Best SDxx cards for M (240)

[lct]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

1 hour ago, lct said:

I did some tests a couple years ago and will post them if i can retrieve them

Attached:

M240-M82_sdcards_times.xls.pdf

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Adam Bonn]

3 hours ago, lct said:

32GB cards have always been slower i don't know why. I seem to recall that they were made of two 16GB cards but i'm not sure of that. I did some tests a couple years ago and will post them if i can retrieve them but the faster cards i've used did not prove faster than the 95mb/s 64GB's on the M240. I have no experience with the M-E though.

Thank you very much

By far (in context of a second or so!) your fastest start up times are with the smallest cards

The 64GB 95mb/s from your tests does outperform the 16GB one.

I guess my two real questions are

1. The 95mb/s 64GB is a bit tricky to get these days where I live (ebay or Amazon market place gamble), the 170mb/s 64GB is far easier to find and cheaper. I just wonder if it works as well as the "original" 64GB extreme pro (it's only the read speed that's faster, not the write speed*)

2. I'm not gagging for 64GB of storage, just the best performing camera, considering that one of my 95mb/s 16GB clocks a consistent 1.69 seconds from power off to the shutter firing, am I really going get much more benefit from the original 64gb 95mb/s one?

*Considering the original 16/32GB  95mb/s have the same spec, but not the same performance I'm really not sure 🙂 

 

 

[lct]

6 minutes ago, Adam Bonn said:

2. I'm not gagging for 64GB of storage, just the best performing camera, considering that one of my 95mb/s 16GB clocks a consistent 1.69 seconds from power off to the shutter firing, am I really going get much more benefit from the original 64gb 95mb/s one?

I don't think so, at least if you don't do video. I would keep the 16GB then or try the 64GB 170mb/s for sake of curiosity. 

[Adam Bonn]

I found some 280mb/s Sandisk Extreme Pro cards I'd forgotten I had...

I've now tested all the vaguely modern cards I own... (I didn't bother with the 16GB 45mb/s M9 ones!)

I really doubt the 64gb 95mb/s will be very life changing !! 🙂 

But I'm also tempted to buy the 64gb 170mb/s just for (as you say) the curiosity

In a completely untested voodoo sort of way (and well away from the quantifiable yet I'll never do that in the field in my life test of holding down the shutter and flicking the camera on) the 32 GB cards all seemed to make the camera seem more sluggish to navigate menus/playback, with just a hint of lag compared to the 16GB ones. But like I say, that's a feeling not a test result!

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Einst_Stein]

On 10/12/2016 at 7:57 AM, keithlaban.co.uk said:

I've noticed that SanDisk cards seem cheaper when buying from their eBay shop rather than direct from their website. Any worries or downsides going the eBay route?

You might find much cheaper memory from the floor-sweeping bins. Meaning the parts does not pass the full spec, but usable. There is no way to tell the difference if you inspect chips, but the package label should tell. 

There might also be disqualified parts  with only partial capacity.  A 64GB may only work as 32GB or 16Gb. In a good case, it the package will label it as 32GB or 16GB, but with much better specs (a SDHC capacity with SDXC spec, for example). In a worse case, it may be labeled 64 GB, you will only find it when you lost yoir image.I use B&H as a reference, if it is much cheaper, No.

 

 

 

 

[Adam Bonn]

On 6/11/2020 at 9:06 PM, lct said:

try the 64GB 170mb/s for sake of curiosity. 

I probably will try the 64 GB 170mb/s out of curiosity... I was in a store today and I nearly bought it... but instead sprung for a USB-C SD card reader... Initial testing indicates this will do far more for the speed of taking images off the card, than the M240 is ever going to do for the speed of putting them on there in the first place!

I've been using that 16GB UHS-II I mentioned above and it really seems to make a difference (yes i appreciate the M won't be writing or reading at 280mb/s!) Little things I notice like flicking the camera on and pressing the ISO button as I lift the camera up and it's actually loaded the ISO menu by the time I'm looking at it! It never managed that with the 32GB card...

[lct]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I could not do without card readers either. 

[Adam Bonn]

1 hour ago, lct said:

I could not do without card readers either. 

My machine has one built in, but the external one is so much faster

[Adam Bonn]

On 6/16/2020 at 6:00 PM, Adam Bonn said:

I probably will try the 64 GB 170mb/s out of curiosity...

Ok I bought the 64 170mb/s

Before formatting in SDFormatter it came in 5th with 1.97, after it came 3rd with 1.83

Not sure that's the best €28 I've ever spent

Still at least I'll never fill it up

 

[forceofnature]

I was pleasantly surprised that my Sony Tough Cards worked just fine.   

