SD card questions

[Drony_Drone]

What is the best MicroSD to get for a MM? and what capacity?

What do the following capacity’s give at the best quality video and stills please; 32Gb, 64Gb, 128Gb.

Also is it better to have say two 32Gb, or just one 64Gb. I would want it to cover the 3 batteries in one go, so then can copy off the files and charge up for the next time.

Personally I’d prefer one MicroSD, to stop the swapping when changing batteries, but wonder what others do.

Thanks

 

[Meta4]

Personally I’d prefer one MicroSD, to stop the swapping when changing batteries, but wonder what others do.

How much of your work are you prepared to lose at one time?

 

[Drony_Drone]

How much of your work are you prepared to lose at one time?

I know the argument of using 1 SD but I was wondering on what the capacity/length/time that you get for each please.

 

[Meta4]

I know the argument of using 1 SD but I was wondering on what the capacity/length/time that you get for each please.

A single 32GB card would take several flights to fill up, so unless you really want to store weeks of work on a single card, you don't need anything bigger than 32GB.
16 GB would be fine too, if they still made them.

 

[Drony_Drone]

A single 32GB card would take several flights to fill up, so unless you really want to store weeks of work on a single card, you don't need anything bigger than 32GB.
16 GB would be fine too, if they still made them.

So 32Gb will get you 3 batteries worth of flying with 2.7K video and 12MP stills?

When I say for to last I only mean the 3 batteries, in 1 flight outing. After that the card would be copied and erased. I wouldn’t keep numerous flight outings on, it’s just to save swapping after every battery change.

 

[Thomas B]

A single 32GB card would take several flights to fill up, so unless you really want to store weeks of work on a single card, you don't need anything bigger than 32GB.
16 GB would be fine too, if they still made them.

I change mine every flight... I have one for each battery I own ....use 64GB cards to keep from erase/reformat for every flight.

 

[Drony_Drone]

I change mine every flight... I have one for each battery I own ....use 64GB cards to keep from erase/reformat for every flight.

Is that in case you lose the MM on a flight so at least have some footage off that day?

How many Gn does it use one card for each flight approx of recording in full resolution with pics.

 

[Thomas B]

Is that in case you lose the MM on a flight so at least have some footage off that day?

How many Gn does it use one card for each flight approx of recording in full resolution with pics.

I’ve an M2P... pics are done in RAW+jpeg and video is best resolution available on the drone.... all vids are broken into approx 5 min individual files... these join in post seemlessly.
I have never used even close to half the 64GB in any 20-26 min flight. Sorry, been doing it that way so long w/o problems I have quit worrying about it... still go this way to minimize chance of losing pics or vid footage.

 

[mranest]

Is that in case you lose the MM on a flight so at least have some footage off that day?

How many Gn does it use one card for each flight approx of recording in full resolution with pics.

Mini's video bitrate is 40Mbps, so this sums up to ~18GB/h. Even continuously recording and managing to hit the 30 min per battery flight time, you would not be able to fill a 32GB SD card for all 3 batteries. Stepping up to 64GB would allow you to keep some older footage on the SD card, which would give you the ability to edit a 1080p movie through DJI Fly for previous flights.

 

[old man mavic]

in the case of the MM a 32GB card is fine for three batts ,if you choose to use one card per battery then 16GB would be more than enough

 

[msinger]

What is the best MicroSD to get for a MM?

Here are a few good brands to consider:

SanDisk Extreme


Samsung EVO



You can find some others here:
Best memory card for your DJI drone

 

[Paul31]

I have a 128 in mine then I don’t have to worry how much video and photos I take

 

[excalibur1814]

Due to reasonable extra cost, I go for the 64Gb cards. Sandisk Extreme Pro. I've only ever had one card fail, over the years, which was a Sandisk 250Gb card.

 

[Drony_Drone]

I have a 128 in mine then I don’t have to worry how much video and photos I take

Do do you not empty it after every trip?

Due to reasonable extra cost, I go for the 64Gb cards. Sandisk Extreme Pro. I've only ever had one card fail, over the years, which was a Sandisk 250Gb card.

If have the combo and 3 batteries, using all how much does it use up on an average trip?

Think it’ll be the 64Gb Sandisk extreme as that is what DJI recommends and tested. The 64Gb is only £7 more than the 32Gb I just wanted to make sure it at least did 3 flights.

I presume if out in field if necessary, you can copy from the MM to your iPhone to get space?

Thanks

 

[old man mavic]

i only video in 10-80p 30fps as my computer is to old to play back anything higher without stuttering and on a 64g card it will give over 3 hours of recording time per card i use the 64g sandisk extreme cards

 

[pelagic_one]

SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 128GB + Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G3H5RBT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_CtdmEb4XJGFMC

With my Sandisk Extreme Pro 128GB card (and car-charging capabilities), I did a marathon day of flying my Mini at several different, pre-planned locations. Only a month into this, so many flights were just short bursts of getting to know the terrain, but the longest flights were my last battery at each location. My theme that day was to shoot views of our local bridges, except for the huge red NFZ on the charts surrounding the fabled Golden Gate Bridge. The Mini just wont fly far enough over water to even get a recorded glimpse from a safe and legal launching spot.

So after about five charging cycles for each of my three batteries, recording practically everything from take-off to landing, the card had about 110GB of videos and pics.

And if my memory card had failed, can you imagine how awful it would be to have to do that oh-so-wonderful day of flying all over again!? I guess my point is that I’m too new at all of this to care about a random failed memory card. If I got a spectacular video of traffic crossing the Bay Bridge and had to shoot it again, I’m thinking the second iteration would have a smoother flight and higher quality video.

Now keep in mind that I pack a few 64GB cards in my Nikon dSLR case; so they’d make great back-ups for the day I eventually leave my 128GB in my home computer.

 

[Meta4]

I guess my point is that I’m too new at all of this to care about a random failed memory card.

Memory cards can fail but it's pretty uncommon.
There is another potential issue that is a concern.

Whenever I see questions about the biggest SD cards I'm reminded of a story of a "pro" shooting a music video with his Inspire on a boat off Miami.
He was one of those get-the-biggest- SD-card guys because bigger is always better?
He had been shooting all day and and at the end of the eighth flight when bringing his inspire in, it hit an outrigger pole on the game boat he was using for a camera boat.
The Inspire went straight down in a busy shipping channel with his whole day's work on his expensive high capacity SD card.
He was disappointed about the Inspire but more concerned about the work he'd lost.

The full story is here:

My inspire currently sits in 30' of water off star island in Miami.

Well, it Happened. RIP Little bird. I'll miss you :/ I was involved in getting the aerial shots for a music video they were filming off of star island in Miami. I had flown very tight and technical all day, pulled off several landings onto the front of a moving yacht, in the wind. And even...

inspirepilots.com