Choosing Memory Sticks

[J Birn]

This happens to be for an a55. I'm trying to decide between one for $94.50 and one for $80.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Flash-Memory-MSHX32B-Black/dp/B004TA7QJA/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_1

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-PRO-HG-Memory-Stick-MSHX32B/dp/B003USISNK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329513629&sr=8-1

Under "technical details" the cheaper one is said to be model MSHX32A - I heard that the A and G models are discontinued, and the B is the latest model, but does it matter? (And both of them are listed as B in the product name..)

Which would you get?

--
Jeremy Birn

 

[EvilOne]

This is my educated opinion.. take it for what its worth,....Amazon has recently allowed less than excellent sellers to use their website. Its starting to turn into an Ebay like environment were the wording is and sometimes can be manipulated... with that said... I would be happy to use a direct buy, fulfilled by Amazon... Although, I always read the reviews... not so much the positive reviews because they can easily be posted by the seller, or a friend of the seller... what I do look at are the negatives and decide how credible they are... in this case someone had a negative statement saying the stick was only 30 GB.,... but the card contains some files and recovery program etc.. 2 GB worth of on board files... so that negative comment was taken with a grain of salt... IN this case I would go with the cheaper stick, because 8 of the reviews are positive... and I would use Pay pal because they back up your purchase, and do a check of the seller to protect you. Amazon also tried to make sure that these sellers are reputable.. but sometimes the sellers manipulate their words.. for example there is a big difference between a genuine Sony memory stick, and a genuine Sony replacement. meaning it is a replacement not necessarily a genuine Sony brand name product.. it just means that the replacement will fit just as the genuine Sony does..

Flags always go up when it comes to batteries and memory cards on Ebay, and recently here on Amazon.. so be careful..
--
Bill
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[J Birn]

Thanks - I think I'll go with the cheaper one. I don't want to waste $14.50 on nothing, and I still have time before my vacation to test it and could return it if it were defective or the wrong product or something.

--
Jeremy Birn

 

[FreeRadical009]

Memory card buying has become such a tricky experience in Amazon. Whereas once you could find a single model with a lot of sellers and prices, now you got to determine if one or more aren't fakes between three different results of the same model with noticeable price differences. Looks like I'm on eBay...

What surprises me more is that Amazon still doesn't list the new HX series that have a 50MB/s speed. They were released on fall last year and I got an 8GB HX Memory Stick on December. I bought it at the local Sam's. I researched it first on Amazon and no one had the 50MB/s ones, just the 30MB/s models.

Worse even, is the fact that Sony does not help to make a better difference between those models, since they share the exact same model number. I checked the one I bought against the ones Amazon had and I kept getting the 30MB/s cards.

As for your question, if the cheaper version is the real thing, then I'd go for it. Unfortunately, there's no way to know unless you have a close look to it and you can compare it against a true Sony Memory Stick. Personally, I'd go for the Amazon one, if I need to raise hell over a fake product, I rather do it with Amazon. But that's just me.

I'd recommend you look around electronic stores where you live (is possible) and see if you can find that card, there's a good chance it will be cheaper than the ones you linked to. The one I bought at Sam's turned out to be 20 dollars cheaper than the ones I saw in Amazon.

 

[EvilOne]

Memory card buying has become such a tricky experience in Amazon. Whereas once you could find a single model with a lot of sellers and prices, now you got to determine if one or more aren't fakes between three different results of the same model with noticeable price differences. Looks like I'm on eBay...

What surprises me more is that Amazon still doesn't list the new HX series that have a 50MB/s speed. They were released on fall last year and I got an 8GB HX Memory Stick on December. I bought it at the local Sam's. I researched it first on Amazon and no one had the 50MB/s ones, just the 30MB/s models.

Worse even, is the fact that Sony does not help to make a better difference between those models, since they share the exact same model number. I checked the one I bought against the ones Amazon had and I kept getting the 30MB/s cards.

As for your question, if the cheaper version is the real thing, then I'd go for it. Unfortunately, there's no way to know unless you have a close look to it and you can compare it against a true Sony Memory Stick. Personally, I'd go for the Amazon one, if I need to raise hell over a fake product, I rather do it with Amazon. But that's just me.

I'd recommend you look around electronic stores where you live (is possible) and see if you can find that card, there's a good chance it will be cheaper than the ones you linked to. The one I bought at Sam's turned out to be 20 dollars cheaper than the ones I saw in Amazon.

