What’s Your Favorite Brand Of Memory Card [POLL]
We’ve all got them. We all need them. They are the memory cards that store our precious photos and allow us to share them with the world. They are the modern equivalent to the old roll of film and there is a vast array of options out there.
Having mainly used one brand most of my digital photography career, I’m curious what the population of DPS readers prefers for their digital memory cards. I’ve listed some of the more popular brands on the market today in the poll below. With over 260,000 daily subscribers, we should be able to get a good idea of what the population at large uses. While non-scientific, I still find it very interesting to know what you use for your digital photography needs.
76 Responses to “What’s Your Favorite Brand Of Memory Card [POLL]” - Add Yours
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:48 am
I think this is going to be a more “what do you use?” then a “what do you prefer?” response. Not many people I have talked with pay much attention to their memory cards. I think Sandisk will win hands down based on shear market proliferation. There is nothing wrong with SanDisk, but even they have many different grades / speeds of cards available. I’m not sure the is much point to this question.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:48 am
Honestly, I don’t have a favorite — I use SanDisk (because they’re readily available, reasonably cheap, and of decent quality), but I’m not wedded to them in any way. I haven’t heard of significant reliability issues with any of these brands — especially give that my card never leaves the camera anyhow. :)
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:50 am
My choice really should have been “the reasonably fast one that fit my budget.” It happened to be SanDisk, but the speed and price were more important.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:57 am
I’ve just had my 2nd PNY brand fail, so no more of them! I bought 3 4gb Lexars a few months ago when B & H had a great price and great rebate on them. I just bought 2 8gbs for the same reason – $60 rebate (it expired yesterday). Besides the great prices, I really love the 300x speed. I’ll probably stick to Lexar until they fail me!
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:15 am
I always use SanDisk for storage, great quality as needed.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:31 am
I use SanDisk now, and I’ve yet to have a problem with them. I had a number of problems with Lexar CF cards that make my real answer to this poll “anything but Lexar”.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:39 am
I’m on a mix of Lexar and SanDisk.
One thing I notice shooting weddings, I often don’t have time to remember to swap the card out before it’s full.
If I completely fill a SanDisk, I *will* lose one or two images. If I completely fill a Lexar, I never lose anything.
That puts Lexar on top for me!
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:46 am
I use SanDisk exclusively. I think spending 9 hours talking with a SanDisk rep while flying from Tel Aviv, Israel to Atlanta, GA may have swayed my decision a bit :).
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:54 am
I used to use SanDisk, but then I was reading Rob Galbraith, and he mentioned Nikon/Lexar optimization, so I tried out the Lexar 300x cards. They’re my primary cards now.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:00 am
Not mentioning brands so as to not sway those who have not voted as yet, but doesn’t look like there will be much of a fight out here on this… :)
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:51 am
I use a 32Gig Kingston with no problems as of yet…. I would say that for the majority of us non-pros use SD or Kingston which happen to work quite nicely…. I’m just happy that they are relatively cheap and accessible to the public…
nice poll DPS…
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:56 am
My first ever “digital film roll” is SanDisk, it never let me down even once. But I am not wedded to it as well for I have 3 other brands of memory card . I usually base my decision on buying on the price first and then the popularity/reliability (based on the reviews of other users) of the brand.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:53 am
I’ve been using SanDisk cards from many years. I’ve never had one fail.
I have, however, had friends who got duped and ended up buying counterfeit SanDisk cards. Buy from reputable vendors and you should be fine.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:06 am
I use Kodak brand high speed cards, the main reason 16 Gb card for 30$. So far no problem with all my cards.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:10 am
I was checking out at Office Depot yesterday and they had 2GB SD cards for $9.99! OMG I remember when I spent $50 for a 1GB. Of course my 3 Canon DSLRs all have 16GB or 32GB SanDisk CF cards now. (I’m starting to sound like an old geezer huh? “I remember back in the day…)
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:39 am
I’ve been using the store-brand cards from Microcenter, because they’re really inexpensive and they work just fine from my experience. The Microcenter-branded flash drives are really good, too.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:46 am
Panasonic. The 8GB cards get along with my Nikon a LOT better than SanDisk 8GB’s.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:09 am
I use Calumet’s ProSpec, and they’ve never failed me. They range in capacity from 4GB to 16GB, including one 16GB SD card that I use jointly with an equivalent CF card in a Canon 1DS Mark III
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:18 am
Wow – the poll results are a little one-sided!
