What SDHC card for DSLR (1 Viewer)

[Michael_K_Sr]

I think the Class 10 cards are overkill for you, but to each his own. Keep in mind that not every card reader will be able to read the SDHC cards. I tried two of them before finding one that worked. Now I just use the SD slot in my MBP and it works fine.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Michael,


I could go with the Transcend Class 6 at half the price


http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Class-Flash-Memory-TS8GSDHC6/dp/B000P9ZBFA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1280700394&sr=8-1


I also have a multi-card reader for Mac made by Moshi

that supports SDHC.


The only argument I can make for going with the Sandisk

Extreme card is the following:


Quote from Popular Photography Magazine:

"The D90 is the first camera that can take advantage of SanDisk's new 30MB/sec Extreme III SDHC memory cards. In our lab tests, it captured 54 full-sized Fine-quality JPEGs in 12 seconds for an average of 4.5 fps, just as Nikon claims. Shooting RAW, we got 9 frames in 2 seconds before the buffer filled up, again verifying Nikon's 4.5- fps spec. And with this new card, the D90's buffer clears so quickly that the burst is like the Energizer Bunny -- it just keeps going and going. Slip any other SDHC card into the camera, and you can count on only about 13 JPEGs before the buffer fills."

 

[Sam Posten]

And 13 is 4x what you claim to want to shoot as a burst.


Even shooting baseball and football I have never taken more than a 7-8 frame burst.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

There are more than enough things to throw your $ at in this hobby. No need to spend the extra on card speed that you can hardly use.

For one thing, spend the extra on a good bag (or two), some sort of cleaning kit -- I highly recommend the Giottos Rocket Blower, quality filters, flash diffuser, etc.

_Man_

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Man,


Like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA1900-Rocket-Blaster-Large/dp/B00017LSPI


Throw some other inexpensive essentials I should look at.


Thanks

 

[Scott Merryfield]

That Giottos Rocket Blower is the correct one, Ron. It's a great, inexpensive tool for cleaning loose dust off your sensor. I keep one in my bag all the time, although my newer Canon 40D does not accumulate dust nearly as much as my old Rebel XT, since the newer model has an automatic sensor cleaner (and it really works). I do not know if your Nikon D90 has that feature.


A word of warning -- never use canned air to clean your sensor or other camera parts. The products usually contain some chemicals that will cause all sorts of issues on your sensor, including creating spots that are incredibly difficult to remove. That Rocket Blower is the perfect tool to use instead.


I would also get a lint-free cloth for wiping your lens elements and filters, in case they get spots such as raindrops. I also keep a small bottle of eye glass cleaner in my bag.


If you end up needing a tripod, I would also then pick up some sort of remote shutter release. I am not familiar with accessories in the Nikon world, but Canon's remote shutter release for my 40D was absurdly priced -- $50 for a cable release! I ended up purchasing a third party one for about $6 shipped. I figured even if it was not made nearly as well, I would have to go through 8 of them before I would break even buying the Canon version. So far, I am still using the original one.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Scott,


The Nikon d90 has auto sensor cleaning. Yippee!


So, essentially, everytime or every few times I change

out a lens I should use the air blower to get rid of any

dust or dirt?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I would only use the blower if you notice dust on the sensor -- it will show up in certain types of photos. Since your D90 has a built-in sensor cleaner, you may find that you do not need to clean it very often.


I am pretty careful about how I change lenses, and with my 40D I rarely need to clean the sensor. With my older Rebel XT, though, I was cleaning it quite often with the Rocket Blower, and also needed to use a more intensive cleaner on a couple of occasions. I think the product I used was from Visible Dust, but I would have to check, since I have not needed it since buying the 40D a few years ago. The auto sensor cleaners really do work well.

 

[Sam Posten]

Even with the auto sensor cleaning I find my Rocket Blower indispensable. Never ever ever breathe into your camera!


For nikon cable releases I use the Cletus for my D300, it's imported from Hong Kong via Ebay. It's fantastic. I don't think it will work with the D90 tho, it won't connect to my D5000.


Microfiber cloths for lens cleaning is nice to have but not as helpful as you'd think. You need an awful lot of gunk on a lens for it to have an even mild effect on the captured image. Has a lot to do with the laws of physics, If you don't understand how light works you assume that the light coming into the lens is a straight line and that gets condensed down (and inverted maybe if you understand just a little bit) by the lens but nothing could be further from the truth, it simply doesnt work that way...


