X1 and SD card

[peterv]

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Hi all,

 

I'm waiting for my X1 and I've read just about every thread on this forum. As most of us who visit here regularly know, the issue of speed keeps coming back.

 

Now I cannot comment on AF and read/write speed as I've never actually used a production X1, but I'd like to read what others have to say about this.

 

Some time ago Leica published a list of SD cards for the M8. Is there something like that available for X1 users?

 

Would the fastest card available on the market today make any noticeable difference in read/write speed?

 

Please don't bother wasting time telling me if I want fast I should buy a Panny or whatever.

 

Let's have a clean thread about SD cards for the X1.

 

Thanks, Peter

[eduardoho]

in the US, go to:

Flash-Memory-Store.com and look up:16GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC Card30MB/s listed @ usd 129.99 which is more than you need. At 12mP dng+jPEG sFIne you can shoot 600 plus pix's. Don't know the upper limit how much x1 can handle. Most reasonably priced sandDisk cards w/highest memory max out at around 32gB. As you can read from other threads, X1 is lethargic in Play Mode, and there is no video mode.

[wda]

Peter I use Sandisk 2GB or 4 GB Ultra II or III cards which are fine. Frankly I dislike the thought of using one high-capacity disk for capture. It is more vulnerable to loss, corruption or failure of some kind than a dozen or so smaller-capacity cards. For my sort of travel photography I allocate one card per day plus 50% spares. I try to backup daily and do not erase the cards until they have subsequently been downloaded to my main desktop computer. Used cards are secreted in a hotel safe until departure. There is no need to number them unless you wish to process specific days. The images are quickly sorted by date from their metadata. It is my kind of inexpensive insurance. I really cannot see the need for just one high-capacity card unless you intend to do a lot of sequence shooting.

 

My system suits me because I tend to think carefully before shooting except in exceptional circumstances. Furthermore, I am conscious that intensive shooting generates a huge amount of post-processing which is quite time-consuming.

[jsrockit]

I haven't seen anything about recommended SD cards yet. It isn't in the owners area either. Perhaps the X1 isn't as fussy about SD Cards as the M8. As far as write and read times, it certainly can make a difference.

[Panchen Lama]

For what it's worth I bought the fastest card I could find for my x1 (133x), whereas I previously had a slower card in the dlux3 I had before. If anything the in-camera write speed on the x1 seems slightly slower than my previous set up, but the copy speed from the card to the computer is much, much faster than before. I'm not an expert though and this is just my experience.

[seattlesteve]

Please don't bother wasting time telling me if I want fast I should buy a Panny or whatever.

 

Let's have a clean thread about SD cards for the X1.

 

Hi Peter,

 

A clean thread about the X1? Seems to be impossible around here.

 

The Leica dealer offered me an extra package that included an 8GB SanDisk Ultra Class 4 (15MB/s) card. That's about as close to a recommendation from Leica that I've seen, nothing official yet.

[jsrockit]

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but the copy speed from the card to the computer is much, much faster than before.

 

This is where you'll see the biggest advantage.

[ezc203]

I use a handful of 4GB SanDisk Extreme III (30Mb/s speed).

 

Like many have said before me, I don't notice the writing speed to be significantly better (or better at all) but the disk-computer transfer is MUCH MUCH MUCH faster than my previous SanDisk Ultra II (15Mb/s).

 

I guess the writing speed indicated on the SD cards states exactly what I just said, BUT it's nice to know that they work well in practice and not just in theory.

[eduardoho]

My philosophy differs, and don't know if it has any logic, but it was based on my experiences. I seldom take a memory card out of a camera once it is formatted and installed. And I always try to use the software that the camera came with, in this case the Adobe Lightroom. On my Sony cyberShots I use the Picture Browser. Once I got downloaded then I will manipulate or transfer to different media. So based on this, I try to buy the largest most reasonably priced memory cards, and usually I get up to 16gB for sd, a lot more stable media than the Memory SticksDuo's, of cyberShots which I had corrupted more than once, and luckily RescuePro helped me to retrieve lost contents. I carry with me a netBook during my travels, and I also do a daily download for fear of loosing captured media, but I don't remove the cards from the camera unnecessarily. Also there is no ac mains for X1, so caution during USB transfers.I was told by a computer geek that corruption occurs mostly likely as you yank the media out of the devices. Sony cameras are more user friendly, you can set up different recording folders within the camera firmware, which I was not yet be able to do with X1.The transfer rate of X1 using SanDisk brand of sdHC card is commendable.

[ChiILX1]

I'm thinking that the X1 buffer size and X1 write speed are the main limitations, both hardware issues. Sandisk now has extreme pros at 45mb/s- 50% faster than my 30mb/s extreme. But unless someone comes on here saying write speeds are 50% faster with the pro, I'm going to assume that the X1 write speed is maxed out on my SD card already.

 

Anyone have a number for the write speed of the X1?

