I’m back in action after a couple unplugged weeks with the family. Lakes, mountains, boats, scotch (not simultaneous to boats), ice cream, friends, mountain bikes…all the good stuff. Back to it!

Potentially the most important tool in my recon kit is my camera, and modern versions demand a lot from SD cards (as do scanners). When spec’ing out cards for a newly acquired camera, I found there was a lot of info on the label I didn’t understand. If you’re in a similar boat, the graphic and descriptions below should bring you up to speed.

Format: SD stands for Secure Digital, a format developed by the SD Association. There are three tiers, SD (2 GB capacity), SDHC (high capacity – 32 GB), and SDXC (extended capacity – 1 TB, for now).

Video Speed Class | Bus Type: The minimum sequential writing speed of the card. V90, for instance, means the card can sustain video recordings of 90 MB/s until the card is full. V30 would be 30 MB/s, etc. For many modern cameras, you need V90 to access all video recording formats and frame rates. The "II" below V90 means UHS-II (see below).

Speed Class: Minimum-rated sustained write speed. 10 means 10 MB/s.

UHS Speed Class: U1 is identical to Class 10 and U3 is rated at a minimum write speed of 30 MB/s. The U designation indicates the card employs the UHS-1 or UHS-II bus protocol. UHS-II has the extra pins on the back, which I suspect you've seen.

Storage Capacity: Indicates how much data can be stored on the card.

Max. Read Speed: After capacity, this is usually the second number to catch my eye. However, it’s the maximum read speed under ideal conditions. How fast a card can write is almost always more important for us, and if you’re shooting bursts or video, the sustained write speed is the key metric.

Hopefully the above helps you find the right card for your rig. Thanks for reading...keep exploring!

Lou Peck
​Lightpoint | Axiom

P.S. How strong is your password?