Best SD/SDHC cards for Canon Rebel T2i / EOS 550D, T1i/ 500D and XSi /450D
Secure Digital or SD cards are widely used in cameras. Three different kinds of SD cards are used in cameras:
- SD cards (up to 4G),
- SDHC cards (High Capacity 4G to 32G)
- SDXC cards (eXtended Capacity up to 2TG).
SD card speed classifications:
The speed ratings are very confusing for consumers. The speed Class Rating are the official standard defined by SD associated. The speed is defined as the minimum transfer speed
- Class 2: 16 Mbit/s (2 MByte/s)
- Class 4: 32 Mbit/s (4 MByte/s)
- Class 6: 48 Mbit/s (6 MByte/s)
- Class 10: 80 Mbit/s (10 MByte/s)
The X rating is a unit coming from CD-ROM drive speed of 1.2Mbit/s.
The conversion of Class and X rating:
- 13X Class 2 (writing speed 16 Mbit/s)
- 26x Class 4 (writing speed 32 Mbit/s)
- 40x Class 6 (writing speed 48 Mbit/s)
- 66x Class 10 (writing speed 80 Mbit/s)
- 133x Class 45 (writing speed 360 Mbit/s)
Which SD card brand to get and how much memory?
The reliability of SD/SDHC cards are extremely important for digital SLRs. I learned this lesson in a hard way after my SDHC card failed and I lost all the photos and videos on the card. Since the price of the SD/SDHC cards are down so much, it is better off to buy good and reliable cards.
Considering the value, reliability and speed, the best cards to use with Canon digital Rebel T2i or EOS 550D; T1i /500D, or XSi /450D are SanDisk Ultra SDHC cards. This card is fast enough (15MB per second data transfer), reliable and not very expensive. I prefer to have a couple of 8G San Disk Ultra cards instead of 16G. For Canon Rebel T2i or EOS 550D, 8G SDHC card can record 24 min of 1080p video and ca 450 photos in RAW. You can get a couple of 8G or 16G SDHC cards depending on your own needs.
SanDisk Extreme III SDHC cards are faster than SanDisk Ultra II SDHC cards but more expensive, you don’t have to get SanDisk Extreme III SDHC card 8G . Other good brands include Kingston Ultimate Class 6 SDHC, Transcend class 6 SDHC cards and Lexar professional 133x SDHC cards.
Related posts:
Many people like Transcend SDHC card but I have my reservation after my transcend SDHC card failed and my Transcend FLash drive failed.
EOS T1i manual recommends C6 or higher for video
The classification of SD cards does not always reflect actual performance – it only stipulates minimum requirements. The crucial bit for filming with Canon DSLRs is your card’s transfer speed during writing. For HD movie recording, in a f.ex. the EOS 550d, the write speed has to be above 5.5mbps.
I use cheap Sandisk Class 2 4gb sdhc cards, and have never once had problems or seen the buffer bars. The reason is, those cards write at 10.89mbps – more than double the requirement. If you want to push it, you can go out and buy the Sandisk class 2 16gb cards which record at 5.87mbps. Here also – no problems. No need to use loads of money when you can meet the requirement comfortably at a fraction of the price.
More here: http://www.eyenorth.co.cc/2010/07/full-hd-video-on-canon-dslrs-with-class.html
Wrong link above – here is the right one: http://www.eyenorth.com/2010/07/full-hd-video-on-canon-dslrs-with-class.html
Chris,
I just pulled out a cheap sandisk class 2 and a class 10 and set to TV continuous shooting with shutter speed 1/1000
Heres what happened…the shooting speed was MUCH slower with the class 2 and when i let go of the shutter button the red light was still accessing the card. when I used the class 10 it was continuos with NO pausing or stuttering and when i let go of the shutter button the red light went off instanty. there is a HUGE difference my friend. Buy a Class 10 and do the test. Im sure youll stand corected.
Hi Silvermane,
Different cards have different write speed, and newer Sandisk class 2 cards are from what I hear considerably slower than previous batches. Some class 2, like the ones I was lucky enough to buy, write at 10.89mbps, while I’ve heard of other class 2 that write at 3.5mbps which obviously is not enough for the Canon 550d/T2i.
The model number of 4gb Sandisk cards that write as fast as class 10 are SDSDB-4096-A11. They are still available very cheap on f.ex. amazon. The modelnumber for the 16gb that are fast enough writing at a constant speed of 5.87mbps is SDSDB-016G-A14F. If you check the model number on amazon while you shop, you probably won’t go wrong.
No guarantees of course, but others that have bought these makes have had no problems. Buying class 10 of course, is the safest