What speed of memory card do you use? - Fujifilm X100 Discussions on Fuji X Series Camera Forum - Fujifilm X-Pro1 X-E1 X100S X100 X20 X10 XF1 X-S1

taylor

I've seen a few X100 reviews mentioning that they felt the camera was slow to write files to memory. I've been thinking about ordering a high speed SD card, something faster than my current class 4 card. Presumably that would help speed up the camera, but I wanted to see what kind of memory cards everyone here has been using with their X100's.

Is a class 10 or faster worth it?

taylor

Oh I forgot to mention, I don't really ever plan to shoot video with it.

seaton carew

You may save a few milliseconds so is it worth the extra cost.

The card which i find adequate 8gb Ultra @15mb/s SanDisk, that's shooting Raw it takes approx 4sec to write to card.

MarkB

Taylor, I upgraded from a Sandisk 15MB/s (4GB) card to a Sandisk Extreme Pro 45MB/s (8GB) card and reduced write times from about 5 to 4 seconds. I was savings RAW+Fine at the time. Now the Lightroom RAW converter is out, I am only saving RAW files and that has reduced write time down to about 3 seconds. I think it's down to an acceptable level.

Thanks,
MarkB
www.X100Photo.co.uk

taylor

Thanks for the advice guys!

It sounds like the super speedy card is worth the premium price, I don't want to miss a shot waiting for the memory card to catch up!

Christopher

I saw this speed test done by Flickr user fastfiftyphoto: http://www.flickr.com/groups/x100/discuss/72157626105148145/

Card A:
Sandisk 8GB Class 4
www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDHC-Secure-Digital-Card/dp/B000...

Card B
Trancsend 8B Class 6
www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-Digital-High-Capacity-Version-...

Card C:
SanDisk Extreme 30MB/sec Secure Digital Card (SDHC) CLASS 10
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002P4VBVG/ref=oss_product-1

Card D:
SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I Memory Card (8GB,45Mbps)
www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Extreme-UHS-I-Memory-45Mbps/dp/B...

This was a very basic test to see if the write speeds improve with a better card. The times below specify the duration from shutter being pressed to write indicator ceasing to flash.

Single shot mode 1 RAW frame - A = 12.1s B = 8.4s C = 6.5s D = 2.7s
Single shot mode 3 RAW frames - A = 22.1s B = 13.4s C = 11.4s D = 5.9s
Bust mode (8 RAW frames) - A = 44.6s B = 29.8s C = 20.2s D = 15.8

The UHS-I high speed card is over twice as fast at writing RAW on a single shot vs a nice Class 10 card. I'd say that's your best bet, without a doubt.

Christopher

I ordered a 16GB SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I memory card from B&H Photo today. They probably have the best price right now at $69.99 USD with free shipping, and it's in stock. If you only want the 8GB, Buy.com has the best price at $35.42 with free shipping.

I had been using a cheaper class 10 SD card with my X100, and the write times for RAW weren't too bad, but there have been enough occasions where I went to review a photo and the camera was still writing the data, to warrant the extra expense of a faster card.

winestem

I just got the SanDisk 8GB Extreme 30MB/s and am delighted to report it works beautifully--a double improvement over the 15MB/s card I had previously.

MikeeNu

I purchased a Kingston Ultimate 16GB 100X Class 10 SD card from Fry's for $29.99 (buy.com also has them), I don't think you can beat that for the price. After formatting in camera, the x100 starts up in a second and RAW write times don't seem to be a problem.

I've used Kingston in the past for my SD cards and none have failed yet.

seaton carew

Must admit a change now use sandisk extreme111 4/8gGB @30MB's
super fast for raw.

ehiris

I got the 45 Mb/s Extreme Pro for it but the X100 lacks of UHS so Class 10 is the upper limit. The extreme pro does make an even bigger difference on my Nikon D7000. BTW, Best Buy has the 8 GB Extreme Pro on sale and some stores even have it in stock.

luis

To tell you true ..I don't want under estimate big cards or extreme faster cards.
My point of view as I shoot. I take my time for every picture as I take. To me faster card is not in issue. I have a Nikon d700
To shoot more frames and faster card.
My x100 ..shoot one at time. To get the perfection an every image.

Christopher

My SanDisk Extreme Pro 45 Mb/s card arrived today, it doesn't seem like a huge improvement over my Patriot class 10 card, but I feel like it shaves off about a second or so of write time. There were a few times this weekend where I was trying to quickly capture some action with multiple shots, and the slow class 10 card seemed to be a hinderance. I failed to use burst mode however, which could be the culprit.

I'll see if I notice a difference with the new UHS-I card after I've been out shooting again this week and report back.

luis

That stinks!!!!

OlliL

Christopher, did you use the in-camera formatting?

Christopher

Yup, it was the first thing I did. :)

After using the new memory card a bit more I have come to appreciate the extra few seconds of less write time; I haven't noticed myself caught waiting to review an image yet.

