Need memory card help/advice for D810 please

[Bobby2Shots]

Hi all,

I need some advice on memory cards for the D810 please. Most of the information I've found so far, is from older threads. Here we are in 2017, and I'd like to know what your current recommendations are.

Thank you.

Bob

 

[T O Shooter]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

--
A Canon G5 and a bit of Nikon gear.
---------------------------
Nobody paints like that anymore either. But it can't be wrong to try - Bob Dylan

 

[theonetruepath]

I use the Lexar Professional 1000x UDMA 7 64CG for CF and the Lexar Professional 1000x SD XC II 256GB for SD.

They both go close to as fast as the camera goes. Note that adequately rated CF is faster than SD no matter what the SD cards say on them.

 

[Bobby2Shots]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

 

[T O Shooter]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

 

[K1XH]

Hi all,

I need some advice on memory cards for the D810 please. Most of the information I've found so far, is from older threads. Here we are in 2017, and I'd like to know what your current recommendations are.

Thank you.

Bob

Depends on what you shoot and how much.

I use everything in my D810. No matter how slow...

 

[Bobby2Shots]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

 

[theonetruepath]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

 

[theonetruepath]

It doesn't do CFast, so it will fall back into a compatibility mode, which will probably be slower than a cheaper UDMA 7 card.

Also, there's no link between the two slots and write speeds. If you put a fast card in one slot and a slow in the other, one will go fast and the other slow. The camera will only write one card at a time.

Nikon D810 SD CF Card Speed Tests - Fastest memory cards for D810 - Camera Memory Speed Comparison & Performance tests for SD and CF cards

Nikon D810 memory card tests. Fastest CF and SD cards for the D810.

www.cameramemoryspeed.com

 

[jshen808]

While there many quality brand memory cards available.. my preferred (as mentioned already) is the SanDisk Extreme Pro memory cards..

 

[Bobby2Shots]

While there many quality brand memory cards available.. my preferred (as mentioned already) is the SanDisk Extreme Pro memory cards..

 

[jshen808]

While there many quality brand memory cards available.. my preferred (as mentioned already) is the SanDisk Extreme Pro memory cards..

--
Cheers, John
Photography is my hobby.
http://www.pbase.com/johnshenphotography

Here's a link to memory-card test results for the D810

http://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/reviews/sd-cards/sandisk-extreme-pro-32gb-sdhc-memory-card/

Thanks for sharing this! ..I'd just checked the memory card in my camera, and it's the same SanDisk Extreme Pro 32gb memory card shown on the site.. as mentioned, there are many quality brands of memory cards that are top performers available.. but to me, "trust" and "reliability", are very important.. so far, I had PNY and Kingston cards failed on me.. but my "trusty" SanDisk memory cards has not dissapointed me (yet)..

--
Cheers, John
Photography is my hobby.
http://www.pbase.com/johnshenphotography

 

[Manzur Fahim]

Hi all,

I need some advice on memory cards for the D810 please. Most of the information I've found so far, is from older threads. Here we are in 2017, and I'd like to know what your current recommendations are.

Thank you.

Bob

I use two cards in backup mode. I use 256GB SanDisk Extreme Pro 160MB/S CF and 512GB SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/S SDXC cards. Best cards in my opinion and very reliable, not to mention fast.

 

[Manzur Fahim]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

 

[jshen808]

I use Extreme Pro CF and SDXC cards in backup mode. What I've noticed is that if I shoot continuously and the buffer fills up, it takes the camera longer to completely clear the buffer when both cards are there. If I only have the CF (160MB/S) and not the SDXC (95MB/S), the buffer clears quicker. Either of the following is happening I guess when two cards are inserted:

1. CF slows down and records in SDXC speed as you mentioned. Or,

2. CF finishes writing before SDXC, but the camera waits for the SDXC to complete write before it gives you the full buffer memory to use again.

In either case, I do not get the speed advantage when I use both in backup mode. So, sometimes when I use continuous shooting a lot for example in an air show, I use only the CF card.

 

[Bobby2Shots]

Hi all,

I need some advice on memory cards for the D810 please. Most of the information I've found so far, is from older threads. Here we are in 2017, and I'd like to know what your current recommendations are.

Thank you.

Bob

I use two cards in backup mode. I use 256GB SanDisk Extreme Pro 160MB/S CF and 512GB SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/S SDXC cards. Best cards in my opinion and very reliable, not to mention fast.

--
http://www.mf-photography.com

Thank You Manzur, I hadn't considered the SanDisk XPro 160MB/s CF card, so that gives me an alternative. Apparently, the Lexar 1066 is a hair faster,,, meaningless difference.

 

[Bobby2Shots]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

--
A Canon G5 and a bit of Nikon gear.
---------------------------
Nobody paints like that anymore either. But it can't be wrong to try - Bob Dylan

Hi T O Shooter, thanks for the quick response. I'll check out those cards, but I have a question;

From what I've read, the D810's write-speed will match, but not exceed, the write-speed of the slower of the two cards. Therefore, even if you use a 160MB/s card in one slot,and a 95 MB/s card in the second slot, the 160MB/s card can only be written at the 95MB/s speed of the second card. Does that sound right to you?

I agree about the XQD, and that's probably what they'll do with the D810's eventual replacement.(I hope)

Bob

That's why I only use the SD for overflow. It has no effect on the CF speed that way. Once in awhile I'll max out the CF, so the SD is better than nothing. The CF matches up well with the D810 buffer - I've never had it slow down. But the couple of times I've ended up switched over to the SD it's no trouble to tell. I've buffered out running off a series of BIF shots. Usually at the worse time.

--
A Canon G5 and a bit of Nikon gear.
---------------------------
Nobody paints like that anymore either. But it can't be wrong to try - Bob Dylan

OK T O Shooter, but my question is still not precisely addressed here. My understanding is that the supposedly faster cards' speed(160MB/s), would be restrained to match the lower speed(95MB/s) of the slower card, even if you're writing to the faster card alone. Essentially, the 160MB/s card becomes, or acts like, a quasi 95MB/s card. If correct, this should have an impact on card selection (matching speeds would be optimal).

This also leads me to wonder how the write buss of the D810 deals with, or copes, with faster-speed new-technology cards, which came out long after the 810 was released. Example;Lexar Pro 64GB 3500x CFast 2.0 Card at 525MB/s. Should I presume these CF 2.0 cards are not compatible with the D810?

I use Extreme Pro CF and SDXC cards in backup mode. What I've noticed is that if I shoot continuously and the buffer fills up, it takes the camera longer to completely clear the buffer when both cards are there. If I only have the CF (160MB/S) and not the SDXC (95MB/S), the buffer clears quicker. Either of the following is happening I guess when two cards are inserted:

1. CF slows down and records in SDXC speed as you mentioned. Or,

2. CF finishes writing before SDXC, but the camera waits for the SDXC to complete write before it gives you the full buffer memory to use again.

In either case, I do not get the speed advantage when I use both in backup mode. So, sometimes when I use continuous shooting a lot for example in an air show, I use only the CF card.

--
http://www.mf-photography.com

OK, that confirms what I had previously read in another thread. Knowing this, I think I'll go with a 128GB CF card, and a 64GB SDXC card, and remove the SDXC card when I need that extra bit of performance from the D810.

That said, I've got a D500 for those rapid-fire shots.

 

[T O Shooter]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

 

[jshen808]

Sandisk Extreme Pro 160 mb/s CF with Sandisk 95mb/s U3 SD for overflow only.

On another note, wish Nikon had went XQD with the 810

 

[Old Greenlander]

I use Lexar CF 1066X