Get yourself the fastest possible SDHC card! I've just bought an 8GB MyMemory SDHC - Class 6 and it is noticeably slower than the 4GB SanDisk Extreme III SDHC - Class 6 card!

Does anyone have any experience with alternative cards? any faster than the SanDisk card?

It really makes a difference to the responsiveness of the E-P1.

Cheers

Brian

__________________
Founder, Olympus Photo Safari Group
http://www.ukphotosafari.org

Shouldn't the 8GB card be faster than the 4GB or am I missing something?

OMDon

The way SDHC cards are marked, the 4GB and 8GB figures are the capacities -- the amount of data the card can hold. To help visualize this, just assume that "4GB" stands for "4-gallon bucket" and "8GB" stands for "8-gallon bucket."

What Brian's talking about are "class" ratings, which are speed ratings that, basically, tell you "how fast you can fill the bucket." A Class 6 card is supposed to have a minimum sustained transfer rate of 6 megabytes per second, which makes it "faster" than a Class 4 (4 mb/sec) or Class 2 (2 mb/sec) card.

However, these are minimum rates, so it's possible for one Class 6 card to be faster than another. Also, since they're based on sustained transfer, they're mostly relevant to video recording, where the camera is continuously sending a basically constant volume of data to the card. Still cameras send their data in bursts, so a card with a higher sustained rate but a lower maximum rate may perform more slowly than one that's vice-versa.

Hi Brian,
When I first got the EP1, I was advised by the saleman that I like at Adorama to get Delkin eFilm Pro SDHC cards that are rated at 6. Picked up 2 8GB cards and been very happy. I also picked up a 16GB Lexar that is rated at 4 for vacations.
Have not really noticed a big difference in either the overall performance of the EP1 (now and EP2) with either card, but never really paid a great deal of attention. The faster card certainly seems to write faster - especially videos - but the shot to shot performance does not vary significantly. (Sometimes during a long burst, but generally not.)
Steve

The difference I notice is in clearing of multi-shot buffer... the length of time over which the write LED flashes, also the review responsiveness.

My next card purchase will definitely be the 4GB SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s card. It's not really worth buying the 8GB card for me... I very rarely fill a 4GB card between downloads.

Cheers

Brian

__________________
Founder, Olympus Photo Safari Group
http://www.ukphotosafari.org

Try the new Scandisk Extreme class 10 30MB/S. If you use GH1 then class 10 SDHC is the only card that can ensure you make 1080i HD video.

Wow! I didn't know that. You learn something everyday (hopefully). Thanks

Having been in the business for too many years to count, and having worked for Nikon, I have found over time that the Sandisk technology always continues to advance. I make it a point to use the fastest cards they come out with. The class 10 cards from Sandisk have been performing extremely well in my EP cameras from Olympus and the G1 and G1h from Panasonic. Worth the extra money for the extra writing speed.

I was just reading about SD card ratings and learned there the minimum transfer rating that is defined by the Class designation. As i understand it, this rating is important for video transfer. Higher number better for HD movies. There is also a peak transfer rate (such as 30 Mb per second) that Would be more relavant for photo files writing to the card.

CF cards do not have class designations as far as i know, only transfer speeds.

I have a 8GB SanDisk Extreme III Class 6 card as my normal card in my E-P1. In addition I have a 2GB SanDisk MicroSD card with adapter which I believe is Class 2 and did have a Transcend 2GB Class 2 card (which I sold with a old camera).

I certainly had no problems with either card on normal shooting, continuous or movie mode. Naturally the write time when finishing after continuous shooting or movie mode was considerably reduced with the Class 6 card but that's about it. Olympus recommend a Class 6 card for movie mode, but it isn't essential.

If you shoot a lot of RAW in continuous mode or a lot of movie mode, I would go with the Class 6 but if on a budget or you want to recycle old cards, you are not going to have a problem. I wouldn't think that newer (overpriced) cards faster than Class 6 are in any way necessary or even deliver a worthwhile bang for buck improvement.