[Adam Bonn]

On 6/20/2020 at 2:51 AM, forceofnature said:

I was pleasantly surprised that my Sony Tough Cards worked just fine.   

What size?

it SEEMS that PERHAPS size is a lot more relevant than speed (above a certain spec), in that usually small cards are faster, 32gb is slow and for the some reason the sandisk 64 works nearly as well as a small card and better than the 32

My fastest card (in the camera) is sandisk 16 UHS-II (which has plus 250mb/s speeds) but according to a review I read of that card, when it’s used in UHS-I devices (such as the M240) the BUS of the card restricts performance to around 50mb/s, making it slower than the 16gb 90mb/s UHS-I cards that I have.

I also have two pairs of identically spec’d sandisk cards (16 and 32) that don’t perform as well as each other (ie one 16 is better then the other 16 and one 32 is better than the other 32) so I think a degree of luck with your card choice is involved..

[lct]

On 6/20/2020 at 3:51 AM, forceofnature said:

I was pleasantly surprised that my Sony Tough Cards worked just fine.

May i ask if the card pops normally when you remove it in spite of its thickness? Just curious.

[forceofnature]

On 6/21/2020 at 5:30 AM, lct said:

May i ask if the card pops normally when you remove it in spite of its thickness? Just curious.

Yes it does.  Sorry such a late reply I don't get to this forum often enough. 

 

[forceofnature]

On 6/21/2020 at 5:22 AM, Adam Bonn said:

What size?

it SEEMS that PERHAPS size is a lot more relevant than speed (above a certain spec), in that usually small cards are faster, 32gb is slow and for the some reason the sandisk 64 works nearly as well as a small card and better than the 32

My fastest card (in the camera) is sandisk 16 UHS-II (which has plus 250mb/s speeds) but according to a review I read of that card, when it’s used in UHS-I devices (such as the M240) the BUS of the card restricts performance to around 50mb/s, making it slower than the 16gb 90mb/s UHS-I cards that I have.

I also have two pairs of identically spec’d sandisk cards (16 and 32) that don’t perform as well as each other (ie one 16 is better then the other 16 and one 32 is better than the other 32) so I think a degree of luck with your card choice is involved..

I dont know if there is a speed issue with the 64G card I am using.  I also have a high speed 128G Sony Card that the buffer clears fine with.   I am happy they are working fine. 

[Alberti]

The OP talked about fast use (taking fast sequences) and wanting the buffer to clear;

my only critical concern is wake up time.. I had a Sandisk Extreme-pro class-10 32MB card; and as all have stated, the slowest dog on the planet; wakeup >4 sec.  When I see something, the action is lost before the camera can fire. Result: use the camera less . . . I had thought for long, well live with it. 

Recently

Reused old Sandisk 8GB Extreme-III class 6 I had in the M8 of 8 GB of only 15Mb/s; these give fast startup, say under 2 sec.

and a old Lexar 16GB 1000x Class 10 16GB, after formatting in SDFormatter 5.1, is now perceptually under 2 sec. too.

--> My Monochrome M9M beats everything. It wakes up under a sec. 8GB, 16GB . . 

My goal with the M240 is <1 sec . . .

Now in 2021, *) with newer cards, should I buy big space 64 GB (I mostly off-load the pictures  before they reach 400 so the criterium is not space .  ) based on your experiences, such as 

- Lexar 64GB SD Pro  U1 633x 95MB/s  

- SanDisk SDXC Extreme Pro 64GB U1 170MB/s

- SanDisk SDXC Extreme 64GB 150MB/s

* (The old great list was made by Lct in 2015).

[lct]

My 64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro 170MB/s works fine but does not make significant difference in wakeup time with my old 64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s. I still use the old one on the M240 and keeps the new one for the digital CL.

[a.noctilux]

@Alberti

Your goal of less than 1s would be hard to obtain, unless trying small but fast SD cards.

 

Out of curiosity, as I've noted that the less wake up time is with small SD cards, I tested some very small SD I have.

- 2GB blank FAT formatted (oh! 37 left frames with my M246 !), a bit more than 1s (I think here it's the winner 😉)

- 4GB a bit less than 2s

You've already done 8/16GB, I don't repeat the test.

[Alberti]

Yes you are right, stick to the 16Gb I have. The SD-formatting helps a lot. 

Is explicit FAT format a requirement? I did not check anything, I just push buttons 😇

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[rtakeoka]

I changed SD card for my M-D to Delkin 64GB Advantage and startup time got much faster than Sandisk Extreme.

I'll try Delkin A2 SD card next but expect no effects because cameras doesn't optimized for A2.

[liemjerry]

Hello

I found this thread and wondering anyone here using Lexar Professional SD Card ?

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!