-- A month ago I bought 2 16 gb and one 8 gb Sony duo HX series sticks that use the 50 mb/s technology from Amazon.. the 8 gb stick was 20 dollars, the 16 gb sticks were 43 each. They are very fast to clear the full buffer of my A77. 12 seconds to clear 16 full sized files at 24 MP in extra fine.



Bill
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[J Birn]

I didn't see much info on-line about the 50MB/s memory sticks.

When you said "the new HX series" I wasn't sure which you meant, because all of them are called Pro-HG Duo HX, including the 30MB/s ones.

I see this blog post:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/08/sony-accelerates-memory-sticks-rate-of-obsolescence-to-50mbps/

It has a MS-HX32B with a 50MB/s rate on it, but I take it that other MS-HX32B memory sticks are still 30MB/s?

I'm not sure if this even matters on my a55, or if it would perform the same with either card.

--
Jeremy Birn

 

[FreeRadical009]

@EvilOne: You got lucky then, because I couldn't find them back in December. I wanted to check the prices there to determine if the one I saw at Sam's was cheaper or more expensive, but I couldn't. But it's a good thing that you mention you did find them there, when I need a new one, I'll look harder.

Speed is indeed fast, I got a 4GB Memory Stick Mark 2 and the HX takes half the time or less to clear the buffer than the Mark 2. I can shoot RAWs twice as long with the HX card. More so, I can reach the 5 fps speed with it while shooting RAW. So all in all, well worth the money.

@ J Birn: I'm sorry if my phrasing was confusing. By "new HX series" I meant the new 50MB/s line. Sony replaced the 8, 16 and 32GB line-up from the 30MB/s to 50 last year, so it is indeed a new line of Memory Sticks, but like I said, Sony kept the model numbers intact, so you can't tell which is which. I'm guessing they did this in order to avoid changing everything in their literature and websites for just a simple number.

20MB/s may sound like a small increment, but taking in account that a RAW file can be as 18 MB big (in my A700), it does make a difference. Your A55 has a 16MP sensor, so I'm guessing that the RAWs must be around the 20 MB size each, that means that a faster card will allow you to catch an extra frame whereas a slower card will keep you from firing longer since it takes longer to write down the information coming from the buffer.

If you shoot fast moving subjects in fast frame rates, this may be important to you. That's why most sport photographers use 600x cards, the writing speed on those is so fast that in some cases the card writes as quickly as the buffer transmiting the information.

If your subjects are mostly static, the 30MB/s you bought should be fast enough. If I recall correctly, should work just as well for Full HD movie capture as well.

 

[EvilOne]

I bought them December 27th

Delivery Estimate: Thursday December 29, 2011
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Sony VG-C77AM Vertical Grip for A77
Sold by: Amazon.com LLC
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Sony 16 GB PRO-HG Duo HX Memory Stick MSHX16A (Black)
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Sony 8 GB PRO-HG Duo HX Memory Stick MSHX8A (Black)
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--
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[FreeRadical009]

Odd, your cards serial number's contain A instead of the / B that mine has. Maybe that's why I didn't find them, I only looked for the B ones, since a post I read on Sony Insider said the A series was going to be discontinued.

This makes even less sense.

 

[EvilOne]

Odd, your cards serial number's contain A instead of the / B that mine has. Maybe that's why I didn't find them, I only looked for the B ones, since a post I read on Sony Insider said the A series was going to be discontinued.

This makes even less sense.

--I did not look for A series or B series... I just looked for 50 MB/s cards....at that time I did not even know that 95 Mb/s cards existed... My only concern was that they were genuine Sony cards.. I bought these cards and the grip even before I bought the camera... I agree that it funny that these are the Highest rated Sony dup cards, I would think they are the latest version but the "A" would indicated that these where the first of their type... a B would seem to come after the A with a better faster card... IM still going to buy a 95 MB/s card and just see how much faster it actually is.. if these cards take 12 sec to clear the buffer, and the 95 Mb/s card clears in 4 sec as one person said, tha'st impressively fast. These cards won go to waste, they are good for storage .
Bill
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[EvilOne]

I just now went on line and found this Note that its a B" series card

Description:

16GB Sony 10-pin 50 MB/sec read and 15MB/sec write 2.7V to 3.6V voltage support 31mm x 20mm x 1.6mm Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo HX for High Speed Video and Digital Camera

