Recommendations on sd cards and Q on video recording to sd

[donm527#IM]

Coming from N4 and LG G2, this will be my first phone with sd card slot.

I figured I will give it a try storing music, pics, videos etc and wondering anything I should look for in a good sd card, what would be overkill paying too much or card opinions from real world experience.

I'm thinking 32 gb will suffice. I'm wondering though if in video recording; 2k, 1080p whether video size is limited to 4 gb like it was on my G2 and whether it's different if sd card is involved and can record straight to sd.

Thanks.

 

[Brerlapn]

Look into classes for SD cards. Mine is a class 10/UHS1, with 64GB of memory. The higher the class number, the faster the card will be able to read/write, which if you're setting your phone to put camera and video directly to the card will help prevent slower performance. I bought it a couple of months ago on Amazon for around $45. Don't know about any limits to video size, but I thought it was worth pointing out the speed classes, since it can make a big difference in performance.

 

[EricWizKidOdom]

Good point about the classes. I haven't recorded video to a SD card in a couple years (on my SII) - it had a class 10 card but ran into issues recording HD video directly to the card. I don't have my G3 yet to test, but previous experience has taught me to record all my video to the internal storage, and then transfer it to my SD afterwards.

 

[donm527#IM]

I really don't plan to have any problems using the internal memory either because in past I really havent found myself to use up 32gb.

i am hoping though that having extra memory on sd, I'll be able to record 1080p video or higher movies for greater lengths of time than I could with my G2 and not be hit with the 4gb file size limit i have found in the past using my G2. I think it came to about 20-30 minutes of video at 1080p and close to an hour at 720p. I'd like to be able to record at least as hour at 1080p or higher and it seems ridiculous to have the capability but only be able to shoot for short period and have to downlevel to 720p for long videos.

Good point about the classes. I haven't recorded video to a SD card in a couple years (on my SII) - it had a class 10 card but ran into issues recording HD video directly to the card. I don't have my G3 yet to test, but previous experience has taught me to record all my video to the internal storage, and then transfer it to my SD afterwards.

 

[donm527#IM]

so many brands... this is an interesting article on how not all class 10 are the same...

The Best microSD Card | The Wirecutter

 

[Relgoshan]

From prior experience with chip destroying Samsung gadgets and the GoPro cameras, I feel it's a good investment to go with a Samsung MicroSDXC blue chip, maybe the newer EVO models are okay. If Sandisk, you ONLY GO PRO MicroSDXC. Their regular is dog slow and the Ultra and Extreme have burned out far too often in high bandwidth devices.

I spend the extra money for a good chip and get it from a major brand like bhphotovideo. Not ever going to take a risk on storage.

 

[Brerlapn]

i am hoping though that having extra memory on sd, I'll be able to record 1080p video or higher movies for greater lengths of time than I could with my G2 and not be hit with the 4gb file size limit i have found in the past using my G2.

That file limit could be from the FAT32 file system. I think SD cards use that format, and it limits file size to 4GB.

 

[donm527#IM]

So my G2 had a fat32 type file system that limited making video file sizes to 4gb?

I'm reading that sd cards are usually formatted in exfat? So exfat will allow phones to create as large as space is available on the sd card?

Guess that's what I'm hoping for.

That file limit could be from the FAT32 file system. I think SD cards use that format, and it limits file size to 4GB.

 

[donm527#IM]

Finding interesting stuff on micro sd and thought I'd link this tool

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

Also reading M8 users run into the 4 gb issue too. And read Samsung limits it's 4K videoing to 5 minutes max to avoid size and overheating issues. So guess just like quad hd, having 4k videoing is nice to see on spec and have but not really ready for optimized for use when so new.

So my G2 had a fat32 type file system that limited making video file sizes to 4gb?

I'm reading that sd cards are usually formatted in exfat? So exfat will allow phones to create as large as space is available on the sd card?

Guess that's what I'm hoping for.

 

[Brerlapn]

Interesting links, thanks! I usually take video in less than 5 minute increments, so I've never run up against any limits. I wasn't able to find any conclusive statement about the SD formatting for the G3, though. Maybe you'll get lucky, or saving to the internal storage will allow larger files.

 

[donm527#IM]

I guess I'll find out soon on the file format on G3 cause I went to BB and bought a Sandisk Ultra Pro 32gb microsd card. I'm hoping it's formatted in exfat and the G3 will support and load a file larger than 4gb and see if I can records at least a 1080 for more than 4gb. From the other link I gave I was actually sold on the Samsung memory because reviews are mixed on the reliability of the Sandisks but they didnt have any and tired of racking my brain on it lol.

Interesting links, thanks! I usually take video in less than 5 minute increments, so I've never run up against any limits. I wasn't able to find any conclusive statement about the SD formatting for the G3, though. Maybe you'll get lucky, or saving to the internal storage will allow larger files.

 

[Relgoshan]

Finding interesting stuff on micro sd and thought I'd link this tool

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

Also reading M8 users run into the 4 gb issue too. And read Samsung limits it's 4K videoing to 5 minutes max to avoid size and overheating issues. So guess just like quad hd, having 4k videoing is nice to see on spec and have but not really ready for optimized for use when so new.

It is a pure hardware limit. The system locks in at max clock rate, the camera data stream is full open, the battery and flash storage are heavily loaded. My LG G Flex has the five minute limit for 4K but I don't know if I have hit a file size limit yet.

And now they are talking higher sample rate video, like 10 bit for 4K broadcast and up to 14 bit hitting the consumer market eventually. This takes even fancier chips to run in real time...

I guess I'll find out soon on the file format on G3 cause I went to BB and bought a Sandisk Ultra Pro 32gb microsd card. I'm hoping it's formatted in exfat and the G3 will support and load a file larger than 4gb and see if I can records at least a 1080 for more than 4gb. From the other link I gave I was actually sold on the Samsung memory because reviews are mixed on the reliability of the Sandisks but they didnt have any and tired of racking my brain on it lol.

Good luck. Like I said I go with Samsung or Sandisk Pro.

 

[sopclod]

Just wanted to confirm that sd cards formatted with exfat do work, I was able to watch a 9GB video. In doing research I found that 64gb+ cards don't even work with FAT32, so devices that support them ought to work with exfat.

I will say though that at first I did a "quick" format in Windows, which didn't work. Doing a "regular" format, which took quite a while, has worked fine.

 

[donm527#IM]

Thanks for the info. The next question for me is whether you can record a video straight to microsd card and able to go beyond 4gb.

What kind of microsd card are you using? I put in a Sandisk Utra Pro 32gb card in straight out of packaging without reformatting so I don't know if it's already in exfat.

Just wanted to confirm that sd cards formatted with exfat do work, I was able to watch a 9GB video. In doing research I found that 64gb+ cards don't even work with FAT32, so devices that support them ought to work with exfat.

I will say though that at first I did a "quick" format in Windows, which didn't work. Doing a "regular" format, which took quite a while, has worked fine.

 

[donm527#IM]

Also, when you do a format in windows, does the window format give you an option to choose 'exfat'?

Just wanted to confirm that sd cards formatted with exfat do work, I was able to watch a 9GB video. In doing research I found that 64gb+ cards don't even work with FAT32, so devices that support them ought to work with exfat.

I will say though that at first I did a "quick" format in Windows, which didn't work. Doing a "regular" format, which took quite a while, has worked fine.