Posted 08/04/09 at 12:00:00 AM by Gordon Mah Ung

There’s possibly nothing more confusing than trying to buy a new SDHC card. Do you buy Class 2 or Class 6. Do you care about the “X” rating and should you pay for spring for a premium card? Frankly, even geeks can get confused when faced with a selection of 14 different SDHC cards of varying sizes and ratings – none of which readily make sense. Fear not, we waded through the specs and grabbed a selection of cards for testing to see what really matters.

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Posted 06/24/09 at 02:25:48 PM by Paul Lilly

SanDisk today unveils what it claims is the world's fastest 32GB SDHC card, the 32GB SanDisk Extreme, boasting read and write speeds at up to 30MB/s.

"The market for entry to mid-level DSLR cameras is growing, and SDHC is becoming the de-facto card format for these devices," said Susan Park, director, retail product marketing, SanDisk. "Our card's 32GB of storage and upt to 30MB/s read & write speeds enable DSLR users to shoot without worrying about storage or speed limitations."

The new card meets the SD Association's new Class 10 specification, and according to SanDisk, exceeds the requirement for today's high definition (AVCHD) video recording. The sustained write speed is enough to store 160 minutes of full HD 1920x1080 pixels at a 24MB/s data transfer rate.

The SanDisk Extreme SDHC 32GB cards will start shipping to "major retailers" in August with no word yet on price. In addition, the current 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacity SanDisk Extreme SDHC cards will be upgraded from Class 6 to Class 10, also in August.

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Posted 10/20/08 at 03:32:52 PM by Mark Edward Soper

If you're a Compact Flash user, life's not been fair to you lately. You've seen CF stalwarts like Nikon and Canon turn their backs on this longtime favorite in favor of the new kid on the block, SDHC, in their newest DSLRs. Buy a new camera, and you make your collection of CF cards obsolete. Meanwhile, you've watched SDHC and its kid brother, SD, dominate the deals in your favorite big-box electronics superstores' weekly tabloids. And, just to add a cherry on the top of your cake of frustration, you've been thinking about how cool it would be to use wireless file transfer with Eye-Fi cards, but Eye-Fi is also in the tank for SD. Oh, and did I mention that "Compact" Flash is now the bulkiest flash memory format?

For all these reasons, Synchrotech's introduction of the CFMulti CompactFlash Type II to Eye-Fi + Multi-Card Adapter has come at a very good time. While CF adapters for SD cards have been around for awhile, the CFMulti also supports newer flavors such as SDHC and MMC+ as well as SD and any old MultiMediaCards (MMC) you have floating around. Plus, it's the first adapter to support Eye-Fi cards, albeit with a reduction in range. See the CFMulti and Eye-Fi FAQ for details and a list of tested cameras.

For more thoughts on the advantages of adding CFMulti to your gadget bag, and your chance to comment, join us after the jump.

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Posted 08/13/08 at 10:38:36 AM by Chris Moody

Kingston announced that it is shipping a 32GB Elite Pro SDHC Flash memory card. The new 32GB card is the largest capacity in Kingston’s line of SDHC cards, which currently includes 4-, 8- and 16GB capacities.

“With the growing popularity of digital video and the HD format, consumers continue to look for ways to extend recording times and maintain fast data transfer rates (DTR) to maximize the performance of their recording device,” said Wendy Lecot, Flash business manager, at Kingston. “Our new 32GB Elite Pro SDHC memory card is optimized to meet the demands of high capacity and fast write speeds to help consumers share their lives through the use of video, photography and other creative devices. With the addition of the 32GB capacity card, Kingston is at the forefront of offering a versatile line of SDHC solutions to solve a variety of needs in today’s digital imaging world.”

32GB is a crap load of MP3s, photos or video to go on these little cards, with about 6,000 still images (with a 10MP camera) and over eight hours of video (for 6Mbps HD extended recording)

Kingston puts the MSRP at $308.00, and it is backed by a lifetime warranty.

Features and Specifications:

• Compliant: with the SD Card Association specification version 2.00
• Secure: built-in write-protect switch prevents accidental data loss
• Compatible: with SDHC host devices; not compatible with standard SD-enabled devices/readers
• File Format: FAT 32
• Dimensions: 0.94″ x 1.25″ x 0.08″ (24mm x 32 mm x 2.1mm)
• Speed Class 4: 4MB/sec. guaranteed minimum data transfer rate

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Posted 01/25/08 at 05:22:46 PM by Mark Soper

Windows XP has problems with big (over 4GB) SDHC cards - and guess what the new Canon DSLR uses? Here's how to get the update you need.

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Posted 12/01/07 at 10:59:59 PM by Charlie White

The HDC-SD1 was the smallest and lightest camcorder we tested, and the easiest one to use. It offers few buttons to confuse you and no viewfinder, but wait a minute—that’s a frickin’ 3-inch viewscreen, which seems huge compared to the others’ 2.7-inchers. And it’s bright enough to show you its crispy video even on the sunniest of days. The zoom lever gives you just the right amount of speed right when you need it, and the navigational joystick is right there under your thumb. Its optical image stabilization holds those shots rock-solid unless you zoom all the way to 12x.

Click Read More for more. 

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