Moonrise & Aurora

Moonrise & Aurora

by Jakub

submit your photo


Picture of the Week Themes
Suggest and vote on themes

Please participate in Meta
and help us grow.

Tell me more ×
Photography Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professional, enthusiast and amateur photographers. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 5 down vote favorite

I want to purchase the best SD card I can get for the new GoPro HD HERO2.

On GoPro's website they sell a class 10 32GB Sandisk card, but is there a faster one I can get?

I was looking at these two, but I'm not sure if either one is compatible.

  1. Extreme® Pro™ SDHC™ UHS-I
  2. Extreme® Pro™ SDHC™/SDXC™ UHS-I
share|improve this question
These answers may help you, they are about DSLR video and memory cards: photo.stackexchange.com/questions/10540/… – dpollitt Nov 2 '11 at 13:05

3 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

The GoPro HD Hero 2 states on the FAQ page:

You will need to get a class-4 or higher SD card from a reputable brand and source in order to use the camera effectively. A class-10 SD card is recommended when using Time-Lapse mode or photo every 0.5 seconds.

Class 4 isn't that fast by today's standards, and actually equates to 4MB/s read/write speeds. The two cards you pointed out are compatible with SDHC, but are much much faster, and even way out of the current class leagues. They rate them as 300x or 45MB/s read/write.

In other words, you wouldn't have any problem using those memory cards, but from what I can tell they would be overkill. I would just pick up any standard Class 10 card and you should be covered for all situations the camera is capable of.

One thing that may be worth mentioning is the two SandDisk Extreme Pro cards that you pointed out do state that they have "extreme durability" with temperature proofing, water proofing, and shock proofing - all things which you may benefit from in extreme conditions.

share|improve this answer
5  
Whilst the specs page does indicate a class 4 or higher SDHC card, it also says '* Now supports time-lapse photo every 0.5 seconds. Requires Class 10 speed SD Card', so in at least one use case a faster card would be beneficial. – forsvarir Nov 2 '11 at 14:37
@forsvarir Thanks for pointing that out! As this is a photography site, time-lapse would certainly be an important feature to us! I have to say that it is surprising to me that time-lapse photography requires a higher speed card then 1080p video! – dpollitt Nov 2 '11 at 14:44
1  
@dpollitt thanks, my main concern was compatibility with the camera. Class 10 is a must if you want to get full functionality(0.5 sec Time-Lapse) out of the new HERO2. – AndrewFerrara Nov 2 '11 at 20:11
According to eyeofmine.com/gopro/hd/prof/index.html the highest rate for video is 720p @ 60fps which is 15.8mbps / 8 => ~2 MB/s. From my own tests with Hero2, time-lapse stills are anywhere between 2-6 MB each x 2 = ~4-12MB/s. – glenneroo Apr 19 '12 at 18:16
up vote 3 down vote
+50

If you are looking for a more credible or official source stating what SD card works the best with the GoPro Hero 2, I would look no further then the EyeOfMine website. They are a very well known company that produces their own aftermarket accessories for GoPro cameras. I doubt you could find a company with more experience modifying and getting the most out of these cameras.

As you will find on the GoPro HD Hero and GoPro Hero 2 FAQ at the EyeOfMine website:

HD HERO2: IF you want to use all the advanced features (10 picture burst for example) with the HD Hero2, it is recommended you buy a class 10 SD Card. Hero2 is not a picky with SD cards as the Hero was. Just make it a name brand and be weary of buying on Ebay.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

I recently bought a HD Hero 2 and have been using a 32G Sandisk Ultra SDHC Class 10. The package states that it can do 30M/s and so far it works great. I have tested all the modes including the best HD at 30fps and everything seems crystal smooth without any noticable frame skips. If i were to buy another card I would buy the same one from ebay and not from a professional store as they tend to oversell something that is much faster but with an attached price tag.

share|improve this answer

protected by Community♦ Aug 21 '12 at 15:42

This question is protected to prevent "thanks!", "me too!", or spam answers by new users. To answer it, you must have earned at least 10 reputation on this site.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.