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Nikon D5000 Question

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W.Feather

[H]ard DCOTM x4 & [H]DCOTY x1
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Ive got a D5000, and need to get a new memory card.....Whats a good one to grab? I cant remember what class i need to get for the camera....and the current card does not have the class listed on it....

thanks for any input


(Size i'm looking at is probably 8 gig or so)
 
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I bought the Transcend 8GB SDHC 20MB/S TS8GSDHC10 cards here about a month ago instead of the Sandisk cards because from what I was reading the Sandisk cards were not being straightforward in their speed labels and were quoting the read and not the write speed. I needed a fast card to keep up with my D300 when shooting 7fps. I have not done any tests to really see how fast that Transcend is...
 
ok, so the higher the class the higher the speed, and therefore better for photo taking/???

the D5000 uses an SD card, so both of those are right........it shoots at 4 fps max i believe is the spec....
 
Maybe I just confused things with what I wrote. Your old one is probably a class 2 if it has no information on it. Sandisk is very well regarded. The cameras have a large buffer in them so the speed is not that important, unless you will be shooting in the highspeed mode where a fast card may allow a few more pictures to be taken in each burst.
 
the Nikon D5000 has no memory buffer, which is why the retailer(local camera shop) suggested getting the high speed card(which I couldnt remember which one it was), I guess that is class 8 or 10 then?
 
The D5000 doesn't have any internal memory for permanent storage of pictures, but it does have an internal buffer (ram) for temporary storage of the pictures. This buffer is used to temporarily store the picture information as the camera writes it out to the memory cards. A slow memory card will cause the camera to take a longer time to write all the picture data from the buffer to the card.

I looked at the manual for this camera and on page 66 it explains what it is and how to see how many pictures the buffer could hold at the current settings. This is important if you are continuous highspeed shooting. Page 215 explains the base buffer capacity size at different image quality settings. If you hold the shutter button half way down and look in the viewfinder, you'll see an R### value and this is the buffer. Things like Active D-lighting, high ISO noise reduction, auto distortion control, shutter release priority, image size, all affect the shown buffer value and how fast the camera can take pictures.

Paying tons of money for something like the ultra fast Sandisk cards is only really important if you plan on using your camera in the highspeed mode and need to get the buffer cleared as fast as possible. The card madFive linked is a good balance between cost and performance. The important note is that even a slow class 2 card will let you shoot a large number of images before the buffer fills up and you have to wait for it to flush(write) this information all out to the memory card. A really old 1st generation slow sd (not sdhc) card that you may have sitting around from and old camera may cause problems with getting a full 5 minutes of video shooting -- I'm sure the manual mentions that somewhere, and I remember reading it in mine.
 
hmm, i misunderstood the guy then

ive got a class on the 7th for this camera specifically, so I guess ill learn more ins and outs of it.......


so a class 6 or 8 would be the most cost effective(I do intend on doing HD video with it at times as well, bought the camera specifically since we are going to Australia/New Zealand this summer, figure we can get some good video with it as long as we leave it still)


it just occurred to me, we are getting the GPS adapter thing to do meta tagging of locations, will this need more speed or whatnot in the SD card?
 
The GPS adapter won't affect your choice of SD cards. I haven't read up on the GPS adapter, but I'd assume that like any GPS it'll will need a few seconds to a minute to triangulate your location, so if you immediately take a picture as soon as your turn the camera on it might not have a GPS location embedded. Though, I'd think any software would figure this out based on the time stampts and correct things for you.

The class will probably help a some, and I'd also suggest reading the first part of the manual since it does a good job of walking through the basics and most importantly use the camera and try things out. Have an excellent time in Australia and New Zealand; both are places I want to visit someday.

As you mess around with the camera, if there is anything you can't figure out, or are just looking for critiques and suggestions on a photo make a post.
 
i shall be doing that :)

ill take a look through the manual as soon as I get a chance to

thanks for the help
 
I had a D3000, and now own a D90. I purchased a Patriot LX Series 8GB Class 10 for use with it, thus far its been plenty fast.
 
your camera wont right that fast to you card regardless. pic up a sandisk extreme and you will be fine.
 
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