Extreme vs Extreme PRO SD Card

[FoxhallGH]

Just looking at more info about SD cards ... There is another rating on the cards that is significant if you are interested in the 'read' speed i.e. how fast you can get the data off the SD card onto your PC. In addition to the U3 symbol, the cards will also be marked with an XC and a roman numeral I, II, or III after it ... While the 'UHS Speed Class' U3 symbol denotes the minimum sustained write speed (with U3 being the fastest), the 'UHS Bus Speed' XC rating denotes the theoretical max. read/write speeds - with III being fastest.

Based on this, an XC II card would download to your PC faster than an XC I rated card.

 

[crlmjohnson]

thanks for the information.

 

[crlmjohnson]

I get a chance I am going to look at the cards that I already own.

I know they are U3, I am going to check if they are I, II, or III

I did notice a price differents, I bet I have a mixture of I, II, or III

 

[CanadaDrone]

Just looking at more info about SD cards ... There is another rating on the cards that is significant if you are interested in the 'read' speed i.e. how fast you can get the data off the SD card onto your PC. In addition to the U3 symbol, the cards will also be marked with an XC and a roman numeral I, II, or III after it ... While the 'UHS Speed Class' U3 symbol denotes the minimum sustained write speed (with U3 being the fastest), the 'UHS Bus Speed' XC rating denotes the theoretical max. read/write speeds - with III being fastest.

Based on this, an XC II card would download to your PC faster than an XC I rated card.
View attachment 56317

The bus speed only matters if the device you are using to read/write to the card is also that same bus. Using a UHS-II card in a Mavic Air, for example, will do you no good because the slot is UHS-I. Same if you are transferring to your PC - the majority of SD readers are not UHS-II so there would be no benefit there. They are backwards compatible though and would still run at UHS-I speeds.

I get a chance I am going to look at the cards that I already own.

I know they are U3, I am going to check if they are I, II, or III

I did notice a price differents, I bet I have a mixture of I, II, or III

It won't matter what the UHS bus is unless your reader is UHS II. The Mavic Air's slot is only UHS-1.

 

[crlmjohnson]

thats good to know, thanks.

 

[FoxhallGH]

The bus speed only matters if the device you are using to read/write to the card is also that same bus. Using a UHS-II card in a Mavic Air, for example, will do you no good because the slot is UHS-I. Same if you are transferring to your PC - the majority of SD readers are not UHS-II so there would be no benefit there. They are backwards compatible though and would still run at UHS-I speeds.



It won't matter what the UHS bus is unless your reader is UHS II. The Mavic Air's slot is only UHS-1.

Agreed - You might be topping out due to the limitations of the card-slot in the Drone, but at least you can then get a USB 3.0 SD card reader [& USB expansion card if your PC doesn't already have USB 3.0], and take advantage of the read speed increase. It's all about writing to the card in the drone, and reading from the card in the PC.
USB 3.0 SD card reader USB 3.0 PCIe expansion card

 

[dgd3]

Just got the Mavic Air as my first drone and looking into which SD card to buy. I understand DJI recommends the Extreme and Extreme PRO. I see alot of MA owners recommending the PRO, but it seems the only difference is the faster read speed. Are there any other advantages that make it worth the purchase?

I got tired of seeing the alert so got a faster chip.

 

[dgd3]

Look for the 'U3' logo on the card as that identifies the card as being able to sustain the WRITE speeds needed for HD video.

View attachment 55738

Correct.

 

[Tiago_Wolf]

Only that you'd be hard pressed to fill a 128GB card before your batteries ran out. 64GB is more than enough in my experience.
Some operators also make it a habit to change SD cards when they change batteries, so that if the Drone does get in an accident or lost, the previous filming for that job is safe. Using that method 32GB SD's are more than enough ...

I used to have a 64gb but SanDisk sent me a replacement and upgraded it from 64 to 128. I thought well, lucky me!

I flew the MA in the meantime and the 128 extreme pro is absolutely great!
Same read/ write speeds. The good thing about a bigger card is that even if I record A LOT of stuff without copying/ moving it to my ssd I don't have to worry much about the free available space on the card. I don't even record above 1080 because I hate rendering 2k and above.

 

[FoxhallGH]

I used to have a 64gb but SanDisk sent me a replacement and upgraded it from 64 to 128. I thought well, lucky me!

I flew the MA in the meantime and the 128 extreme pro is absolutely great!
Same read/ write speeds. The good thing about a bigger card is that even if I record A LOT of stuff without copying/ moving it to my ssd I don't have to worry much about the free available space on the card. I don't even record above 1080 because I hate rendering 2k and above.

This is not a real problem @Tiago-Wolf - but you can get write speed issues on SD cards due to something that's a bit like 'fragmentation' on a hard disk i.e. the data ends up getting written around other files saved on the card. Just make sure that every now and again (once a year even), you copy all the data off & re-format the SD card from your Go 4 app'.

 

[Tiago_Wolf]

This is not a real problem @Tiago-Wolf - but you can get write speed issues on SD cards due to something that's a bit like 'fragmentation' on a hard disk i.e. the data ends up getting written around other files saved on the card. Just make sure that every now and again (once a year even), you copy all the data off & re-format the SD card from your Go 4 app'.

Yes Indeed thats what I do often.

Even more because 360 temp photos tend to create some clutter around some clusters on rhe cards and hard drives.
And some temp files are even written to the cards and that may even cause buggy situations with the app too

 

[AnyaB]

I am starting to sound like a broken record around here haha - there must be 2 dozen other identical posts like the one I'm about to make:

I really think it's important to get in the habit of not looking at the fancy names on memory cards. Not only do they mean absolutely nothing, but manufacturers mix and match names so you might buy one "extreme" card that works, and another "extreme" card that does not meet spec.

The *only* thing that matters for video is minimum sustained write speed. This is *not* determined by any particular type of card brand or model, but the symbols that are on every card.

The Mavic Writes at 100Mbps which is 12.5MB/s. You need a card with a minimum sustained write speed over 12.5MB/s, with some headroom. This is accomplished by buying a card with a "U3" and/or "V30" label on it, telling you that the minimum sustained write speed is at least 30MB/s. There are no U2/V20 cards otherwise those would probably be fine too.

U1 / Class 10 cards are all too slow and you will drop frames - these are the cards often on sale for ridiculous prices which can be tempting, but do not give in.

So when someone tells you they use a "Samsung Evo" or a "Sandisk Extreme" and it works, that doesn't actually help you at all.

Every 15 minutes of shooting or roughly every battery is ~11.3 GB, so if you have the Fly More Combo you can run through all 3 batteries on a 64GB card. Personally I wouldn't put any more eggs in the basket than that in case of a failure, but obviously that is entirely up to you.

More detailed memory card info in my post here:

Tips for New Flyers

Thank you!!! This is super helpful! A newbie here