I also decided to turn quick-start mode back on and have noticed a huge improvement in responsiveness after the camera auto-powers off. If I hold the shutter button down to wake up the camera, it only takes a second or so, versus what seemed like 5 or 6 seconds before. My battery won't last as long, but I won't miss any more shots. I'm not sure if this is related to the memory card, though.

OlliL

OK. Just wanted to make that clear.

I have a 16GB UHC-I and quick-start activated and I think that is a major increasment in speed (I came from a 4 GB class6).

ehiris

Correction on my previous post. Tests have shown that UHS-I cards are faster in the X100. That means the camera is UHS-I compatible. Interesting that there is no documentation of that anywhere. Maybe lost in translation?!?

jackk

The official site posted it:
http://www.finepix-x100.com/en/x100/technical-specification

michael

Currently using a Kingston SDHC 4gb class 2 card formatted in X100.

Burst Mode (8 RAW frames) in 21 seconds. I was surprised that it was faster than card A above in test yet it would be its poorer cousin (counted seconds in my head!!).

As a result of your comments above Ive just ordered SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I Memory Card (8GB,45Mbps) for 24.99 from Amazon.co.uk because i want to be able to get into the menus quicker If i need to adjust a setting. I suppose it was time for me too update my card from 4 - 8GB. Ill still hang unto 4 & 2gb cards as back up.

What is your thoughts on using a larger capacity card, ive always been cautious of using large capacity cards in case a full card corrupts and you lose everything, I usually use smaller cards. Not normally a problem shooting jpegs but RAW obvioulsy uses up space quicker and Ive been using raw+jpeg, approx 168 shots on the 4GB card. I have lost two cards in my time working as a professional photographer, (Both CF cards) on one occasion I was not able to recover any images. Professional tip, any problems with a card for what ever reason its binned, not worth taking a chance.

The flicker blog listed above http://www.flickr.com/groups/x100/discuss/72157626105148145/ seems quite heated about whether one should be using burst mode for street photography.

Just an after thought, checked my order history on www.7dayshop.com and in 2002 Purchased SmartMedia 64Mb 3.3 Volt - TRIPLE PACK for £46, its amazing how size has increased and price has come down over the years.

WilzWorkz7

i would suggest get the quickest 2GB card you can find. I am of the opinion that higher capacity card do have higher tendency to corrupt. I would avoid vanilla SD cards too seeing too many times helping friends and my club members recover lost images from SD cards even from reputable brands.

My ultra and extreme 2GB are great workhorses.

michael

Will buying a faster card improve download speeds to the computer?

Christopher

It can, even if you're just using a Class 10 SDHC card, you'll still notice an improvement in read/write speed. It's even better with the UHS-1 card.

laialpha

I noticed using the bundled Class 6 card will have the slow start up problem when it is ejected and put back into the camera. Camera startup is almost instantaneous when I switch to a Class 10 card.

michael

I bought a usb card reader, downloads the photos even quicker. The built in card readers on my computer just freeze, usb works fine.

michael

UHS-1 card arrived, didnt really notice if the camera started up any quicker. 8 RAW burst in 16 seconds, saves 6 seconds, dont think I would really appreciate this or notice much of a difference in the real world. Ah well, at least I have an 8gb card.

JeremyDMeier

I bought the SanDisk Extreme Pro 32GB class 1 card (95MB/sec write speed!!!) for $107 with the camera. Typically it's $179 I believe. I have never once waited for the camera to write files, not even when shooting video.... Iits the best!!!!

cifzo

I read about the 'need for speed', so have been using a Transcend 8Gb UHS (under $20 @Amazon). By my rough estimate, the write time for 1 RAW is less than 3 seconds. Similar to the timing on the Sandisk UHS card linked by Christopher. I wasn't sure how to get exact timing, but I guess I can video the process and then look at the timing in iMovie.

nourelrefai

I use a sandisk extreme pro class 10 95mb/s which is noticeably faster than another card I tried on my X100 which was class 10 23mb/s
So I recommend using the faster card you can find around you with the X100

Waleed

I use Transcend Class 10, which (according to specs) reads up to 20MB/s and writes up to 17MB/s.. But after reading this thread, I'm exploring the SanDisk UHS-1 Extreme Pro.

FinePixCamera

I use Fujifilm Class 6 SD cards with no problems.

cosinaphile

trancend 16 and 32 class 10s reliable pretty fast and cheap

gregvds

I'm using the Sandisk Extreme Pro 16Gb class 10 95Mb/s SDHC I.

It seems fast enough to me :-). I sold around 60 euros here in Belgium, and I found it ridiculous to put a very cheap card in a 1000 euros camera, just to be frustrated waiting all the time for the pics to write down to the card, so I went for the best available.

