Micro SD for Mavic Pro

[deltalimatango]

You do realize that the bigger the card, the more expensive piece of plastic you will have if it fails. Many to most pro photographers that I know, rarely use over 64 gigs simply because, even if the cards fall under warranty for replacement, the video and photos are gone forever. Why put all of your eggs in one basket? Not very smart in my opinion.

 

[jessemcp]

You do realize that the bigger the card, the more expensive piece of plastic you will have if it fails. Many to most pro photographers that I know, rarely use over 64 gigs simply because, even if the cards fall under warranty for replacement, the video and photos are gone forever. Why put all of your eggs in one basket? Not very smart in my opinion.

Of course. As you can see in my post those cards are just part of my "toolkit". In my experience the only card I have had fail was a cheap one from a convenience store I had to buy because I ran out of space. I have never had a quality name brand card fail. With that said this forum was about which cards work so hopefully that was helpful. As to why I do what I do, here is some of my reasoning.

I always record in the highest resolution to future proof my videos so I have always bought the largest, fastest cards available as their useful life is much longer. The 64GB card I mentioned has been used in three GoPros and now my Mavic. I try to always have double the storage I need so I don't risk missing a shot if I end up shooting more than expected. As far as the 256GB card goes I have an upcoming trip where I will need about 160GB in a day so I am taking a risk that it will work for me. I strongly prefer fast cards so I don't waste time transferring and when transfers are super fast you do it more often.

Also in my experience swapping cards is more risky that having a card fail. I have lost two cards outside from them shooting out of devices and landing somewhere that they are unrecoverable.

Do what makes sense for you and use the tool that matches your circumstances.


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[jessemcp]

I have been testing these cards over the weekend recording at 4K 30fps:

SDSDQXP-064G-G46A - SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO UHS-I/U3 Micro SDXC Memory Card

MB-MF128DA/AM - Samsung 128GB PRO SELECT Micro SDXC Memory Card

SAMBMD128DA - Samsung 128GB PRO PLUS UHS-I microSDXC U3 Memory Card

SAMSDEP256GB - Samsung 256GB EVO PLUS UHS-I microSDXC U3 Memory Card

They all work great with one caveat. When using the 256gb card the screen says "advise format". I formatted it in the Mavic but the warning remains. Recording seems to work fine so far. I recorded about 40 minutes this weekend and will post another update when I get a chance to fill it.


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It looks like I posted the wrong model number for the 256GB card. It is: MB-MC256D



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[ksull72487]

64 GB is the highest the Mavic officially accepts. Personally I went with a SanDisk Extreme Plus 32GB for around $20 and use their 16GB as a back up. From start to finish on a battery. 1 Battery will get close to 16GB in 4k but you probably won't fly it as long as I did in my testing. So 32GB is perfect for 2-3 batteries possibly 4. Some people like to swap their SD with the batteries. I don't believe in the extra wear and tare. 64GB and bigger gets a little pricey for when the card fails. So I think 32GB is a good over all option.


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[jessemcp]

It looks like I posted the wrong model number for the 256GB card. It is: MB-MC256D



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[Owen Manderfield]

I have a couple of 128mb cards, both class 10 but not big brand names (from an old phone) but purchased through Amazon.

When I put them in the Mavic it suggests formatting them but fails to format. If I format in my PC first the Mavic failed to write to the cards.

I think the Mavic uses exFat by default, but I've tried FAT32 and NTFS as well with no joy.

What format did you use when testing your 128mb cards? Did you format in the Mavic or externally.

I have a couple of (Branded) 64mb cards that work perfectly (exFAT). Could it be the Mavic is fussy about using named brands?


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[Owen Manderfield]

I agree with the previous post, changing cards in the field is not something I want to do. I too have had cards spring out and fly off and impossible to find in long grass.

Also the flap and card mechanism on the bird are pretty flimsy things and the less wears and tear on them the better.

I also tend not to clear cards until I know I have the video copied to the PC and backed up. The number of times I've forgotten to clear the card before taking the drone out again! But with the bigger card I don't have to worry.

They don't weigh any more - just cost more!


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[jessemcp]

I have a couple of 128mb cards, both class 10 but not big brand names (from an old phone) but purchased through Amazon.

When I put them in the Mavic it suggests formatting them but fails to format. If I format in my PC first the Mavic failed to write to the cards.

I think the Mavic uses exFat by default, but I've tried FAT32 and NTFS as well with no joy.

What format did you use when testing your 128mb cards? Did you format in the Mavic or externally.

I have a couple of (Branded) 64mb cards that work perfectly (exFAT). Could it be the Mavic is fussy about using named brands?


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All the cards came formatted ExFat. The only card that shows the error is the 256 so I tried formatting that in the Mavic but it didn't fix the error.

As an update I have recorded about two hours of 4K video now onto it without any issue.


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[Killdeerz]

I used a Samsung 256GB EVO PLUS UHS-I microSDXC U3 Memory Card got from ebay $40 work fine.

 

[No1much]

As far as I understand, cards above 64GB should work fine in the Mavic no matter their size as long as the exFAT file system can support them, but cards over 64GB may need to be formatted with something other than the Mavic.

I haven't gotten a chance to test this, as I only have one card larger than 64GB at home and it's already in use for something else, but I seem to have read somewhere that Mavics might not know they can format >64GB cards.

(I bet they physically could, since such instant formatting of the microSD is usually achieved just by clearing the file allocation table at the start of the card's memory and that's not going to be a huge area even on a 256GB card. But for whatever reason, Mavics supposedly throw an error if you format things larger than 64GB within DJI GO or Litchi.)

 

[Xcel]

All the cards came formatted ExFat. The only card that shows the error is the 256 so I tried formatting that in the Mavic but it didn't fix the error.

As an update I have recorded about two hours of 4K video now onto it without any issue.

Thank you for your testing and reporting. Seems like 128GB is a good choice if you want a lot of space without any warning messages. It will be interesting to see the results if you can fill up the bigger card. Once you go over 2h 17m you'll be over the official " limit " of 64GB.

 

[larkin]

Just don't bother with anything over 80mb/sec write

 

[bri808]

Class 3 is what works best for hd and 4K recordings