512GB microSD cards on Amazon

mavic3usa · Jul 11, 2023

FYI
This must be microSD card summer, for Prime Day, a ton of 512gb microSD cards on sale for up to half price on Amazon. Earlier I picked up (2) Samsung 512gb Pro Plus and also a 1TB Play for under $60. Now would be a good time to stock up I guess.

Meta4 · Jul 11, 2023

mavic3usa said:
FYI
This must be microSD card summer, for Prime Day, a ton of 512gb microSD cards on sale for up to half price on Amazon. Earlier I picked up (2) Samsung 512gb Pro Plus and also a 1TB Play for under $60. Now would be a good time to stock up I guess.

512GB cards are perfect if you want to keep weeks of imagery on a card without having to change it.
But if you value your work, it's a good idea to only have as much on the card as you are prepared to lose in one incident.
How many eggs do you want to put in that basket?

markschacht1 · Jul 11, 2023

Meta4 said:
512GB cards are perfect if you want to keep weeks of imagery on a card without having to change it.
But if you value your work, it's a good idea to only have as much on the card as you are prepared to lose in one incident.
How many eggs do you want to put in that basket?

Completely agree. I use super fast 32GB to 128GB (if I'm doing lots of 4K Video). Remove them/upload content to computer after every flight/job. Format them in my Mavic 3 before using again. Seems to work well for me.

jimlips · Jul 13, 2023

...check and see what the max size card is that your particular drone supports before buying a card so large that your drone won't support it. My Mavic Pro only supports up to 64GB.

mavic3usa · Jul 13, 2023

jimlips said:
...check and see what the max size card is that your particular drone supports before buying a card so large that your drone won't support it. My Mavic Pro only supports up to 64GB.

For sure, make sure your equipment is compatible; most newer stuff will work.

I'm the type of person who prefers all drones and all controllers have their own microsd card so there's no confusion. Which means I'm going to need a lot of cards. Doesn't hurt to buy these big cards since they are so cheap (and likely won't get much cheaper) so one day when you need them....

I'm starting to install bigger cards into my goggles and smart controllers which are often FULL so that i can store more recording. As mentioned, always offload your important videos from the main drone on a daily basis and then delete. My exception is when traveling I still offload but I don't delete. Using 128gb and 256gb cards in the smart controller and the goggles really bumps up the amount of data you can store for a longer period of time as I have a tendency not to daily offload or even erase those cards from the goggles/smart controller.

Now I'm up to 256gb and 512gb in all drones and cameras. GoPro camera have huge files these days. There were Amazon promos and discounts, no cards for me were more than $30 (except 1TB).

mavic3usa · Nov 19, 2023

These Samsung microsd cards are getting cheap again:

128gb $11
256gb $18
512gb $32

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1PT9XXS?

EssenYVR · Nov 20, 2023

Use extreme caution buying SD Cards on Amazon because there are a lot of counterfeits out there. "Shipped by Amazon" is no guarantee, since Amazon stocks third-party products which can be bogus. Make sure it's "Sold by" a reputable dealer.

Just remember - if the price is too good to be true, then it probably is.

mavic3usa · Nov 20, 2023

EssenYVR said:
Use extreme caution buying SD Cards on Amazon because there are a lot of counterfeits out there. "Shipped by Amazon" is no guarantee, since Amazon stocks third-party products which can be bogus. Make sure it's "Sold by" a reputable dealer.

Just remember - if the price is too good to be true, then it probably is.

So far so good, just remember to check each card individually after you get them. It's a simple, quick and easy test to see if it is counterfeit.

MS Coast · Nov 20, 2023

mavic3usa said:
So far so good, just remember to check each card individually after you get them. It's a simple, quick and easy test to see if it is counterfeit.

How?

mavic3usa · Nov 20, 2023

MS Coast said:
How?

How to Spot a Fake MicroSD Card and Avoid Being Scammed

How to Spot a Fake MicroSD Card and Avoid Being Scammed

Fake microSD cards have misleading high storage capacities. Don't be fooled! Here's how to spot a fake microSD card.

www.makeuseof.com

MS Coast · Nov 20, 2023

mavic3usa said:
How to Spot a Fake MicroSD Card and Avoid Being Scammed

How to Spot a Fake MicroSD Card and Avoid Being Scammed

Fake microSD cards have misleading high storage capacities. Don't be fooled! Here's how to spot a fake microSD card.

www.makeuseof.com

Thanks. The tests seem to be just confirming the storage capacity, which can be overstated in fakes.

EssenYVR · Nov 20, 2023

MS Coast said:
How?

I do a "the proof is in the pudding" test. I copy 256GB worth of checksummed files (or whatever the card's capacity is) to the card and then verify the checksums right from the memory card. If the card can store that much data and read it back without error then it's doing its job.

mavic3usa · Nov 20, 2023

MS Coast said:
Thanks. The tests seem to be just confirming the storage capacity, which can be overstated in fakes.

I'm not the microSD card expert but I believe the storage capacity is the main concern because it isn't easy to check until it's too late. Anyone should be able to check the speed on how fast you can write and copy files to and from the card, there are all kinds of checkers and you can often eyeball the difference. I don't suppose there is any value to a counterfeiter to provide a card which has all the promised storage capacity yet not the r/w speeds if that is even possible, at least for the larger cards. I know speed is a concern so when you are checking capacity, use this software to get an idea about speed as well: H2TestW- Download - Official Site [2023]

This should take care of 90%+ of the known fakes.

mavic3usa · Nov 20, 2023

EssenYVR said:
I do a "the proof is in the pudding" test. I copy 256GB worth of checksummed files (or whatever the card's capacity is) to the card and then verify the checksums right from the memory card. If the card can store that much data and read it back without error then it's doing its job.

The problem is a good counterfeit card will report fake data and it may appear the files are reporting correctly when they are not. You end up with files on the card but everything appears to be good, but they aren't. That's the big gotcha for people who don't know what to look for. Maybe I didn't get your point about checksums so this might be the same thing: I recommend this software: H2TestW- Download - Official Site [2023]

EssenYVR · Nov 21, 2023

mavic3usa said:
The problem is a good counterfeit card will report fake data and it may appear the files are reporting correctly when they are not.

This is exactly why you write checksummed files to the card and then read them back to verify the checksums. That way you know that 256 (or whatever) GB was written and 256GB was correctly read back again. The only way a card can do that is if it has 256GB to store all the data, otherwise you wouldn't get matching checksums.

mavic3usa · Nov 21, 2023

EssenYVR said:
This is exactly why you write checksummed files to the card and then read them back to verify the checksums. That way you know that 256 (or whatever) GB was written and 256GB was correctly read back again. The only way a card can do that is if it has 256GB to store all the data, otherwise you wouldn't get matching checksums.

Yep for sure but my old school computer skills have long since become rusty (and I wouldn't know how to do that anymore) and I let sw like h2testw do it for me. I would be afraid of getting a checksum error on a non-counterfeit card and not know for sure why....

Every card I buy, no matter where I get it from, gets checked.

mavic3usa · Sep 16, 2024

$13 super cheap 128gb microsd for one of the better ones:

SAMSUNG PRO Plus microSD Memory Card + Reader, 128GB MicroSDXC, Up to 180 MB/s, Full HD & 4K UHD, UHS-I, C10, U3, V30, A2 for Android Phones, Tablets, GoPRO, DJI Drone, MB-MD128SB/AM, 2023

Amazon.com

mavic3usa · Sep 21, 2024

Something tells me these are cheap because they are trying to get rid of the Type A adapters. I believe it is possible to price match these at Best Buy if you prefer.