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Interesting SD card speed test with Leica M-E


jim0266

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Being new to the M-E/M9, I had a few SD cards on hand and decided to see if there was any difference in write times. The surprise was the speed of an old 2GB SanDisk Extreme III card, purchased circa 2008. It was twice as fast compared bigger class 6 and class 10. Very surprising.

 

To determine a consistent speed in seconds, videos were taken in both singe shot mode making one photo or taking a series of 5 images while holding the shutter down in continuous mode.

 

Each card was formatted in the camera before testing.

 

The videos were edited so the start of the video was the sound of the shutter as it finished recocking. I used the last audible "tick." In the case of the 5-photo series it's the recocking of the 5th shot. The videos were stopped after the write lamp went dark when the photo(s) finished writing to the card.

 

Below are the measured speeds for single photo and a 5 continuous shots listed fastest slowest in seconds.

 

Single Photo

SanDisk 2GB Extreme III 4s

Transcend 8GB Class 6 8s

32 GB Sandisk Ultra Class 10 8s

Transcend 8gb Class 10 9s

Transcend 32GB Class 10 9s

 

5 Photos on Continuous Mode

SanDisk 2GB Extreme III 15-17s (multiple tests run, range in seconds)

Transcend 8GB Class 6 28s

Transcend 8gb Class 10 29s

Transcend 32GB Class 10 UHS-I 33s

Sandisk 32GB Ultra Class 10 42-44s (multiple tests run, range in seconds)

 

The full videos are viewable at Transcend 8gb Class 10 5 Photos Leica M-E M9 - YouTube

Image attached of the cards tested.

 

I have a 4GB Transcend Class 6 and a SanDisk 4GB Class 6 on the way. Curious to see how those compare.

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I wonder if the 2GB card is FAT16 and if so, if that makes a difference? I wouldn't be surprised, since the M-E's (M9's) electronics seem to be fairly ancient and if FAT16 is a simpler interface with the camera, it might end up being faster...

 

But good luck finding new 2GB cards nowadays!

 

From my M9 experience, some of the newer, faster cards resulted in worse image banding if shooting sequences, therefore I generally avoided anything with a UHS rating.

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If FAT16 is really the point it should be possible to shoot cards with up to 4GB. They might be easier to find - even today ;)

 

Edit: Fool me - that would only be possible if it was FAT32...

Edited by masira
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Depending on the actual card specification your numbers might make sense.

 

Class 6 is 6 MB/s minimum write speed

Class 10 is 10 MB/s minimum write speed

 

SanDisk 2GB Extreme III - rated at 20MB/s for read and write (it seems)

Transcend 8GB Class 6

32 GB Sandisk Ultra Class 10 - rated at 30MB/s for READS ONLY, write speed is slower

Transcend 8gb Class 10

Transcend 32GB Class 10

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I did some low level writes to my card using the DD command (dangerous command btw) and found that:

 

SanDisk Extreme 16GB Class 10 SDHC I 45MB/s has a write speed of around 8MB/s and a read speed of around 20MB/s. The 45MB/s is the interface speed. Given this is a low level test, no file system, those numbers probably make sense. A file system should do Erase and Writes in parallel (when you write to a card the memory is first erased and then written) and that would speed things up by some amount.

 

For a SanDisk Extreme Pro Class 10 SDHC I 90MB/s ... I got the same numbers.

 

With a file system based test I got write speeds as follows:

45MB/s - 10 to 18MB/s

90MB/s - 11 to 30MB/s

the variance was caused by block size. In any case, a proper SD Card driver will be faster, and ultimate performance will depend on what features of a particular SD card are supported by the camera firmware which is why newer faster cards can sometimes be slower in older equipment.

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Erfahrener,

 

I too seldom shoot continuous mode. I'm trying to find the fastest card for single shots. Can you test the 32GB 80MB/s Sandisk on single shot mode? Also, when are you starting and stoping the timer so we can get an apples-to-apples comparison? I would expect 4s write times.

 

Two new 4GB class cards arrived to test: a Transcend and Sandisk. On the way are 4GB class 6 cards from Samsung, Fuji and Lexar. Will test and post these results when they arrive.

The 4GB Transcend did ok on single shots but the series test took much longer, placing next to last.

 

Updated list below:

 

Single Photo

SanDisk 2GB Extreme III 4s

Sandisk 4GB Class 6 - 5,8,5,5,7,5,7,8s

Transcend 4GB Class 6 - 9,7,7,7,9,7,7 (both 9's after reformat)

Transcend 8GB Class 6 - 8s

32 GB Sandisk Ultra Class 10 - 8s

Transcend 8gb Class 10 9s

Transcend 32GB Class 10 9s

 

5 Photos on Continuous Mode

SanDisk 2GB Extreme III 15-17s

Sandisk 4GB Class 6 - 26,24,26,24s

Transcend 8GB Class 6 28s

Transcend 8gb Class 10 29s

Transcend 32GB Class 10 UHS-I 33s

Transcend 4GB Class 6 36,36,36

Sandisk 32GB Ultra Class 10 42-44s

Edited by jim0266
punctuation change.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Following up on my quest to find my preferred card to use in the M-E, I’ve settled on a card and tested a few more cards since my initial post.

