Will 1080p vid recorded on class 10 microsd look better than a class 4?

[brassplyer]

Would you expect 1080p video shot with a class 4 card to look any different than with a class 10 card? Does the camera make some quality adjustment or is it that if it records/plays successfully, that's it.

Thanks.

[newpball]

You really do not want to use a class 4 card for recording 1080p.
That is asking for problems.

Theoretically the speed should be fine but in reality especially when the card is half full it is not.

Card writing speeds is like listed miles/gallon on new cars, you never get those numbers.

[brassplyer]

You really do not want to use a class 4 card for recording 1080p.
That is asking for problems.

Theoretically the speed should be fine but in reality especially when the card is half full it is not.

Card writing speeds is like listed miles/gallon on new cars, you never get those numbers.

If it does successfully record and play back, it won't make any difference in the quality of the video?

[redwudz]

No difference in quality. But it could have break up problems if it can't handle the bitrate of a HD video.

[Cornucopia]

You could test your "quality" hypothesis by taking a high quality HD video file and copying it to a class 10 card vs. a class 4 card. Would it be any different? No. But...
The previous hypothetical test assumed non-time-based, asynchronous copying. What is happening at record time for you IS time-based and is synchronous (or probably more correctly "isochronous"). This could give a very different result. Remember that part of "quality" is lack of errors/skips.

And just because it might "successfully record & playback" once, doesn't mean it will continue to do so. Throughout its lifetime, or even next time...

Do yourself a favor: maybe you have to buy fewer SD cards, but it would be worth it in the long run to know that what you are shooting has a better chance of being stored correctly. Think "high road" rather than "low road".

Scott

[glenpinn]

Class 10 45Mpbp is the minimum i will recommend for 1080/50p video, and these sit around a pretty decent price point.

DO NOT have this cheap skate attitude when it comes to recording 1080p video, or else one day it will come back to bite you.

[brassplyer]

Class 10 45Mpbp is the minimum i will recommend for 1080/50p video, and these sit around a pretty decent price point.

DO NOT have this cheap skate attitude when it comes to recording 1080p video, or else one day it will come back to bite you.

My original reason for asking wasn't thriftiness but that I was testing out a camcorder and the only SD card I had available at the moment was a class 4. I just wanted to know if there would be any loss in overall image quality to evaluate what I was seeing.

[CubDukat]

As posted here previously, it wouldn't be an issue of quality necessarily, but rather whether the card could handle the data rate.

I would definitely hold out for the Class 10 card. You could probably squeak by with a Class 4, but I wouldn't advise it. If the card gets overwhelmed, you could end up corrupting it, and that's not fun.

Basically, the upshot of it is, don't take the chance.

[Cornucopia]

For (compressed) HD video, the MINIMUM I would use would be a class 10 card.

Scott

[glenpinn]

My original reason for asking wasn't thriftiness but that I was testing out a camcorder and the only SD card I had available at the moment was a class 4. I just wanted to know if there would be any loss in overall image quality to evaluate what I was seeing.

My aplogies i didnt mean to imply that you may have been trying to skimp, my reply was more about warning not to use anything less than class 10, but there are many different speeds available in class 10 and nobody mentioned which speed of card would be ideal, so i mentioned the 45Mbps cards that i use for 1080/50p avchd @ 28Mbps.

When i go to 4k i will be getting some 128gb cards @ 90Mbps or faster, depending on what format my new camera will shoot.