Please confirm Mavic Air 2 uSD type

[Raptorman]

I've looked but can't find specifics to answer the question of what type of uSD card the Mavic Air 2 is capable of using. The most common high speed uSDXC cards are the UHS-I version but the UHS-II cards, with an additional row of pins, is much faster. The specific question I have is ... is the Mavic Air 2 drone capable of taking full advantage of a UHS-II card or will it simply operate using the UHS-I bus limits? If the drone does not have the additional pins it can't fully use UHS-II cards speed advantage though the transfer from card to PC could be faster if you use a card reader with UHS-II pins. Lastly, the more readily available and cheaper UHS-I cards from Sandisk, cards such as the SanDisk 256GB Extreme MicroSDXC UHS-I that lists for about $53USD (Amazon), can under some circumstances write as slowly as 15MBps which is right at 120Mbps making the card suspect in some situations even if it works fine 'most of the time.'

I really hate that the industry has purposely confused the speed values with marketing double-speak, but who's going to stop them from doing it.


Brian

 

[TwoLiterSoda]

I've looked but can't find specifics to answer the question of what type of uSD card the Mavic Air 2 is capable of using. The most common high speed uSDXC cards are the UHS-I version but the UHS-II cards, with an additional row of pins, is much faster. The specific question I have is ... is the Mavic Air 2 drone capable of taking full advantage of a UHS-II card or will it simply operate using the UHS-I bus limits? If the drone does not have the additional pins it can't fully use UHS-II cards speed advantage though the transfer from card to PC could be faster if you use a card reader with UHS-II pins. Lastly, the more readily available and cheaper UHS-I cards from Sandisk, cards such as the SanDisk 256GB Extreme MicroSDXC UHS-I that lists for about $53USD (Amazon), can under some circumstances write as slowly as 15MBps which is right at 120Mbps making the card suspect in some situations even if it works fine 'most of the time.'

I really hate that the industry has purposely confused the speed values with marketing double-speak, but who's going to stop them from doing it.


Brian

Uhhhh my brain hurts

 

[Raptorman]

Uhhhh my brain hurts

Take two Aspirin and call someone (not me) in the morning!

So, do you have anything of value to add?


Brian

 

[TwoLiterSoda]

Take two Aspirin and call someone (not me) in the morning!

So, do you have anything of value to add?


Brian

Yes, relax a bit

 

[Raptorman]

Yes, relax a bit

I am relaxed, it's you that appears to be suffering some unspecified brain defect.


Brian

 

[Deleted member 94047]

A quick Google search of "Does the Mavic Air 2 support UHS II micro SD cards" returned the result

The DJI Mavic Air 2 drone has a single SD card slot that fully supports UHS-I SD cards. This means that there are no benefits to buying a UHS-II microSD card, unless you really need fast read speeds (which enables you to transfer files to your computer quicker).

So there you have it.

 

[Raptorman]

A quick Google search of "Does the Mavic Air 2 support UHS II micro SD cards" returned the result


So there you have it.

Thank you.

That was all I asked for.


Brian

 

[Km5er]

‘Speed Class’ refers to the absolute minimum sustained write speeds. Cards can be rated as Class 2 (minimum write speed of 2MB/s), Class 4 (4MB/s), Class 6 (6MB/s) or Class 10 (10MB/s). The next rating is the UHS Speed Class. This stands for Ultra High Speed and refers to minimum sustained writing performance for recording video. UHS came about due to 4K-capable video devices needing faster write speeds. There are two UHS Speed Classes, UHS Speed Class 1 and UHS Speed Class 3. UHS Speed Class 1 supports a minimum 10MB/s write speed, whereas UHS Speed Class 3 supports at least 30MB/s write speed. The UHS Speed Class is denoted by either a 1 or 3 inside of a bucket U symbol. As a rule of thumb, 4K-capable camcorders will usually require at least a U3 rated SD card. Extremely high-resolution video (4 or 8K), demanded even faster cards and this is provided by V class which range from 6 to 90. The number represents MB/sec. Confused yet? I am! So, going from fastest to slowest with these numbers it is V90, V60, V30 (which is equal to U3) V10 (which is equal to U1 and Speed Class 10). The remaining are not worth considering. DJI has a list of recommended cards and most are V30 so going faster may not be needed. Many people have a problem playing video directly from the card and have jitter in the video. This is because it has a slow read speed (which is different from the above) or because their video processer can not handle it. Suggest people purchase V30 and based on cost compare read speeds. U1 is not the card to use. It is the same as V10.

Also, for drones ignore A1 and A2 ratings and just pay attention to V ratings. The A ratings are for application extensive operations such as a cell phones.

