What size SD card do you carry?

[Flawless]

Like some people; one card per battery (plus spares). No sense in using a single large card.

 

[Drone on]

I can't believe I'm 'saying' this, but size doesn't matter, or at least isn't the most important attribute. The read speed, and the write speed matter, then the capacity

 

[Mymgb]

A loaded 64 gig and spare 64gig SanDisk silver. Sometime, keep previous videos until I can have it processed

 

[stonecherub]

I use multiple 32gb cards and change them out with each battery. I believe in the old adage, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. If my drone goes haywire and flies away...I only lost the footage from that battery.

THANK YOU! Of course that makes sense and forces me into a protocol change. I will get as many cards as I have batteries and will change them simultaneously.

I do have a problem where I work, however. When I release the detent by pressing the card edge with a fingernail, sometimes the card goes flying and would be instantly lost here.

 

[skadee]

So roughly how much (duration) video can be saved on a 32GB card if shooting in 4k?

 

[SxSmith]

So roughly how much (duration) video can be saved on a 32GB card if shooting in 4k?

Looking at my MOV files I get about 9 minutes on 4GB. 4K 24fps.
That average gives me 11GB on a battery max. I have three batteries so a 32GB card would be a little too small and 64GB works fine for me. I always download all photos and video from the card after each time out and format the card before another set of flights.

I got this card for < $40.
SanDisk Extreme PRO microSDXC Memory Card Plus SD Adapter up to 100 MB/s, Class 10, U3, V30, A1 - 64 GB

 

[tictag]

So roughly how much (duration) video can be saved on a 32GB card if shooting in 4k?

You need to consider the vagaries of video compression (only what changes in the scene from frame-to-frame is actually stored) and file overhead but as a rule of thumb, the Mavic Pro tries to record at 60Mb/s at 4K, that's 7.5MB/s (60mb/s / 8 = 7.5MB/s*), therefore one minute of recording is around 450MB (7.5MB/s x 60 seconds = 450MB/min), therefore a 32GB card would store about 71 minutes (32GB / 450MB/min = 71 minutes). Thus:

4GB card = 9 mins
8GB card = 18 mins
16GB card = 36 mins
32GB card = 71 mins (1 hour 11 minutes)
64GB card = 142 min (2 hours 22 minutes)
128GB card = 284 mins (4 hours 44 minutes)

For interest, the Mavic Pro records 2.7K footage at 40Mb/s, same calculation.

* there are 8 bits to a byte

 

[Chirp]

I don't know if anyone posted this already but here are the specs of the Mavic Pro from this site HERE

It's a little confusing to me because I thought I read previously that the max usable size was 64GB. Also I thought a
write speed of 3 was faster than 1 so I don't know why they are recommending a WS of 1.


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[tictag]

These are just speed ratings, basically the card needs to be able to record data at at least 10MB/s (or 80Mb/s) in order to avoid buffering errors. Check out Wikipedia for an explanation of all these classes and ratings.

 

[skadee]

Thank you all. I basically wanted to ensure my card would suffice for a 3-battery recording of,a soccer game, I started recording as soon as I got to altitude, and didn't stop until I descended for landing. A 32GB would have been enough, but the 64GB card handled it with ease.

Knowing how much a 32GB card holds will help me use different cards for different jobs, or hand the SD card itself off to the customer.

 

[HueJorgan]

I carry smaller 16gb, they are smaller, cheaper and force me to download my files more often; that way I do not loose stuff.

Your sd card comes loose? Be careful you don’t lose it buddy