RickBetterley

Will be taking delivery of the new car this Saturday. SmartyHD and a bunch of other fun stuff are already installed.
Smarty comes with a 4GB SD card standard; kind of small for my taste. Not sure which class it is, either.
Camera will support up to 128GB but those are expensive.
I'd like to be able to record a whole day and not have to download during the day. A full day of open track (for me) is realistically 5-6 hours at most.
I want to record in the highest quality (I assume; hell, I paid for it)
So:
Which size is recommended?
Which Class?
Favorite manufacturer (thinking mostly about reliability)?
Thanks for any insight.

flatsics

I use these, never had a problem.

Matt Romanowski

The Transcend are supposed to be good cards. I've always had the best luck with Sandisk cards. Class 10 or better. Look for a sale and you can usually find something. Remember to check B+H Photo and Adorama along with the usual Sunday flyer suspects.

RickBetterley

Thanks, Matt and Doug
I have also had good luck with Sandisk but am not exactly a power user. I have a 128gb class 10 in my Canon video camera (not used in the car). Card cost almost half what the camera cost! No good reason to have that large of a card in the video camera, as it will hold something like 12 hours of HD. Battery is good for something like 1.5 hours!
Yes, I tend to buy from Adorama and B&H.
Thoughts on size? I'm guessing 64 is more than enough. About half the price (which makes sense, I suppose).

Matt Romanowski

I'm a bigger is better guy so I would go 64 megs. I bought one last night for my phone at Best Buy for $40.

ProCoach

32GB Transcend, Class 10. The camera uses about 1GB/20 minutes and can be setup to turn on when car is fired up and begin recording with G-load, so no wasted card space.

I've had fluky things happen with Patriot, Kingston and Sandisk cards... Like the write speed is too slow.

jrgordonsenior

Peter what devise do you use to transfer to your computer?

Caddell

I took 12 SCHD files and averaged the file sizes to come up with these numbers. Here are the hours of SCHD you can get on the standard size cards:

4GB = 1.1hrs
8GB = 2.3hrs
16GB = 4.6hrs
32GB = 9.2hrs
64GB = 18.4hrs
128GB = 36.9hrs

Your mileage may vary as the complex compression techniques the SCHD uses makes this not an exact process but these number may help you make the best decision on what card size works best for you.

I also have had the best luck with Class 10 cards and at current prices, I would not suggest getting any cards with lower class values than 10.

RickBetterley

Thank you, Roger. Looks like 32 can do it easily and for many events enough for 2 days.
Just in case I forget to download it, of course.
I am so glad you don't use the micro card form factor in the HD. Those things are impressive but actually too small when you handle them.

dan212

I just use 32GB cards. More than enough for a day of race or DE on my STD Definition Smarty.. I have 3 of them, so I can rotate them. NO panic if one goes bad or I lose one.. Get a 64 if you are so inclined.

The Nice thing about most of the Sandisk ones is that they are RED.. Don't get a black one.. Because one you drop it............

Caddell

So am I!!

Matt Romanowski

Remember if you have a couple of micro cards and upgrade to a SCHD, you can use the adapter and keep using your old cards!

RickBetterley

Funny you should mention that - I bought a Drift HD (helmet cam) and 3 micro SD cards for our Alaska kayaking trip last June (jeez, it just dawned on me that it sounds like I never work). They are microsd and have the adaptors (and are the Dan-approved red versions); I could use those.
Did Rennlist just save me some money?

Matt Romanowski

Nope - My invoice is in the mail!