M240 SD Cards and Associated Camera Function Speeds

[Jeff Warren]

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Thanks for this thread...for the past week I was using a sub par card waiting an ungodly amount of time...today I bought a 16 gig Hoodman Raw steel card Class 10 and its like a new camera. I didn't time the start up..but the light flashed 4 to 5 times before ready as opposed to the uncountable flashes with the previous card. seriously thanks for this info.

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[StephenPatterson]

For me the most revealing experiment so far was seeing the buffer capacity go from 6 shots to 14 shots and start and wake time go from 5 sec. to 2.5 sec after formatting the Transcend card with SDFormater.

 

No other settings on my camera were changed, other than I'm running the latest firmware. DNG compressed only, classic metering, no live view, no images on card.

[algrove]

Thanks for this thread...for the past week I was using a sub par card waiting an ungodly amount of time...today I bought a 16 gig Hoodman Raw steel card Class 10 and its like a new camera. I didn't time the start up..but the light flashed 4 to 5 times before ready as opposed to the uncountable flashes with the previous card. seriously thanks for this info.

 

Good comment. So others know about "sub-par" cards, kindly inform us the name of the sub-par card. In this way for the M we will stay away from that card. Thanks.

[Jeff Warren]

Good comment. So others know about "sub-par" cards, kindly inform us the name of the sub-par card. In this way for the M we will stay away from that card. Thanks.

 

Of couse A 32gB Delkin that read @ 24MB/S & wrote @ 17MB/S.

[algrove]

So I dug out another card to test on the M. It was a Toshiba 32GB rated 4.

 

Curiously, it behaved upon started up (verbal counting) the same as my Sandisk Extreme 32GB 30MB/s, 10 rated card (which cost 3-4 times the Toshiba card) or about 4-5 seconds-( using one thousand-one, one thousand-two, etc.).

 

The big difference came upon continuous shooting where my Sandisk still gets up to 12-14 shots before buffer slows to one second. But the Toshiba could only get to 10 shots before the slow down occurred.

[pico]

Card size may have an effect as well.

Also, whether the card is empty or partially filled.

 

I don't think that is true.

[mjh]

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So I dug out another card to test on the M. It was a Toshiba 32GB rated 4.

 

Curiously, it behaved upon started up (verbal counting) the same as my Sandisk Extreme 32GB 30MB/s, 10 rated card (which cost 3-4 times the Toshiba card) or about 4-5 seconds-( using one thousand-one, one thousand-two, etc.).

As some of you may have read in LFI 3/2013, I got markedly different start-up times with fast and slow cards in the field test M I had to base my review on. Now testing again with a production unit and the latest firmware version this difference seems to be eliminated; the start-up time is slightly less than 2 seconds with either a fast SanDisk Extreme Pro or a notoriously slow Fuji Class 6 card. Of course writing to the SanDisk card is still much faster than writing to the Fuji card.

 

Btw, the class designations are mostly relevant for video as they specify a guaranteed sustained throughput. While a class 10 card will be faster than a class 6 card there are vast differences in the performance of cards within the same class. It is not like all class 10 cards were created equal.

[algrove]

Thanks Michael-It will be around the end of April (at best) when I see my LFI #3/2013.

 

So I dug out another old SD card. A 16GB Sandisk Ultra II 15MB/s rated at 4.

 

Of course freshly formatted like all the 2 other cards I have tried so far.DNG only uncompressed, classic, no LV.

 

This one started up the fastest of all my cards at about 2 seconds! Why the exclamation point? Because this is an old card and probably not available any longer. The only difference from the 2 other cards I have tested is that it is 16GB instead of 32GB.

 

On continuous shooting it went to 12 shots before the lag kicked in. Maybe this is my go to SD card at 2 seconds for start-up.

[StephenPatterson]

As some of you may have read in LFI 3/2013, I got markedly different start-up times with fast and slow cards in the field test M I had to base my review on. Now testing again with a production unit and the latest firmware version this difference seems to be eliminated; the start-up time is slightly less than 2 seconds with either a fast SanDisk Extreme Pro or a notoriously slow Fuji Class 6 card. Of course writing to the SanDisk card is still much faster than writing to the Fuji card.

 

 

Thanks Michael, but that doesn't really explain why startup and wake times are being considerably improved after formatting on the computer instead of with Leica's in camera format.

 

This seems to be more than just an issue of "all SD cards are not created equal"

[k-hawinkler]

Thanks Michael-It will be around the end of April (at best) when I see my LFI #3/2013.

 

So I dug out another old SD card. A 16GB Sandisk Ultra II 15MB/s rated at 4.

 

Of course freshly formatted like all the 2 other cards I have tried so far.DNG only uncompressed, classic, no LV.

 

This one started up the fastest of all my cards at about 2 seconds! Why the exclamation point? Because this is an old card and probably not available any longer. The only difference from the 2 other cards I have tested is that it is 16GB instead of 32GB.