I use SanDisk because they are a reputable brand, the cards come with a lifetime warranty (not all cards do…just the higher-end cards), and I’ve never had any SanDisk cards fail on me yet.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I use a mix of Toshiba and Sandisk cards. I was advised to switch to Toshiba’s class 6 which is supposedly better than Sandisk as most of the latter are from China these days. Any thoughts or advice on this?
I like the Sandisk Extreme III. It writes fast.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
In response to “Major Bokeh”, I remember paying $39 128MB card (on sale none the less) But of course that was back in the days on 1.5 MP cameras that could fit 500 pictures on a 128MB card.. I can barely fit 500 15MP pictures on a 4GB card.. (that I got for 14 bucks at Sam’s)
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I use 8 GB extreme IIIs (sandisk) myself.
What amazes me is how many people are saying they use 16 and 32 GB cards.
I couldn’t fathom putting 2,000+ images on a single 32 GB card. Card failures with a Lexar or Sandisk are rare, but they do happen….
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I will have to agree with Josh…
I purchased a Lexar 2 GB CF/133X as my first card mainly through reviews and I didn’t want any failures on our Italian trip a year and a half ago (NO failures – Still using it)……I’ve also picked up an SD/4GB because of price and it has worked well for me…Other than that, I have no preference…
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I really have no clue!
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Sandisk extreme series give always what they promise: reliability and speed.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Never had a single SanDisk failure. Lexar has failed on me twice. That said, Lexar’s customer service is truly excellent and enabled me to recover the images. But I’m done with Lexar. Will buy SanDisk only from now on.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:35 pm
I’m on the SanDisk side. I’ve used them for both my digital cameras and so far they’ve done everything I’ve needed from them.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I use SanDisk almost exclusively because of the quality to price ratio…but a couple months ago a Lexar rep sent me one of their cards and now I’m thinking that putting out the extra bucks for the Lexar cards is the way to go. The speed on the Lexar card is out of this world. (And btw this is comparing the “Professional” series of both brands)
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:57 pm
I use SanDisk and Lexar. 4gb. I buy what is on sale. There is no need to pay full price on memory cards. Somebody, somewhere is having a sale. Both are good brands and reliable. Never had any issues with either brand. I stay away from the really cheap one, because I still feel you get what you pay for. And as was said by others, it is better to have several smaller storage sizes that one huge one. You just never know.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Sandisk 2 and 4 GB Extreme IV are the way to go with CF and I have a couple of SD Extreme III too, they never fail and I can see the spedd difference after trying others.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
I checked Kingston in your survey. I have also used a Walgreen card and am currently using a 4 GB PQI brand SDHC card. I have a Canon point-and-shoot, and I have the CHDK Canon software upgrade on this card and a Kingston I GB card. CHDK allows near-SLR capabilities. I shoot almost exclusively in manual mode and slower shutter speeds with low ISO settings. This is my first new camera since a Polaroid Swinger, circa 1970. I figure that the CHDK upgrade would have cost least a $400-500 investment in camera with similar capabilities. It is freeware for Canon models only.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Anybody use the hoodman cards? I have one but I can’t tell if it’s any better than my sandisk ExtIII cards. Supposed to be better manufactured…. but I haven’t had any issues with the extreme IIIs. I buy Sandisk because they’re pretty cheap with the rebates.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:52 pm
For CF cards, Sandisk – fastest and most reliable cards around. Second for me would have to either be Kingston or PNY (which wasn’t listed).
If I’m using Secure Digital, though…Sandisk is the only brand I consider.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:39 am
had been using Sandisk 8GB since last 2 years at my Canon XT and now XTi, works beautiful
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:10 am
To Josh..You got that right. AMEN.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:23 am
just base on experienced, i don’t care of the price just the peformance is my main concern. i can’t back or hold the time expecially on events thats it.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 am
I am using Sandisk 8GB III 300x.
The only reason I’ve used it is because it’s reliable and fast.
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 am
by the way my vote is sandisk
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 am
Kingston. Great card – fast. 4Gig CF for capture only.
It really blows my mind when I hear of “photographers” using memory cards as a storage device. Ain’t never been billed as such and a real invitation to disaster. My procedure is to format the card in camera, shoot a session – replacing card if needed, download to my desktop, laptop or netbook then reformat in camera when inserting to use. I rotate between three cards.
While “on the road” I always have my netbook [Asus 900ha] with me at the minimum. To be perfectly honest I doubt my laptop will travel much with me any more.
