Here's a few deals on Samsung Media Cards you can't ignore. For GH4 owners this could also be good news. I've had a few days working with these Samsung SDHC cards and "so far" every bitrate/framerate i've been throwing at it has had no errors.
(yes I have a card collection)
Turns out with a max bitrate of 200Mb/s (bits) the speed requirements for your SDHC cards need only be 25MB/s (Bytes). Of course there's no guarantee the write speeds are 'sustained', but these Samsung SDHC cards are rated at 40MB/s Write and 80MB/s Read speeds, leaving a little bit of additional head room. If you plan to shoot 4K this actually drops down to 100Mb/s (less data rate) which means your card should support a constant read/write of at least 12.5 MB/s.
Just for kicks, here's a screengrab of the Samsung SDHC cards using the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test on my Mac.
Samsung " 3 PACK " 32GB SDHC Pro UHS-1 Class 10 Memory Card, Upto 80MB/s Read, Upto 40MB/s Write
Now if you're curious as the type of numbers a Sandisk Extreme Pro SDXC (found here) puts up, here's a screen grab. You can see the Read/Write speeds are much faster - but yes of course more expensive.
Another Samsung bundle is available for microSDHC / microSDXC Cards which work great for your GoPro Hero3+ cameras or anything that requires these small cards.
Samsung " 3 PACK" Pro Class 10 (UHS-1) 32GB microSDHC Flash Card with Adapter, Up to 70MB/s Read & 20MB/s Write Speed
For the GH4 camera, you need a card that can sustain a write speed of 25MB/s, which in most cases I can't seem to even get close to with my footage. Most of the stuff i'm shooting still sits way below this max requirement. Of course if you want something with even more than the Samsung 30MB/s, here's a more affordable Sandisk Extreme 45MB/s SDXC Card.
My tests below show that it can at least sustain over 40MB/s read/write speeds and less than a $1/GB. Check it out (found here)
Scott
Thanks so much for your quick reply! I never opened the packaging so I'm pretty sure I can return it and save $120!! I've been so impressed by this camera so far!
Emm
Post author@Scott - If you can return it, your GH4 won't need it.
Scott
Hey Emm, I need your opinion. When I ordered my GH4 I also order one of those dang expensive UHS-II Extreme Pro cards from SanDisk (280 MB/s) to do 4K. From What I've read and am seeing reported here, these cards are major overkill and basically a wait of funds. Do you agree? Should I send this card back to B&H? My other card is a 95MB/s SanDisk. I'm dying to find out what you think! Thanks!
Emm
Post author@Chris K. - Good to know, thanks.
Chris K.
Answering my own question, the camera reports: "Motion recording was cancelled due to the limitation of the writing speed of the card." Reported this about 30s into the recording on an old SD card. Phew.
Chris K.
Been using these cards for a couple days now--And I'm wondering, what happens if a card is not fast enough? I tried out what I thought was a too-slow card this morning (clocks in at ~15Mbps) and the GH4 just recorded 3 minutes of C4K without a hitch.
I am concerned that it will drop frames or something secret, I'm hoping it just stops and says "your card sucks" or something equally useful.
And curious what folks' thoughts are on 4K (3840x2160) vs C4K (4096x2160). We plan on showing our short subject at film festivals, so we're looking to do C4K, but seems external recorders, computer monitors, and low-end 4K projectors are 3840. :/ Stupid format wars!
Brian
I've heard these cards are being discontinued - likely why Adorama is trying to get rid of them. Not entirely sure what this means for anyone purchasing them, but just be aware.
I've considered jumping on these before, but I haven't yet. The lack of 100% confidence with the GoPro Hero 3+ has kept me from pulling the trigger. If I was just using DSLRs then I'd likely jump on it.
Emm
Post author@VanWeddings - I bought these several months ago to test with the BMPCC (never worked) so I ended up using them across all of my other cameras Fuji, Panasonic, Sony, Canon, etc. I have not had any issues but I have not been stressing them with high bitrate files. Looking at the files coming off the GH4 they don't seem to be very high bitrate as I initially thought. They are manageable for most decent media.
VanWeddings
sick deal. got a few. anyone have prior experience with Samsung cards? are they reliable?
Emm
Post author@pops - The Samsung does not work in my BMPCC. Even though the write speeds might be fast, for some reason it was just not detected. I was a bit worried the GH4 would have the same problem with fast enough cards, but not detecting it.
Emm
Post author@Aksel - No they will not work with the BMPCC.
Aksel
Hi There
do you know if these cards will work in BMPC for RAW mode
thank you
SaraG
I have yet to hit 100Mbps in 4K no matter what I do on the Gh4. Most I have got is 82Mbps. I've tried to stress it with all sorts of ways and I think Panasonic's numbers are B.S. I think they're purposely hindering the full capabilities thats why no ones having any problems with cards. By the way I checked the Mbps using media info.
pops
@Emm - thanks I didn't write "Extreme Pro" or 95MB earlier. IMO it's not worth the difference between the standard extremes and samsung's that you posted. I would be just fine with the samsung's unless running hacked Gh2's or the bmpcc. Have you tried the samsung's with your bmpcc? I know you are focused on the GH4's so my apologies for the bad timing of my question. I'm still waiting for mine to arrive? Another GH4 question... Have you found any good source for a right angle male Micro HDMI to female mini HDMI?
Emm
Post author@pops - If you want to step up the SD cards, these will also work fine. Sandisk name brand, and less than a $1/GB. Check it out (found here).
pops
The price is very competitive. And if it works for the GH4 I can keep my extremes for the bmpcc and hacked gh2's. Nice find. It seems these cards may be being discontinued to some extent (B&H is anyway). But.. your find will save people a ton of money if they continue to work error free. Considering I paid 140 each for my 64GB extremes. Thanks again..