 

On continuous shooting it went to 12 shots before the lag kicked in. Maybe this is my go to SD card at 2 seconds for start-up.

 

 

Congratulations! I could live with that provided I got my M. ...

[k-hawinkler]

Thanks Michael, but that doesn't really explain why startup and wake times are being considerably improved after formatting on the computer instead of with Leica's in camera format.

 

This seems to be more than just an issue of "all SD cards are not created equal"

 

 

Stephen,

 

Thanks. Exactly!

[mjh]

Thanks Michael, but that doesn't really explain why startup and wake times are being considerably improved after formatting on the computer instead of with Leica's in camera format.

And formatting the card in the computer made no difference in my tests, so this doesn’t seem to be a universal either.

 

To couch it in Einsteinian terms, either there are hidden variables or God is indeed playing dice.

[k-hawinkler]

I wouldn't invoke either God or Einstein.

Maybe it's as simple as a bug or defective part.

[pieterpronk]

What is it with Leica and sd cards?

Will the banding issue connected with certain sd cards make a comeback?

I have to admit it adds to the Leica mystique!

[k-hawinkler]

I don't think that is true.

 

 

Hi pico,

 

Okay. I was just thinking aloud about possibilities.

In your mind what would prove or disprove this case?

Thanks.

[mjh]

What is it with Leica and sd cards?

Will the banding issue connected with certain sd cards make a comeback?

I have to admit it adds to the Leica mystique!

Actually the new M doesn’t appear to have issues with SD cards, large or small, fast or slow. In my tests the card didn’t make a difference with regard to start-up times either, but then other M owner’s experience suggests otherwise so the jury is still out on that one.

[pico]

Hi pico,

 

Okay. I was just thinking aloud about possibilities.

In your mind what would prove or disprove this case?

Thanks.

 

Without getting into the technical detail - the SD card manages where the bits are to be put, and the process is too fast to figure into the card's speed. It is so fast that even a highly fragmented card writes an almost immeasurable amount slower (for our purposes). Why? In part because there are no heads to move and manage as there are in a hard disc (from which many of us get our inapplicable impression of file management). Other factors are, for one example, how well (or whether at all) a card implements wear management. Going further into this gets complicated and probably is not pertinent to our situation.

 

SanDisk Extreme 16 GB SDHC Class 10 is my personal standard, but I have only an M9 which, by the way, does not perform better after using SDFormatter.

 

Why a card performs better (or not) after being SDFormatted is where I am investigating right now. I need a special card reader to get into it, so it will not be soon.

[algrove]

Further to my post #85. I AM finding differences in my various SD cards. Dug another one out of the wife's camera. Toshiba 16GB SDHC, dated 4. Sam's Club social a few years back.

 

So formatted it and while holding down the shutter I turned it on. I could not count to 2 seconds before it fired off a shot and another time I just got to 2 seconds when it fired the shot. So now I have 2 126GB cards that are in the 2 second range for start-up.

 

As far as continuous it fired off 12 shots (2 tries came out the same) before the one second delay kicked in.

 

So far 16GB cards in MY M-240 are faster than 32GB cards.

 

Addition--Just tried a real old 2GB Sandisk Ultra II rated at 4. So this one is my favorite! I could not even get out one thousand-one and it took a shot from start up. On continuous it did 12 shots before hitting the wall.

 

Based on this further test, it seems to me that this smaller card works faster for start-up on my M and performs well on Continuous versus larger, faster and more expensive cards.

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[pieterpronk]

Actually the new M doesn’t appear to have issues with SD cards, large or small, fast or slow. In my tests the card didn’t make a difference with regard to start-up times either, but then other M owner’s experience suggests otherwise so the jury is still out on that one.

 

Well, to be honest, it kinda sounds like you're a one man minority on this one. So it does indeed appear to have issues with SD cards. I guess the jury isn't so much still out on that one and Leica looks to be quite guilty in regards to sd card issues.

Just semantics, I know.

 

I'm quite pleased to know that apparently the start up time can be brought down to 2 seconds (down from earlier reports of 5 seconds that is quite good news). And it kinda goes with buying a Leica camera: the sd card lottery (small change compared to the main camera anyway).

Like I said, it adds to the Leica mystique. Like the Leica "look", it's hard to pinpoint what causes it, but everybody knows what you are talking about.

[algrove]

This seems to be more than just an issue of "all SD cards are not created equal"

 

For sure all SD cards are not created equal when using the M. My experience is to not go over 16GB for fast start-up and 12 continuous shots before the wall.

 

As you say, there is something else going on here. Hey, what compensation do we get for all this Beta work? Now that actuations are so important when selling an M9 (at least that is my latest experience), it seems like we have just blown 100-200 actuations minimum as Beta testers on this subject alone.