8GB, 16GB have the Green Stripe and the 32GB has the Red background.

I see Dolgin, now the MxR distributor in the USA sells 32GB Transcend with the adaptor.

MxM site seems to recommend ATP ProMax both 16GB and 32GB

Hoodman, MxM distributor in USA sells their own Hoodman 16GB (higher than other 16GB cards).

One might contact Dolgin and see which 32GB Transcend cards they're selling (if there's more than one). Dolgin I believe is on this forum so maybe if he sees this post he can drop and answer this question.

all mine transend cards has the red stripe and I never had an error....
(Kensington)

My supplier sells the 16gb 150x Transcend , howerevr in the write up it says the card is MLC, when really we want SLC, maybe it's a missprint, the other 150x Transcend seem to be SLC. When they get some more of these cards in stock i'll have a look myself and post back.

16GB Transcend SDHC Class 6 SD Card High Speed Memory on eBay (end time 01-Oct-09 15:10:08 BST)

Paul.

Thanks Paul.

I made a few enquires this morning and got given this link

http://www.transcend-uk.com/Products...o=1&Func2No=13

But its not SLC. If i need a SLC 150x card its £47 plus vat but it is only a 8gb. (Transcend's TS8GSDHC150)

So where do we go from here?

Hi Anthony.

Ok, i went to my supplier the other day and had this card/package in my hand

8GB Transcend SDHC Class 6 SD Card High Speed Memory on eBay (end time 11-Oct-09 12:07:42 BST)

Now on the spec of this on the website it says MLC chip, but i read the packet myself and it definitley said SLC.
I'll go back to the shop in the next few days and recheck, they're currently getting some prices for me for Transcend 150x SLC in 8gb and hopefully 16gb.
They're a trusted source to buy from, my colleague has had 2 of the newer red stripe Transcends fail and they've exchanged them without a single problem, they just grab one of the shelf and hand it to me, proper customer service.

I'll keep posting any info and prices.

Paul.

Thanks again Paul, I'll keep watching.

I think we all need to look at other cards. (this is going to be long so go get a beer)

I've been lurking here from before I got my EX1 in July and the whole reason I splashed out on an EX1 was because the media was affordable. As a small video production company it was a big decision to buy an EX1, batteries, bag etc. Splashing out another 2 grand on SXS cards (I'd have needed at least 4 ) would have been a big ask.

So I was overjoyed to read about the alternative media options. A much respected friend (and fellow poster on here) had been shooting on them for months with no issues at all.

So I order some MXR cards and also get hold of one Sandisk and a few Transcend 16GB cards (the exact products recommended on this very forum). I tested all the cards and yes, although they were slower than SXS they did the job. Red light would go out after 5 seconds. No big deal.

After the initial teething problems with forgetting about "red light spells danger" I settled into a workflow that worked well. No problems no faults.

However since then I have had some problems. First up the Sandisk had a problem where the Mac would lose the card when the clip transfer reached a certain point on a specific clip. Interestingly the transfer rate would slowly decrease towards the point of the fault.

The second fault was a Transcend that the camera simply could no longer see. Had been working find then plugged it in one day and the EX1 just ignored it.

The third fault happened on a Transcend on Friday. 45 minute seminar piece, the card recorded without complaint but the clip had corrupted 20 minutes in. Transfer wouldn't recognise it and came up with an error message, as did Final Cut. Managed to play the first 20 minutes off the camera via HDV and then recover the rest by clipping around the fault in Clip Browser and then buying the Calibrated Software mp4 codecs to enable FCP to read them.

Now you may be thinking, "well this moron has pressed record before the red light went out". But I can assure you I didn't. In fact on Friday I counted to 10 after the red light went out because it was a seminar and I wanted to put a recording break in (and it's very lucky I did as the next clip was fully intact).

If you've got this far then thank you for your patience! I now have 3 SDHC cards that I'm not willing to use for shoots. Now I have noticed that the newer Transcends have significantly slower write rate from the cards I purchased in July. The July cards would shut off the red slight in 5 seconds and overcrank to 45fps for 2 minutes or more. The newer cards struggle to reach 35 fps without error and take 7-8 seconds to clear the red light.

These newer Transcends are all from the same reputable UK video supplier as my older cards.

But here's the odd thing, both of my Transcend failures have been on the "faster" cards. The Sandisk problem I can't explain. It's a fast card also but somehow it corrupted that clip. I haven't had chance to do significant testing on the three cards yet. Can anyone recommend some free software that can stress test a card for consistency?

Where do I go from here. SXS? Well I've heard horror stories about those as well. They are horrifically overpriced and aren't as reliable as some may believe by all accounts.

I read on one website that ATP Pro cards might be worth a shot. They certainly cost more than Transcend cards but are hard to find in the UK. I've ordered a couple up to see how well they work out.