It is better to stay bellow 32Gb since this seems to take much more time to be scanned by the X100 during boot up, hence the 16Gb choice. Anyway, I never was short of space, even shooting jpg + raw, but I was never lost in jungle 3 weeks long :-) with ten batteries fully charged, but rather was all the time back home every evening after a hard day of work with no picture taken (being realistic here).

All the best,

finneync

I too use the Estreme Pro 8gb Class 10 95Mb/s SDHC 1. I think it is the fastest on the market...I still have to format it after putting it into my iPad. Writes raw quickly though.

maique

Hey,

fresh x100 black, and also a fresh 32GB sandisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s.
no problems at all, blazing fast writing speeds.

(glad to have found this site, loaded with info...)

JeffPutty

I'm taking the x100 to a wedding next week (as a guest). I currently have a few class 10 (20Mb/s) cards and am looking to get a new card with burst mode in mind so as not to miss the moment. I am looking at the Sandisk Extreme Pro 95Mb/s card.
Does anyone know if there is a noticeable difference 45Mb/s and the 95Mb/s on the x100 specifically? i.e. does the x100 support 95Mb/s?
Getting 1 x 32Gb card is cheaper than 2 x 16Gb cards so preference would be the 32Gb card but is there a negative with this? I see people saying slower start-up but I can live with that.

RogerRabbit

X100 is not a sports action camera. I would say it unlikely to make any noticeable difference in shooting. The only dif will be when upload to PC if you have has USB3 card reader.
Only one card means if card fails you have no back up also if card damaged or lost you loose all photos.

JeffPutty

Hi Roger, I just mean if I want to shoot a burst of 3 or 4 shots, I don't want the camera hanging up while it writes the RAW files to the card and then miss an opportunity for another frame.
Agree on the card failure!

RogerRabbit

Fuji cameras right to card slow I do not think a fast card will solve your problem.

steve1401

SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s for me every time...

MB/s not Mb/s -> Mega [Uppercase B = Bytes, Lowercase b = bits]... Now shoot me for being such a geek lol

Wibblewobble

Me too !!

RogerRabbit

Does anybody do real tests with different cards to time right speed? I mean real proper tests with same photo in same light and stop watch not opinion tests. I do not think card speed will make any dif fence for burst of 3 or 4 photos because Fuji internal right seed is very slow. Card speed will be good for upload from card reader.

nptremain

Currently using a Sandisk 8GB Extreme Pro "upto" 90MB/s, really quick compared to my friend's standard Class 10 card, his takes about 5 secs to write an image, mine is done in about a second.

streetsweeper

Sandisk extreme 16, and class 10 32's. I can notice a slight difference, but more noticeably from my eyefi (class 6). Video doesn't require high speed data transfer, photos do.

RogerRabbit said:
Does anybody do real tests with different cards to time *write* speed?

dimitri_b

I have used a 16 Gb class 4 card for years with my (slow) DSLR and never had any congestion problems. Put the same card in X10 and haven't noticed any speed issues at first, but then I sort of thought that sometimes I have to wait for camera to finish writing to card after bursts or several shots in quick succession.
So I bought SanDisk Extreme class 10 (45Mb/sec) and tested read/write speed on a computer using two different test apps - not much difference in speed between class 4 and 10 - both clocked in at 20 Mb/sec.
I then crudely timed each card in camera with a long burst of RAW shots, and class 10 was twice as fast as class 4 to finish writing to the card.
But for my normal shooting I do not feel any difference in speed.

rabpaul

dimitri_b,
So if you are shooting single or burst RAW or Jpeg+RAW Class 10 UHS-1, SanDisk Extreme (45Mb/sec) is UHS-1, would be best?
For single Jpegs any class will do i.e no significant difference between say Class 4, 6 or 10?

dimitri_b

rabpaul said:
dimitri_b,
So if you are shooting single or burst RAW or Jpeg+RAW Class 10 UHS-1, SanDisk Extreme (45Mb/sec) is UHS-1, would be best?
For single Jpegs any class will do i.e no significant difference between say Class 4, 6 or 10?

Correct. If you shoot RAW in bursts, get the fastest card your budget allows, i.e. Extreme Pro (95Mb/s). If you shoot single JPEGs, you won't notice any difference between class 4 and anything faster - I haven't.
I think with single JPEGs the in-camera processing becomes the "bottleneck", rather than card's write speed. In other words, camera takes more time to process than it takes to write the small JPEG file to a class 4 card.
Mind you, we are talking about microseconds here, the point is that here is no advantage in a faster card if it has to wait for camera just like a slower card.

ryanVargas

SanDisk Extreme Pro(95Mb/sec) 16gb or 32gb? How many Raw+Jpeg for each model?

darylcheshire

Don't forget to periodically format your card.
I understand that plugging the card into a card reader on a Windows machine writes folders or thumbnails or something and the effect in your camera is that it can take around 4 seconds to wake up. It also might have been the iPad which writes an empty folder structure.
If you offload the photos and format the card in the camera, this will fix the problem. Probably, if you export photos via the USB cable, you will avoid the problem.

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