Sam

 

[Carlo_M]

Agree with the blower + microfiber purchase recommendations above.


All new Nikons and Canons have the auto sensor cleaning. Crap is still going to get in there some time during the life of your camera. Or if not in the sensor, somewhere else. Recently I noticed a rather large dot in my viewfinder which wasn't showing up in the pictures. Turns out that was a speck of dust stuck to the underside of the pentaprism. Took two quick short blasts from the blower and it was gone.

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Yes...definitely get both the Rocket Blaster and the microfiber cloths. If you get a remote shutter release, make sure you look for one that is compatible with the D90. The connector type is different on the D90 than it is on Nikon's higher end cameras. Nikon does have a cheap wireless remote (the ML-L3) which I find fairly useless because the sensor for it is on the front of the camera. If I am shooting with a tripod, I almost always am behind the camera and I don't want to reach around to trigger the remote.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yeah, generally, I find that Rocket Blower + microfiber cloth are all I need though I don't get all sorts of gunk on my lenses.


What I typically do is check the rear side of the lens for dust/debris before putting it on the camera. If I notice any there, I'll give the blower a blast or two to get rid of it before swapping lenses. How thorough you can be to avoid getting more dust/debris into your camera during lens swaps than necessary will depend, but tiny bits of dust *will* get inside somehow.


I also use the blower to get rid of dust elsewhere, including the front element (not that it matters much as Sam points out). Certainly, it's better to just blow the stuff off, if possible, than to try to wipe it off (as wiping is probably more likely to damage lens coatings).


_Man_

 

[Bryan X]

I'll also recommend the Rocket Blower. I love it. It's great after a day out shooting to knock the dust off the front of the lens. In addition, I also use (sparingly) Pec Pads with a good cleaner like Eclipse or ROR. But I only resort to such cleaning when absolutely necessary. Still, they're nice to have handy. I've accidently planted an oily finger on the front of a lens more than I would have cared to.


I've never tried to clean the sensor. My 50D has the built in sensor cleaner, so between that and getting my lens changing technique down to the point where the sensor is exposed for less than a second, I've been fine. (My lens changing technique reminds me of Indiana Jones trying to swap the gold idol for a bag of sand)

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Originally Posted by Bryan X /forum/thread/302663/what-sdhc-card-for-dslr/30#post_3716319

 

[Carlo_M]

Only problem is that with the costs of lenses these days, it's more like swapping a bag of gold with another bag of gold!

 

[Bryan X]

You've got that right!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

So, I take it, based on these responses I should aim

to switch out lenses as quickly as possible to avoid

any dust from getting inside.

 

[Carlo_M]

Yes Ron, but as always, a little caution can go a long way. You don't need to set a world speed record in lens switching. Just follow some common sense tips such as:

• Don't change lenses in a dusty environment
• If there's wind, use your body to shield your equipment from it if you must change lenses
• Don't leave any of your equipment (body or lenses) in a dusty environment

I'm sure others can chime in with other things to avoid doing, but I pretty much do that and have had a relatively dust-free experience with my cameras (other than the one random speck I found on the pentaprism which was really easy to get rid of).

 

[Scott Merryfield]

In addition to Carlo's suggestions, I also try to hold the camera body with the lens opening pointed downward while the lens is off, following the theory that dust particles tend to follow the law of gravity and fall downward (yes, a breeze can mess up this theory ). I also try to keep the rear element of the lens pointed downward until I am ready to attach it to the camera body for the same reason.


No matter how careful you are, though, it's inevitable that you will eventually get some dust inside the camera. However, between the automatic sensor cleaner and the rocket blower, keeping the sensor clean is quite simple. It's just a new experience for anyone used to shooting only with a point & shoot camera.


Just remember this basic rule when cleaning with the blower -- never touch anything inside the camera. That includes the sensor, mirror and viewing screen. If your sensor does end up getting too dirty to get clean with the rocket blower, there are wet cleaning kits made for cleaning the sensor. However, you need to follow the instructions very carefully when using such a product. Chances are good you will never need to do this, though. I had to a couple of times on my old Rebel XT when dirt particles became stuck to the sensor, but have never needed to with my current 40D.