What SD card type and speed should I use in a Canon 60D for RAW photos and occasional HD video?
Asked 10/5/2011
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I’m choosing a memory card for a Canon 60D. I’ll mostly shoot RAW stills and only occasionally record HD video. I’m seeing SD, SDHC, and SDXC cards—what’s the difference between them, and does it mainly affect compatibility or performance? Also, do I need a Class 10 card for this kind of use?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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SD vs SDHC vs SDXC has only to do with capacity with respective maximums of 2 GB, 32 GB and 2 TB. This impacts the file-system used on those cards (FAT, FAT32 and exFAT, respecitvely) and which devices are compatible with them.
Performance is governed by the transfer rate of each card. These are either represented by MB/s or by class. For performance of the camera, you are interested in one with a high write-speed, so pay attention to those who only quote a single number.
Memory cards now reach 100 megabytes/s which is probably more than you need. Full HD video from the 60D requires 6MB/s so you will be quite safe with 15MB/s or more. If you shoot continuously in RAW, then go for something even faster.
Originally by user1620. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1620
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
SD, SDHC, and SDXC mainly differ by capacity and the file system they use, which affects device compatibility more than shooting speed:
- SD: up to 2GB
- SDHC: up to 32GB
- SDXC: larger capacities
Card performance is a separate issue. For camera use, the important spec is write speed, which may be shown as a speed class or in MB/s. If a card lists only one speed number, make sure it reflects write speed, not just read speed.
For a Canon 60D, occasional Full HD video does not require an especially fast card; around 15MB/s or faster is a safe target based on the community guidance. If you shoot continuous RAW bursts, a faster card will help the buffer clear more quickly.
So: choose a compatible SD-family card with enough capacity for your needs, and prioritize solid write speed. A Class 10 card is a sensible choice, especially if you want comfortable video performance and better handling of RAW bursts, but you don’t need the very fastest cards unless you shoot a lot of continuous RAW.
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