Brand of SD card matter?

[paulobrad]

I'm pretty new to DSLR photography, recently bought my first - Canon 450D. Bought a 2GB SD card for it and basically went for the cheapest as I thought "an SD card is an SD card - right?".

After a busy session in my local park suddenly I was told the card wasn't formatted and lost all my hard work. Am I just unlucky or did I scrimp and now paying the price? If so, what brands are recommended?

 

[rweakins]

the brand to me has never made a difference. you just have to format it before you use it.

 

[CMD is me]

I stick with Sandisk Ultra. Its very reliable and easy to find good deals. If you have a Costco nearby the 2gb 2 pk runs $34.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

I usually use Sandisk, but I'm trying a Transend 8GB SD/HC Card
from NewEgg $26.99, which has ,so far preformed flawlessly http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208293
very

 

[compuwar]

I'm pretty new to DSLR photography, recently bought my first - Canon 450D. Bought a 2GB SD card for it and basically went for the cheapest as I thought "an SD card is an SD card - right?".

After a busy session in my local park suddenly I was told the card wasn't formatted and lost all my hard work. Am I just unlucky or did I scrimp and now paying the price? If so, what brands are recommended?

There aren't a gazillion factories churning out cards, so you're pretty-much going to deal with cards from one of a small number of plants. The differences come in testing and materials. All in all, I normally stick near the middle of the pack- high enough that I'm not getting somone's rejects, low enough that I'm not paying a premium. When I go downmarket, it's generally after doing a fair bit or research- for instance, Transcend seemed like a good play when I got their cards last time I wanted cards.

 

[John T]

Originally I was a Sandisk fan. However, I've now now found Transcend cards to be of excellent quality and a lot cheaper!

 

[taylorwilsdon]

I used to buy the cheapest generica cards. I've never lost a card, as far as I can recall (15+ SD cards, 10+ CF cards) but cards are so cheap I stick to the high end now. Sandisk Extreme and Ultra are both great cards and can be found for reasonable amounts with rebates/promotions.

I use 2GB cards because it seems like a safe compromise (if I lose it, I only lose 2gb of images vs 8gb or 16gb) but its still big enough that you're not swapping cards all the time. You can buy 5 Sandisk 2GB cards for under $80 if you shop around during Sandisk rebates.

 

[arogge]

Hoodman

This problem of data loss can happen occasionally, and unfortunately it always seems to happen at the worst times, but using cheap memory cards can increase the chances that data loss will happen to you.

Check out Hoodman SDHC cards.

 

[rweakins]

as long as you take good care of them. keep them in your camera or in a case and the brand won't make a whole lot of difference in the end. eventually they will all die so just take care of them and replace them after time