 

[dsd317]

‘Speed Class’ refers to the absolute minimum sustained write speeds. Cards can be rated as Class 2 (minimum write speed of 2MB/s), Class 4 (4MB/s), Class 6 (6MB/s) or Class 10 (10MB/s). The next rating is the UHS Speed Class. This stands for Ultra High Speed and refers to minimum sustained writing performance for recording video. UHS came about due to 4K-capable video devices needing faster write speeds. There are two UHS Speed Classes, UHS Speed Class 1 and UHS Speed Class 3. UHS Speed Class 1 supports a minimum 10MB/s write speed, whereas UHS Speed Class 3 supports at least 30MB/s write speed. The UHS Speed Class is denoted by either a 1 or 3 inside of a bucket U symbol. As a rule of thumb, 4K-capable camcorders will usually require at least a U3 rated SD card. Extremely high-resolution video (4 or 8K), demanded even faster cards and this is provided by V class which range from 6 to 90. The number represents MB/sec. Confused yet? I am! So, going from fastest to slowest with these numbers it is V90, V60, V30 (which is equal to U3) V10 (which is equal to U1 and Speed Class 10). The remaining are not worth considering. DJI has a list of recommended cards and most are V30 so going faster may not be needed. Many people have a problem playing video directly from the card and have jitter in the video. This is because it has a slow read speed (which is different from the above) or because their video processer can not handle it. Suggest people purchase V30 and based on cost compare read speeds. U1 is not the card to use. It is the same as V10.

Also, for drones ignore A1 and A2 ratings and just pay attention to V ratings. The A ratings are for application extensive operations such as a cell phones.

So is this a good one to use? I'm confused because this has U3, V30, and A2. Your post indicates U3, V30, and A2 are different cards.

 

[coneslayer]

Now that we’ve got all that squared away, we can learn about the new standards:

The next version of SD Express is a boon for pro photography and 8K video

The new SD Express card spec promises four times the bandwidth of before -- a huge benefit for pro photographers and 8K movie makers.

www.engadget.com

 

[Km5er]

So is this a good one to use? I'm confused because this has U3, V30, and A2. Your post indicates U3, V30, and A2 are different cards.

View attachment 101864

Thanks for your question. The intent of the post was to explain the various classes. A single card can have more than one equal class on the card. That's why it said "V30 (which is equal to U3)" in one section. So a V30 specification and a U3 specification both have a 30 mbs minimum speed rating. While the card may have an A2 rating but in order to meed this rating it only has to have a 10mbs speed rating. The A1 and A2 are for devices that essentially expand memory and use memory differently than a card for writing sequentially which is what video does. So yes...this card is good because it meets the V30....and happens to meet U3 ....and A2 only applies to a different use of the same card. Make Sense?

 

[Km5er]

Now that we’ve got all that squared away, we can learn about the new standards:

The next version of SD Express is a boon for pro photography and 8K video

The new SD Express card spec promises four times the bandwidth of before -- a huge benefit for pro photographers and 8K movie makers.

www.engadget.com

yes...this will confuse things even more....and I did not get into Read speed as it also adds to the confusion. I got into this because I like the KISS thought process; Keep It Simple Stupid...something I need to get by every day...thus the bottom line for this write up was V30=good...: )

 

[dsd317]

Thanks for your question. The intent of the post was to explain the various classes. A single card can have more than one equal class on the card. That's why it said "V30 (which is equal to U3)" in one section. So a V30 specification and a U3 specification both have a 30 mbs minimum speed rating. While the card may have an A2 rating but in order to meed this rating it only has to have a 10mbs speed rating. The A1 and A2 are for devices that essentially expand memory and use memory differently than a card for writing sequentially which is what video does. So yes...this card is good because it meets the V30....and happens to meet U3 ....and A2 only applies to a different use of the same card. Make Sense?

It's starting to make sense....thank you. Obviously, I'm not much of a video guy. I got into drones to extend/enhance my photography skills, however, I'd like to start making videos now.

I asked you about that micro sd card because it's what I'm using with my Air 2, but for some reason, my raw video playback is not smooth. I'd explain more detail here but it doesn't belong in this thread. I'll either create another thread, or look for one already started.

 

[Raptorman]

And that's what I was alluding to before ... the standards are confusing and, sadly, intended to be so for marketing reasons.

And, if the performance data for the cards is confusing you have the additional issue of the device its put in and how well the micro controller is able to feed the port with data to be written to the card. You could have a truly exceptionally fast card and port, but of the micro controller feeding it is not up to the task then things break down. It is opinion that the major limitation of the P4P camera was the micro controller and that at 4K30 it was at its limit to handle the data and other things it needed to do and you would get the occasional break up of video when played back. The P4P was also listed as 4K60 capable, but no one I know of had much luck getting that to work as advertised -- perhaps the version 2 was better, I don't know.

If there's any good news it is that we're not far away from the time when 'typical' memory cards are good for 150MB/s sustained and 100MB/s minimum which will be suitable for even 8K60 -- not that I see 8K video as all that practical for non-studio video work.

And then there's data storage, but that's a different can of worms for a different thread!


Brian