Availability: In Stock

Code: MSPDuo16GB-HG50
Discount Price: $49.85

--
Bill
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[newBgeek]

Unless you have a specific reason to go with memory stick, you are probably better off sticking with SD because you can use it with more devices. The fastest card you can stick in that A55 right now (non UHS-I) is the Sandisk Extreme Pro with a write speed of about 24 MB/s.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/compactflash-sdhc-class-10,2574-8.html

The number written on the card has nothing to do with write speed, and is only an approximation of the read speed rounded up to the nearest 10 MB/s

In Canada, these cards are on sale right now at BestBuy.
32GB for $70

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/sandisk-sandisk-extreme-32gb-class-10-sdhc-memory-card-sdsdx-032g-x46/10174247.aspx

or 16GB for $40

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/sandisk-sandisk-16gb-class-10-extreme-sdhc-memory-card-sdsdx-016g-x46/10174246.aspx

 

[EvilOne]

Unless you have a specific reason to go with memory stick, you are probably better off sticking with SD because you can use it with more devices. The fastest card you can stick in that A55 right now (non UHS-I) is the Sandisk Extreme Pro with a write speed of about 24 MB/s.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/compactflash-sdhc-class-10,2574-8.html

The number written on the card has nothing to do with write speed, and is only an approximation of the read speed rounded up to the nearest 10 MB/s

In Canada, these cards are on sale right now at BestBuy.
32GB for $70

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/sandisk-sandisk-extreme-32gb-class-10-sdhc-memory-card-sdsdx-032g-x46/10174247.aspx

or 16GB for $40

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/sandisk-sandisk-16gb-class-10-extreme-sdhc-memory-card-sdsdx-016g-x46/10174246.aspx

--Yes but that card only has 30Mb/s write speed,, that's old and slow technology,, since that slow card. there has been 45 Mb/sec and the ones I bought at 50 Mb/s, and then there is the 95 Mb/s card... and the memory sticks fit into the same slot as a sd card.. its called a stick but its similar to a standard sd card.

We have already seen real world test done right here in this thread from 30/mb/s and 54 Mb/sec and 50 Mb/s and 95 Mb/s

the 30 Mb/s was the slowest to clear the buffer of any of them,, 22 sec for the 30, 13 sec for the 45, 12 for the 50, and 4 sec for the 95 Mb/s

I bought 16 GB for 40 dollars too but it was a 50 MB/s card which it twice as fast in reality to the 30 MB/s card
Bill
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[newBgeek]

--Yes but that card only has 30Mb/s write speed,, that's old and slow technology,, since that slow card. there has been 45 Mb/sec and the ones I bought at 50 Mb/s, and then there is the 95 Mb/s card... and the memory sticks fit into the same slot as a sd card.. its called a stick but its similar to a standard sd card.

We have already seen real world test done right here in this thread from 30/mb/s and 54 Mb/sec and 50 Mb/s and 95 Mb/s

the 30 Mb/s was the slowest to clear the buffer of any of them,, 22 sec for the 30, 13 sec for the 45, 12 for the 50, and 4 sec for the 95 Mb/s

I bought 16 GB for 40 dollars too but it was a 50 MB/s card which it twice as fast in reality to the 30 MB/s card
Bill
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We are talking about the A55 here. The 45 MB/s cards are UHS-I and require cameras with that interface to take advantage of that speed. The first camera to come with that interface was the Nikon D7000.

So if you have an A77, go with the faster UHS-I cards. For us A55 users, the Sandisk Extreme is still the fastest there is, even though it is a bit dated.

And like I said before, the rating on the card has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH WRITE SPEED! It is an exaggerated approximation of the read speed only.

Even sony's press release rates the write speed of these 50 MB/s cards at 15 MB/s. Slower than even much cheaper Transcend SD cards.
http://presscentre.sony.eu/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=6713&NewsAreaId=2

 

[EvilOne]

I think you better go back and re-read that Sony article... here is a taste from that site

The range-topping Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™ HX now boasts blazing data transfer speeds of up to 50MB/sec1. 1.6x faster than previous Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™ HX cards – and available at the same price – it’s quicker than today’s fastest commercially available UHS-I SD cards when used with devices by Sony.

