More and more digital camcorders are using flash memory as the storage medium for video recordings. Many of the latest High Definition (HD) camcorders feature an internal hard drive along with a memory card slot for a SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) memory card. If you are lucky enough to own one of the latest HD Camcorders, then you may be interested in what features to look out for in memory cards for your camcorder.
Most camcorders accept the SDHC memory card format, although some Sony camcorders have remained using the Memory Stick Pro Duo format. Leading manufacturers such as SanDisk, Transcend and Lexar have developed and marketed cards suited to recording video, although they can quite easily be used for still images or data as well.
All "Video" SDHC memory cards can be used in still cameras that accept SDHC cards.
SDHC memory cards are available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities. The higher the capacity, the more video the card can store. As a rule of thumb, at 1080p FULL HD, you can record around 1 hour of video per 4GB, so 16GB card would provide 4 hours of recording.
It is always worth checking our accessory search to see which models of memory card we recommend for your camcorder.
Speed is an important factor for SDHC memory cards when being used to record HD Video. High speed cards are more suited to handle the vast amounts of data being processed and recorded. Slower speed, lower specified cards can struggle and stop recording if the data being saved is supplied too quickly from the HD camcorder.
What Speed SDHC card do I need?
To help consumers purchase the correct memory card for their camcorder, manufacturers have created the class system. There are currently 5 classes of card: Class 2, Class 4, Class 6, Class 10 and Class 16.
The "Class" of the card refers to the minimum sustained data transfer rate (recording rate) of the card. A Class 2 would have a minimum sustained data transfer rate of 2MB/sec, Class 4 of 4MB/sec, Class 6 of 6MB/sec, Class 10 of 10MB/sec and a Class 16 of 16MB/sec.
Class 2 is used in basic stills cameras and is not suited to HD Camcorders. For 720p HD Video you require at least a Class 4 memory card, for Full HD 1080p Video, your camcorder will need at least a Class 6 card. Class 10 and Class 16 cards will work in all SDHC devices although many cannot accept the full benefit of it's advanced high speed data transfer rates.
Find out which HD Camcorder Memory Card is suitable for your HD Camcorder - click here -
