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I am trying to determine whether or not I should purchase a class 10 or UHS Speed Class 1 card for my camera. I bought the Fujifilm Finepix S4500 when it first came out and recently started playing around with the Top 20 and Top 40 modes. It takes at least 10-15 seconds to save the 20 pictures and that costs me everything when it comes to wild life.

So I am looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178419 to replace my standard Fujifilm Speed Class 6 card. My goal is to have my camera save images faster. My camera only saves in jpeg format. So any insight as to if a class 10 or UHS Speed Class 1 card will cut down in save time would be appreciated, thanks.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ possible duplicate of How can I know what speed card to get for my camera? \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Jun 4, 2012 at 19:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ My question is similar in nature. I noticed in the answers that the write speed wasn't Chris's main issue. The write speed for my question is the issue. I need my camera to write faster so that I am able to shoot more pictures. For example I focus on Bald Eagles. I'll use the Top 6 mode which takes Large 4:3 images and then writes them. I am finding it takes 10-15 seconds to do that and that is a lifetime in photographing Eagles. \$\endgroup\$
    – Charles Levy
    Commented Jun 4, 2012 at 19:36

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From what I could find on the different modes of your camera it looks like one of the limiting factors is the speed of your SD card. I couldn't find any specs about the cameras writing speed limitations, but it would surprise me if you don't see an (small) speed-up with a faster SD card.

Have you tried to "only" take 5-10 pictures while in Top 20/40 mode, and let the camera "catch" up for a few seconds before shooting more? Would this be better than waiting for 10-15 seconds when the buffer is full?

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SD Cards: Your camera can take full advantage of UHS 1 only if it support that protocol. However, in general UHS 1 based cards are faster than normal class 10 cards (and expensive as well). For example, I have two cards. First one is Sandisk Extreme, a class 10 card with data transfer upto 45 MB/s. It also support UHS 1 protocol. My second card is Transcend class 10 card (data transfer around 20 MB/s). What I have found from my personal experience with Canon 600D that even though the camera does not support UHS 1. Still UHS 1 based card (Sandisk) is always faster than a decent class 10 (Transcend without UHS 1) in continuous shooting.

Camera Buffer: Size and speed of buffer memory is another factor which can affect the data transfer of card as well camera performance. Larger buffer would allow you large number of continuous shoots but after some time it will take its time to transfer the data to card. Then the speed of the card comes into picture.

Summary: In general, faster card say UHS 1 card (SanDisk has a card with upto 95 MB/s data transfer rate!) will give you considerable boost in data transfer between buffer to card and card to pc (you'll need an UHS supporting card reader to see full speed) even your camera may not support UHS 1 based card. Given a choice and budget, take class 10 card with UHS 1 support with fastest data transfer (Sandisk 45 MB/s or 95 MB/s).

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