Camcorders that can make full use of a removable SDHC memory card are among the fastest expanding marketplaces in electronic products. Up to recently camcorders could only use SDHC memory cards for still images. In old designs, hard drives, DVD, as well as tape drives were usually the devices employed to store video recordings.
“SD” refers to Secure Digital. “HC” stands for High Capacity. Apart from Sony, all the other manufacturers make use of a SD or SDHC memory card with their flash memory video cameras (Sony features its own proprietary design). Sandisk, a big manufacturer of flash memory cards, has even begun promoting certain SD and SDHC memory cards as “video” cards.
All flash memory cards really aren’t created equal. Whether it’s called a video card or an SDHC memory card, there are some distinctions among SDHC flash memory cards you ought to know about before purchasing one.
SDHC Memory Card Interoperability
A camcorder that claims it works with SDHC flash memory cards always works using an SD card as well; on the other hand, it does not apply the other way around. If the camcorder states it functions with SD cards, then that is all it works with; it can’t be utilized with a SDHC storage device. That, however, is the exceptional scenario. The majority of modern video cameras can work with both.
Some of the low-priced video cameras won’t work with all SDHC memory card capacities. Just because your current video camera is SDHC compatible does not mean it functions using capacities in the higher end of the range. You will have to look at your documentation to be certain it functions with 16GB SDHC class 10 or below or 32GB SDHC class 10 or lower
SDHC Memory Card Capacities
SD memory cards max out at 2GB of storage size. An SDHC memory card can range from 4GB to 32GB in capacity. Higher capacities mean you can hold more video and photos. If you have a high definition camcorder you will want to get an SDHC memory card. If you have a standard definition camcorder you could probably make do using an SD memory card.
SDHC Memory Card Classes
Slower SD or SDHC flash memory cards probably are not able to keep track of the massive amount of data a high definition digital camcorder can feed into it. If the SDHC memory card is too slow your camcorder might not be able to record anything at all.
To better understand, an SD or SDHC flash memory card is assigned one of four classes to indicate its nominal speed: class 2, class 4, class 6, and class 10. The higher the class number, the faster the card is. The class number indicates the absolute minimum megabytes per second (MBps) of the card; the rate at which it can accept and store video data. Class 4 is rated at 4 MBps, class 6 is rated at 6 MBps, and so forth. You should expect to be charged a correspondingly high price for a high class SDHC flash card.
Quite often the true speed of the SDHC flash card is greater than that of its class rating. Similarly, video camera makers, along with manufacturers of other SDHC based equipment, can design devices that need faster rates of speed than the minimum speed indicated by the class. As a result of this it is advisable to think about class general categorization for price comparison purposes, but you should certainly check with the actual requirements of your device before purchasing a specific SDHC flash card. Don’t rely exclusively on class.
Some manufacturers advertise the speed of the camcorder plainly outside the box while some might stuff it into the fine print of the manual. No matter where it happens to be, you ought to consult this essential specification before you buy a SDHC flash memory card.
In case you have a standard definition video camera, either a SD or SDHC flash memory card of class 2 ought to do the task. The highest quality video you can record plays very well with this class of SDHC memory card.
Your best bet for a high definition camcorder is going to be a class 6 SDHC flash memory card. A class 10 SDHC flash card should perform, based on how tolerant to specification limits your video camera and SDHC memory card are designed. Be sure your video camera can go that speed before you pay the extra money it will cost you for a class 10 flash card.