Data transfer means clearing the buffer ( writing to the card ) at almost twice the speed ( 1.6 X faster ) of the 30 Mb/s card... And that is what we are all looking for , as I said we all just did a test right here in this thread and got feedback from 30, 45, 50 and 95 MB/s cards and their ability to clear a full buffer..when stuffing 16 or 17 full sized 24 MP files into the limited buffer.. its important to get that data out as quickly as possible and written to the card. . It would much better shoot a burst of 16 and only wait 4 seconds than have to wait almost 30 seconds before I could shoot another burst of 16.. @ 12 FPS. this is where this speed is critical.

While the OP was referring to his 55, the thread gravitated to memory cards in general.

--
Bill
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[newBgeek]

Hi Bill,

Trust me, I've been in the technology business long enough to know that when they say "data transfer speeds", they mean sequential read speeds. That's the best number your gonna get, so that's the one they use. The fact that they put the actual write speed of the card in the press release is amazing to me. Usually they just leave that stuff out.

Also, when doing your buffer write tests, you must shoot RAW. RAW will give you a consistent file size while JPG size varies with image complexity.

It's really a simple calculation to make. If you truly get 50MB/s write speeds, you should be able to clear 16 24MP RAW images in under 8 seconds.

Let me know if you can get that speed.

 

[reflected_light]

As a new owner of an a77, should I use Memory Sticks or SD cards for best performance?

 

[EvilOne]

Hi Bill,

Trust me, I've been in the technology business long enough to know that when they say "data transfer speeds", they mean sequential read speeds. That's the best number your gonna get, so that's the one they use. The fact that they put the actual write speed of the card in the press release is amazing to me. Usually they just leave that stuff out.

Also, when doing your buffer write tests, you must shoot RAW. RAW will give you a consistent file size while JPG size varies with image complexity.

It's really a simple calculation to make. If you truly get 50MB/s write speeds, you should be able to clear 16 24MP RAW images in under 8 seconds.

Let me know if you can get that speed.

--No one with any technology knowledge cares what the speed designation is.. it's all relative.... they can call it 3 X 10 X 1000 X it doesn't matter... a 30mb/s card removes a full buffer, that's when the buffer stops taking photos at 12 frames per second... the file size can be different per shot but the buffer has a capacity which can be filled by 15 16 or 17 files... once the buffer is filled the ability of the card to take the transfer data is called the transfer speed or data speed... Again no one cares about what they cal the speed rating.. if a 30 MB/s card write speed removed the date from the buffer in 30 seconds, and a 95 Mb/s car removed the data from the buffer in 4 seconds.. IM going to buy the 95 mb/s car.. it all relative... so trusting you would be like trusting you to perform brain surgery on me.. that ain't going to happen. You don't have the knowledge.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion... I will buy the fastest cards that perform the task in the quickest amount of time and this is the 95 Mb/s card from Sandisk Extreme. it clears my full buffer in 4 seconds, whether or not it actually reaches 95 Mb/s is irrelevant.. its the quickest card on the market...at the moment.
Bill
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[EvilOne]

As a new owner of an a77, should I use Memory Sticks or SD cards for best performance?

--take the time to do the research or read the findings in this thread... the answer is right here..

do you need the fastest card.. will you be making multiple 12fps shots at 15 or 16 frames , back to back??? if that is the case and you cant wait 30 seconds after a full burst..... most people might use 12 fps but only fire off 5 or six shots.. in that case you do not have to spend the money for the quickest card out there.. a 50 MB/s card will do just fine. Right now the fastest card on the planet for your A77 is the SanDisk Extreme Pro 16 or 32 GB SDHC UHS-I Memory Card... check the prices and see if you want to spend the extra money for the 95 Mb/s card and if you will need it..
Bill
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[reflected_light]

As a new owner of an a77, should I use Memory Sticks or SD cards for best performance?

--take the time to do the research or read the findings in this thread... the answer is right here..

do you need the fastest card.. will you be making multiple 12fps shots at 15 or 16 frames , back to back??? if that is the case and you cant wait 30 seconds after a full burst..... most people might use 12 fps but only fire off 5 or six shots.. in that case you do not have to spend the money for the quickest card out there.. a 50 MB/s card will do just fine. Right now the fastest card on the planet for your A77 is the SanDisk Extreme Pro 16 or 32 GB SDHC UHS-I Memory Card... check the prices and see if you want to spend the extra money for the 95 Mb/s card and if you will need it..
Bill
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It's easier just to ask...

...see it worked....



thanx