To trust a high capacity mem card for anything more than capture is absolute insanity. Pony up and respect your work.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:42 am
The OTHER that I voted for is PNY 266x
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:44 am
I picked Sandisk but I use Crucial as well as Sandisk. Being a tech I have found that these two are very reliable, altho other brands are good too.
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:09 am
The only card I ever had any truble with was a Lexar. While shooting action events, I would see the image appear in my LCD screen on camera. When I tried to play them back later, they were not there. I lost over 100 fast action shots and traced it back to the Lexar card, which I tossed, as this happpen more than onece. I switched to San Disk. If I fill a card, I may lose a couple of images when I transfer them, but no problems with the cards, other than that.
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:02 am
I have a Lexar CF card in my Sony (I have Sony because my 35mm gear was Minolta and the gear is interchangeable)
I also have a Nikon P80 bridge camera which my son mostly uses, he’s not into photgraphy and just does ‘point and shoot’. That uses SD cards and we have a selection of different brands. We’ve had no problems with any of them
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:04 am
I don’t really have a preferance but had a really bad experience with Lexar when I first got my DSLR so am leary of it now…
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:15 am
Any of the brands listed are very acceptable as long as you get it for a decent price. There little noticeable performance difference in brands for the same types of memory.
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:19 am
SanDisk Extreme III in all our cameras. Fast and trustworthy.
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:05 am
I have a lot of SanDisk cards because they’re everywhere, but I have tried the Transcend and they’re great! Plus they cost less than SanDisk.
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:24 am
me on the other hand i always use kingston .
once i decided to give a chance at a sandisk sd extreme card….and a sandisk memory stick….both of them had a major failure after a few months of use…..i spent about 250$ for nothing…i never tried sandisk again and i’ll never will…
…also…most of sandisk products have a few years warranty….and the majority of kingston products have lifetime warranty…that shows how confident kingston is about their products…
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am
Confidence in the use of S.D.C.F Card Extreme-3 4 g.b. that it will be trouble free and without any hidden problem.
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Prefer, Sandisk, but I’m using a mix of brands now, got a Kingston, got a Kingmax, got a Toshiba, etc… not much difference when I use them…
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 am
I buy based on what’s on sales (taking into account the brand, speed and memory size) and now have a collection of panansonic,toshiba, sandisk, kingston, transcend and adata ranging in memory size from 2GB to 8GB. Transcend and Adata are not well known brand but the sales rep where I bought them from told me these brand are just as good and reliable as Sandisk and Kingston as they come from the same plant. Apparrantly most of big brand subcontract the manufacturing to specialist mfg plant. So far none have failed me.
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Hi
I use a Lexar Professional 2GB 133x speed and have taken over 80thousand images with them, mostly sporting images, and have had not trouble with them if in rapiture mode when doing the bikes. I am a believer that when your on a good thing stick to it.
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm
For no other reason than that it’s what I picked up, I use a 2GB Sandisk Extreme III SD card. Might like to try the higher capacity cards or perhaps a faster one, but there’s a point at which the !/$ tradeoff isn’t worth it (for me).
July 3rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I have found lately that my once-favorite Kingston SD cards have really had a quality problem, mostly early failure. This is both with the SD & High Capcity SD. The San Disk cards have been much more reliable. (I’m basing this on a purchase of at least 30 SD & HCSD cards over the past five years.)
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:26 pm
The only failure I have had has been caused by reformating a sd card on my KODAK printer
all people beware
desmondo
July 3rd, 2009 at 3:31 pm
The only failure I have had was caused by formating a sd card on my KODAK printer
all people beware
desmondo30
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I just go for the cheapest.
As long, of course, as it’s an unknown brand.
Really, really unknown.
But SanDisk is usually cheapest/
July 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Alaways used Sandisk, occasionally Kingston when on offer at Aldi.
With my change of camera recently to the D90 i purchased the Sandisk Extreme 3 8GB
July 3rd, 2009 at 8:36 pm
As I said above, I am using a PQI brand card right now. It is a brand I have never heard of, and I bought it for $7 at my local discount grocery store. My suspicion is that, like blank CDs and DVDs, and most other storage media and electronics, there are a handful of manufacturers. I agree with Jon that regardless of the label on the card, they mostly come from the same place. This would be a helpful area for DPS to look into, but I realize that you might be stepping on your advertisers’ toes.
July 3rd, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Interesting that most people care about the gb but not the speed. It would be interesting to see an article about memory cards. How fast is fast enough? Should one buy one large card or several smaller ones?