It's entirely likely that Transcend have lowered manufacturing quality in order to sell cheaper cards. If that is the case we may need to look elsewhere. I'm suggesting that these ATP cards might be worth a shot.

Thanks Marcus, we most certainly do, have to look at something else, but what card?

I don't have my EX3 that long, just a few months and like you I checked this forum and seen that it was possible to use the SDHC cards and thats why I bought the camera.
I've recorded quite a few weddings with the EX3 and SDHC cards and thankfully no problems, yet but I am starting to loose faith in the SDHC cards.

Well I'm going to try the ATP Promax 150x cards but I'll probably get some Hoodman cards across at some stage as well. Since I've managed to locate a source of ATP cards in the UK they are the easiest and cheapest way to have an experiment. MXM appear to be recommending them over other brands.

I have 2 cards arriving tomorrow so I'll do some tests in the office. But I suspect the real test will be in using them remembering the fact that my problem on Friday was on a card that I had used 8 or 9 times previously!

OK Marcus, its worth a try and thats what I'm afraid of as well, even after using a card 7/8 times error free its no guarantee it wont let you down.

Can you say where you buying the ATP cards.

The only place I could find any was Amazon as everywhere else is out of stock. Of course you could order from the USA as there are loads of places online selling them but in the UK Amazon was the only place I could find.

I believe forum rules prevent me from posting a direct link to the URL on Amazon.

However I did snatch the last two from Amazon so there's no knowing when they will have stock.

Thats OK Marcus, I understand. You have given me enough info.
Thanks.

What about a backup recording,was there a harddrive for the EX1/3.
Nanoflash sounds ideal but expensive I'm sure.

A hard drive is ideal for cosy conference shoots. Don't fancy using one around a factory, hanging off a roof, doing handheld work in harsh environments etc. The thing about flash based media is that it is quite robust (aside from our issues with SDHC).

Running around on location, a spinning HD with heads levitating a hairs breadth from the platter? No thanks!

Nanoflash, nice but expensive.

Thanks again Marcus. That makes sense about the HD.

Hoodman cards are coming to the UK soon,in a few weeks, i've been told by a source/supplier already.

Paul.

Good news Paul.

Hopefully it will be within the rules for you to post who the supplier is (Hoodman being a forum sponsor) when it happens as it will enable us in the UK to buy the cards without all the hassle of importing from Hoodman directly.

Hopefully we won't have to suffer the Apple trick of the dollar price just having a Pound sign stuck in front of it!

Please tell me all the USA places that have the ATP ProMax cards. I see a few "no name" places but not the usual reputable places.

My understanding of the forum rules is that we can't post details of retailers who aren't sponsors here. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I don't have any idea who is reputable on your side of the pond, but I did look at a couple of (what appeared to be) USA based memory specialists who had the ATP cards in stock. The MXM pages have links to a supplier they recommend.

As a more obscure brand I'd wager that counterfeit cards are less likely than the Transcends or other major brands. With those I am very careful where I buy from.

I have 8 red stripe transcend 16g cards. so far so good.

I now have the ATP cards and have tested both on one run through. The test consists of recording long and short clips as well as overcranking at 40fps. When overcranking I ensure movement in the shot to keep the VBR codec working.

The good news is they seem to work. Red to green varies between 4.5 to 5.5 seconds on both cards. Significantly better than my newer Transcends which take 8 seconds.

The cards will happily overcrank to 40fps and go on for well over 5 minutes without error. Would be interesting to see if I could fill a card like this. Going up to 42fps resulted in an error after about a minute. Didn't need a media restore on either card though interestingly. Tried this on a Transcend and it needed to be restored.

Could it be that at 42fps the camera hits the USB transfer limit and therefore the camera gives up and writes the TOC whereas the Transcends just error because they aren't fast enough?

Either way, from initial impressions these cards are worth a closer look. They certainly give me more confidence than a Transcend that takes 8 seconds to finish writing the TOC.

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so I guess I'll use them and see how I get on.

Marcus try a straight through record. Load a card in each slot and do one long record so that it crosses cards and fills both in one shot.

BTW my 32GB Sandisk Ultra II Class 2 (yes, Class 2 NOT Class 4) can do 720p24/44 without error (although it's been a while since I tested that).

Thanks Marcus. This is promising. Now to find a RELIABLE USA distributer. Neither B&H nor AbleCine (DVInfo sponsors) carry the card. Nor do my "non sponsor" source, J&R (where I got my Sandisk cards) (sorry for mentioning them but I've had to buy from non sponsors since the sponsors didn't carry the above Sandisk either).

B&H and AbelCine, do consider carrying 16GB and 32GB ATP ProMax cards, PLEASE.

Marcus, are those ATP cards 8gb or 16gb and what card reader are you using? Will they work with the Kensington reader?.