Camera Labs

Being that Sandisk SDXC memory cards are currently available from Amazon, Newegg and on Ebay for well under $100, (under half Sandisk authorized reseller prices) how many of these cards are likely to be fakes? Has anyone ever tested such a cheap Sandisk 64gb class 10 card with h2testw?

Some of them will definitely be fakes but it's almost impossible to say how many.

Perhaps the best advice is to buy from sellers with high ratings, checking their ratings where they've sold such memory cards and follow the mantra that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Yes, I'm advising this from first-hand experience - I had purchased a 32GB flash drive on eBay that was no more than 64MB when I tested it with h2testw but the seller was co-operative and refunded me in full without any troubles.

Was there a specific reason why you posted this in the Canon forum?

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

A website I buy from regularly has just listed a Sandisk 64GB Micro SDHC (Class 10, 30MB/s) card for the equivalent of less than $100 so it may be the case that price points have dropped considerably.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

Is it necessary to use the memory card of sandisk only? Can anyone tell me is there any other option than San disk?

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Nappy disposal system

Nope. For stills, pretty much any vendor will do but for video, you'll need Class 10 cards, where SanDisk is not the only player..

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

Panasonic or Lexar cards, for example, are pretty good as well.

Some Transcend cards seem to die a bit early but most of them are OK. I'm also pretty happy with my Kingston cards.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

Memory cards in general have been dropping in price quite drastically. As far as MSRP goes, it's manufacturer's SUGGESTED retail price. Stores can usually sell for much less, especially in the photography world.

As for Sandisk Extreme vs other cards:

I had a Transcend card die on me at the worst possible moment, basically AFTER taking 100s of photos at an event, and right in the middle of a mass. I was able to recover some of the photos, but a lot of them were corrupt and there was nothing that could be done, even with Transcend's recovery program (comes with their card reader). And the time I wasted switching cards was really bad. Thankfully I was only volunteering, and I had given proper disclaimers before, but if you intend of charging money for your services, invest in a very good card.

After a lot of research, I bought a couple of Sandisk extreme class 10 SDHC cards. As Rorschach mentioned they're not the only mfg of class 10 cards, but they are insanely durable. I read an article where one card spent over a month on the bottom of the ocean floor before being found, and the photos were still all there. I bought a couple of them almost 2 years ago, and they have worked flawlessly.

In my mind, the Sandisk Extreme is the army tank of cards. Sure, there are prettier, cheaper, and possibly even faster cards out there, but if you're going on the frontline of photography, that extra protection is worth the extra cost.

If you don't care so much about the safety of your images, then no worries. A 5$ memory card will work fine; most of the time.

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Cameras: Canon EOS Rebel T2i, Canon S90
Lenses: Tamron: SP70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD, Canon: EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens, 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III, and EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Retired camera: Fujifilm Finepix s700

When buying cards, dont look on the price. It is the only medium that holds your photos. I know it is easy to write and hard to read if you dont have money, but you can always buy better card with lower capacity.
I can reccomend GoodRAM, Kingston, and Pretec, i used kingston for five years and never had a problem with any (currently have 3 sd and one CF card)

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I'm new to DSLR's, so please be patient and take my opinions with reserve. Thank you : ) Yes, i am Canon man.
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