 

Before purchasing the M-E I rented one for a week. My memory is that I was using the 32GB Sandisk Ultra card most of the week. One time an SD card full error appeared. I did not have any other issues with SD cards that week.

 

In nearly 11 years of shooting digitally I’ve never had an issue with any CF or SD card failing or losing an image. I have a pair of ancient 8MB (yes, MB) Kodak CF cards I purposely threw into the pocket of a pair of jeans and washed 6 years ago. One came out of the washer and went into distilled water before air drying. The other went into the dryer. In 2014 both cards can still write and read images.

 

After purchasing the M-E and reading many posts on which cards people found the most reliable, I began testing the few cards I had on hand. I was surprised at the write speed of an old 2GB SanDisk Extreme III card compared to newer cards I had purchased for my point and shoots. This lead me down the trail of trying to discover if smaller cards were faster in the M-E/M9.

 

The times below in some cases include additional tests of the cards I first reported. I also retimed all the cards below to start with the first blink of the write light and ending with the final light going dark. A video was made of the back of the M-E and edited with Quicktime 7 to trim the beginning and end. This is not precise to the fraction of a second. For example, if the video ended up being 6 seconds it could be 6.1 seconds or 6.9 seconds.

 

When I ran across Jamie Roberts’ and others recommendation of the Panasonic SD Gold cards I wanted to test it. The only place in the U.S. I could find them new was Adorama. If you purchase this card from Adorama via Amazon shipping is free (Amazon.com: Panasonic Gold Series 8GB Class 10 SDHC Memory Card: Computers & Accessories).

 

Write times to the same card can vary by a second or two. I have not found a pattern, but the first shot on the card after a reformat tended to be the slowest, but not for every card. I’ve noted this in the times below with an asterisk by the number. Note the two sets of numbers for the Panasonic.

 

I abandoned more testing of larger cards as I’ve settled on 8GB as my preferred size. With 213 full RAW images per 8GB card that’s plenty for how I shoot, plus I’m not putting all eggs in one basket. Since I almost never use continuous mode I only tested single shot mode for this second round.

 

Black Magic Disk Speed Test was also run multiple times for each card to see if there was a correlation. The Fuji's Speedtest numbers indicated it should have had better write speeds. Better controllers in cards "slower" or equal to the Fuji?

 

Each speed is the fasted noted. Those times in MB/s are below for read and write. Most cards wrote at speeds a few MB/s less than their peak. The Panasonic Gold was consistently in the 16-18 MB/s write speeds and spiked at 20.2 MB/s.

 

In the end I settled on the Panasonic Gold 8GB cards. The power failure feature of the Panasonic seems a prudent choice for the M9/M-E when the battery level runs low. Transcend cards have been rock solid for me over the years. There don't seem to be any issues dogging them. Transcend 8GB Class 10, currently at $7.50 USD, is a good deal.

 

The numbers after the card name are individual photo write times in seconds.

 

SanDisk 2GB Extreme III (3.5s avg)

3,3,5,3,3,4

Black Magic 18.6w, 21.6r

 

Panasonic Gold 8GB Class 10 (5.5s avg)

7,5,6,6,6,6,5,5 (Test 1) (5.7s avg)

7*,5,5,5,5,5,5 (Test 2) (5.3s avg)

Black Magic 20.2w, 35.6r

 

Transcend 8gb Class 10 (5.6s avg)

7*,6,6,5,5,5,5

Black Magic 9.4w, 21.7r

 

Transcend 8GB Class 6 (5.4s avg)

7*,5,5,5,5,5,6

Black Magic 9.5w, 16.1r

 

Sandisk Ultra 4GB Class 6 (5.8s avg)

6,5,5,7

Black Magic 11.9w, 35.5r

 

Lexar Platinum II 4GB Class 6 (5.8s avg)

6,7,5,5,5,5,7,6,6,8,6,6

Black Magic 10.9w, 16.6r

 

Transcend 4GB Class 6 (7s avg)

8*,8*,6,7,7,6

Black Magic 6.8w, 21.6r

 

Fuji 4GB Class 6 (10s avg)

11,11,9,10,10,9

Black Magic 10.6w, 20.9r (Speed spiked then got very slow (3MB/s), then faster 7.7 MB/s)

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  • 1 year later...

Don't think of these cameras as high speed sport cameras.  Rapid fire is not their strong suit, thus which chip to use is not very important to me, other than capacity.

 

Small trade off for what they and their lenses can do.

 

When shooting say, a portrait, just slow down a bit - concentrate on what you're looking at - from edge to edge.

 

You'll get used to it

 

Have fun!

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Don't think of these cameras as high speed sport cameras.  Rapid fire is not their strong suit, thus which chip to use is not very important to me, other than capacity.

 

Small trade off for what they and their lenses can do.

 

When shooting say, a portrait, just slow down a bit - concentrate on what you're looking at - from edge to edge.

 

You'll get used to it

 

Have fun!

Yeah thanks, I've been shooting with Leica digital since 2008, I just wanted a high speed card that will write the uncompressed (large) RAW files.

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