My article answers all of the common questions Mavic owners ask when buying a memory card. So, if that's a typical report, I think I nailed it
I don't think there is a bottom line answer. Everyone has different needs.
I am sorry. I did not mean to be so negative. I did not know you wrote it. The bottom line answer is what most people want to know is what size and what is compatible. The size is open but for most people it is V30. I would be interested if you disagree with this bottom line and why. Again sorry I did not intend to insult you. My standard answer when asked this question is as follows.
‘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? Keep reading. 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.
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 smartphones and mobile gaming consoles. This is the Application Performance Class Specification. These cards essentially extend the memory of these devices. The apps that run on these devices interact with memory space differently. Rather than a stream of sequential data (think video), they write a lot of small chunks of data wherever there's space available. That's known as random read/write (compared to sequential read/write that's important for video). A card that is suitable for random reading and writing may not be suitable for sequential reading and writing. The
A1 and
A2 cards have different random read and write ratings but have the same minimum sequential write speed of 10 megabytes per second. This speed is equivalent to the Class 10 video speed rating. The Class 10 rating is about the same is the V10 rating. The V10 rating is too slow for your drone.
So, the bottom line for your drone camera (at least DJI drones) you need a minimum V30 card (or U3). The card may also have other ratings (Such as A or U) but if it says V30 or better you are good. And as always, the best bet is to see what the manufacturer recommends/requires. But keeping it simple = V30 minimum.
Also, the recommended cards (DJI) can be found in the FAQ for each model.