[h00ligan]

Don't have write speed numbers, but can do an old 4th card vs newer faster 16. Should take a few moments to figure out. I'll post some results back.

 

My impression is that the class 6 I have is not faster than a class 4, and that the controller is the bottleneck.

 

I was surprised to see the m9 seemed slower (maybe the same controller but more mp to write) but yes, computer ead speed is substantially improved.

[JeTexas]

Class 4 and above SD cards are fast enough to record HD video. Any class 4 or class 6 rated card should be fast enough to maximize the potential of the X1. I use a SanDisk Ultra II 15 MB/s 8 GB in mine.

[Guest badbob]

One, beware of SDXC cards, because they probably won't work. SDXC was made to get beyond 32gb, but may also come in sizes of 32gb and less.

 

It's best to use a large card such as 8 to 32gb, and never remove the card from the camera, due to the possibility of static discharge. I've used many SD cards in many small cameras including the X1 and Panasonic micro 4/3 cameras, and never had a problem. I do know people who remove cards from their cameras, and those people frequently do have problems.

[JeTexas]

One, beware of SDXC cards, because they probably won't work. SDXC was made to get beyond 32gb, but may also come in sizes of 32gb and less.

 

It's best to use a large card such as 8 to 32gb, and never remove the card from the camera, due to the possibility of static discharge. I've used many SD cards in many small cameras including the X1 and Panasonic micro 4/3 cameras, and never had a problem. I do know people who remove cards from their cameras, and those people frequently do have problems.

 

I swap cards constantly in all my cameras and use card readers to transfer the data. In ten years and six different cameras, I've never had an issue.

[ChiILX1]

I swap cards constantly in all my cameras and use card readers to transfer the data. In ten years and six different cameras, I've never had an issue.

 

That's Because you must be using SDHC (high capacity). Im not even aware of widespread use of XC yet. Anything beyond 32gb is XC and the M9 and X1 are explicitly incompatible with XC.

[ChiILX1]

What I'm interested in here is if the write speed of the X1 can go beyond 30mb/s- if getting the 45mb/s extreme pro will help reduce this 12 second wait after a 6 burst. I can speculate no myself but I'm wondering if anyone can empirically conclude it.

[h00ligan]

I just did a little test.. The cards were Transcend 16gb class 6 (15-18mb/s according to tests) vs panasonic 4gb class 4 (rated at 10mb/s)

 

MF - burst mode - (6 shots) - auto shutter 2.8 aperture. Times from shutter press to end of green light (write indicator)

 

The results were within tenths of a second and much more likely due to my variance (i'm not a machine!) 21.2-21.7 seconds (shutter was slow on this one)

 

Testing from last click of a burst to finished write yielded 16.2-16.7 seconds on both cards.. the fastest time on the slower card, which again supports that i am not perfect. I see no difference from class 4 to class 6 - although i may have a fast class 4 and slow class 6. If I had another card to test that was one of the superfast ones, I would, but I don't expect it would be any different.. to me it seems the camera is the limiting factor, even with a card rated at 10mbps.

 

The transcend is $25 - I think spending more for cards specifically for this camera (excluding read to computer speed) is a waste of $$.. and a throughput of 10mb/s or less is very slow for a modern camera. 30 mbps seems to be a pipe dream... but I'd have to test more cards to conclude that.. still, doubtful.

 

For others who may find this thread - the camera was available for shooting prior to the 21 seconds, that was just the full write time for a burst. I'll use the same two cards in my gf1 and see if there's a speed difference there between them (should be).

[gar1013]

One, beware of SDXC cards, because they probably won't work. SDXC was made to get beyond 32gb, but may also come in sizes of 32gb and less.

 

It's best to use a large card such as 8 to 32gb, and never remove the card from the camera, due to the possibility of static discharge. I've used many SD cards in many small cameras including the X1 and Panasonic micro 4/3 cameras, and never had a problem. I do know people who remove cards from their cameras, and those people frequently do have problems.

 

It's funny - I received the opposite advice yesterday at the X1 Akademie in LA. Basically, the advice was to never transfer photos by hooking up the camera, and to always use a reader. The rep from Leica told us about a coworker who lost a large amount of vacation photos because their battery died while transferring the images to their computer. Since the connection to the computer was not properly terminated, the images were lost.

 

The advice we got was: small to medium size cards (not all your eggs in one basket), invest in a card reader (fewer things to go wrong), and to reformat a card anytime you swap it to a different make OR model of camera (he shared some horror stories from his early days of shooting digital).

[h00ligan]

From an IT pov it doesn't really matter whether you remove the card from the cam..the bottom line is to eject either before removing.

 

Doing a real format once in a while is a good idea.

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[JeTexas]

That's Because you must be using SDHC (high capacity). Im not even aware of widespread use of XC yet. Anything beyond 32gb is XC and the M9 and X1 are explicitly incompatible with XC.

 

I was referring to the poster's claim that swapping cards will kill your camera with static electricity, not addressing the format issue.

 

It is correct that the X1 can do SDHC but not XC.