July 3rd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Interesting comments, glad to read them! Yes Chet, I have been using a couple of Hoodmans for sev yrs now, & never a failure. My “main” one (goes in a Nikon D300) is only a 1gig as I really don’t like putting ALL my eggs in one basket! On the Lexar: I DID have a couple of failures — they’re OUT with me!! I AM however considering getting a “faster’ CF as I shoot theatre/stage shows — BAAAD lighting, ALWAYS!!
July 4th, 2009 at 2:31 am
I use SanDisk, too, because they are decently priced, readily available and good quality. I accidentally stepped on one and it still works reliably!
July 4th, 2009 at 6:00 am
Major Bokeh: Speaking of geezerhood: My first photos go back to
1960-1961.Black and White Kodak FILM, Jurassic lens,Paleozoic print quality,etc.
In any event, how far do you go back?
July 4th, 2009 at 6:11 am
Follow up to my previous post. True geezerhood has several indicators in reference to cameras:
1) The camera has more memory.
2) The camera starts faster and powers down with less drama.
3) The camera has more functions that WORK.
4) The camera doesn’t shake from too much or too little caffeine.
Nothing really relevant to memory Cards,just some observations
July 4th, 2009 at 10:43 am
I am using SanDisk for the last 5 years for all my photography needs. They are decently priced, readily available and in good quality. So far not in mind to change the brand, didnt show any problem with it .
July 5th, 2009 at 12:04 am
SANDISK All the way, Pakistan loves Sandisk.! It’s got all the capabilities and the power to fuck the challenges, remaining can’t even think to do so.
July 6th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Common brands here in our place are kingston, transcend and pqi. I’m using kingston. A local hardware magazine tested the speed of some memory cards and kingston emerged the fastest.
July 16th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
My 2GB SanDisk was bundled with my Nikon D40. I have purchased 2 4GB SanDisk afterwards and quite happy with them. I don’t know how much speed gain one get from other brands but SanDisk never fails me.
I agree with those who uses smaller cards instead of a big one.
July 17th, 2009 at 5:11 am
I use SD and Lexar. If I am shooting paid, or know I wont need more then 8GB worth of storage its Lexar for me. Otherwise SD, simply for cost and quality. Patriot are garbage cards, Ive had bad experiences / failures with them, corruption of images etc.
July 18th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I’ve been using Sandisk since these type of cards existed. I still have my first 256MB & 512MB. After many years they are still operational and performs well. None of ‘em failed. I find them faster than other brands which claims to be “ULTRA”. I recommend Sandisk.
I’ve tried Lexmark and it failed after a month. I had other brands and they were OK but I prefer Sandisk. I have a 3yr old ProDou and hasn’t failed …. yet. Probably the only Sony product I bought that lasted long enough, LOL.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Sandisk, still have my original 6 year old card that hasn’t failed yet, although it’s mighty slow by todays standards!
July 20th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
EDIT:
I’ve been using Sandisk since these type of cards existed. I still have my first 256MB & 512MB. After many years they are still operational and performs well. None of ‘em failed. I find them faster than other brands which claims to be “ULTRA”. I recommend Sandisk.
I’ve tried LEXAR (not Lexmark) and it failed after a month. I had other brands and they were OK but I prefer Sandisk. I have a 3yr old ProDou and hasn’t failed …. yet. Probably the only Sony product I bought that lasted long enough, LOL.
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 am
I had a Kingston 8 GB 133X (CF/8GB-U) fail on me once with my new 5D MKII. I could see the photos on the camera but the computer did not with a card reader. It’s never happend before through the thousands of shots on my XTi. My guess is that the 5D2 could be sensitive to in computer formating. I was able to retrieve the files with software and the card has been used again without a problem. The Kingstons have a liftime warranty.
August 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 am
I have lots of Sandisk Ultra II SD cards as well as some Delkin Pro Class 6 which I’m using for my Canon HF S100 and they will be going in my Nikon D300S as well.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Some have asked and now that the poll is done I thought I’d let you know my favorite brand. For the past 5 years it’s been Transcend. I stumbled on them when going the cheap route but I have since then been impressed with the performance and quality. I’m not knocking any others, they’re just the card for me.
October 14th, 2009 at 3:55 am
Hi, most of mine are Sandisk, but I recently purchased a Kingston 16GB and Toshiba 32 GB. The Kingston seemed to gariny for low light shots. Am not sure the one I purchased was faulty. Since I bought it in Egypt, did not bother to get a replacement. Toshiba works fine too.
Thanks, Kris
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