Can someone please explain the difference between SDHC, SDXC, and UHS?

And which of these would be most appropriate for shooting HD video?

All you really need to know is the class of card. 10 is very fast. The SDHC and all that has to do with the volume of memory. Old stuff can't see large cards like over 4 gigs. Class 4 will work with most HD cameras but to error on the safe side I always buy class 10 cards. The class rating is on the front of all cards.

UHS is in reference to its class, such as UHS-1, class 10, class 4, etc. To be considered class 10 it must meet a required read/write speed, for class 10 being 10mb/s. It is normally pretty safe to go with the UHS-1 though.

As for SDHC, it stands for Secure Digital High Capacity and SDXC stands for Secure Digital eXtended Capacity. Be careful, as not all devices support SDXC, be sure to refer to your product manual or look up its specifications to see what it can support. The major difference for SDHC and SDXC is capacity. SDHC goes from 4GB to 32GB, while SDXC starts at 64GB. The other difference being SDXC comes pre-formatted as exFAT. The exFAT file system is supported my many operating systems, but not all. Windows XP requires a patch to be able to use it, while Windows 7 natively supports it.

Why no transcend ssd?

It's good to see CF cards included again, and this is a good price. 32GB is over a thousand 18 megapixel RAW images with my 7D.

It is pretty foolish to trust 1,000 photos to a single 32GB card when 25% of the reviews report total failure of the card and lost photos.

I have had Transcend memory cards in the past and have had a problem with EVERY one of them! Transcend's customer service is nonexistent so the warranty is meaningless.

UnHappy, that is interesting that you have had trouble with Transcend, as I use the brand a lot for my high-end cameras and haven't had any trouble yet. These prices are the best yet. I bought a 32GB Transcend CF card last year here on Amazon for USD 51.99 and that card is still working flawlessly. The thumbdrives are also very affordable. These cards are great deals for those point-and-shoot cameras that you know Amazon will feature soon!

I thought I read somewhere that not all cameras can use the higher GB cards (16, 32, etc). Is that correct? If so, how do I tell if my cameras can use the higher cards? I have a 16GB card for one camera but would like to get a 32GB or 64GB card.

ShadowFalls, where do I check to see if my cameras support SDXC? I'm at work so I can't check the manual. I've been checking the description on Ammy, but it doesn't tell me anything.

Also, what is the difference between Class 10, High Speed Class 10, and Information High Speed Class 10?

Edit: I just went to cnet and they told me both my cameras use SD, SDHC, SDXC.

Simple. Off-load your photos every day you take pictures.... Don't trust any media. Backup backup backup - twice!

I currently have at least 4 Trascend SD cards (mostly 16Gb) and am on the other side of the statistics. NONE of them give me a single problem. I do trust Trascend products.

i am a wedding photographer. i have been using the transcend 32gb CF for little more than a year. it is great and I never have any trouble with it. you can't beat the price and I just bought another one

Amen to that. I'll never forget the day my thumbdrive decided to stop working one day with lots of work files on it. Luckily I had earlier versions of the files elsewhere, but I still needed to redo some work which was a pain.

Ever since then I back up everything (from my file on phone to my thumbdrive) in multiple places.

How are these SDHC cards as far as long term storage goes, like using it like a miniature hard drive so I can save various stuff from my PC ?

@James:

For long term backup, in theory it's excellent since it's non-magnetc and has no moving parts to fail. However, I would hesitate to use a CF card as a continuous drive in your system since the number of read/write cyles to failure is less than something like an SSD drive (especially if the system is continously indexing the data).

So, for long term storage, these can work well. For short term, continously changing files, I'd go with a traditonal hard drive.

I've actually used SD cards for nightly backups before and never had an issue doing so. The big bonus of these over a traditional hard drive is you can divide your data according to type and have seperate cards for each. They take up so little space, you can stick them in a fire safe to keep things like digital tax documents and other "better not lose this" data for storage. I actually pick up small capacity cards whenever they go on sale and clip the card (containing digital forms) in its case to paper copies of the forms on the card. This gives me a quick to access copy while keeping a printable version handy should I need it.

The biggest down side is capacity. Even with 64GB or larger cards, it's going to take several cards to back up a laptop drive with hundreds of GB of data on it. Of course, that can also be an advantage since it minimizes loss of data if any particular card fails.

No matter what solution you choose, it shouldn't be your only one. In addition to your main copy, you should have at least one on-site backup and 1 off-site copy (either in the cloud or some physical location like a safe deposit box). If your only backup is in the same location as your original, a storm or fire can take out both at once.

Ultra Violet: You won't find a list of the cameras that can use a particular card in the card's product description. There as imply too many cameras for that to be possible. Instead, you should go to the website of your camera's maker and look up the specs for your particular camera. It's a pain, but I don't know of another way -- unless you have a friend who can let you try out the card you're intersted in using.

@Ultra Violet Eyes:

SDHC: Faster than traditional SD cards, but slowest of the high speed cards.

SDXC: Faster, but not fast enough for HD video with a DSLR. Thse are good enough for lower end "Flip" slyle video cameras that highly compress even the HD video.

UHC (or Ultra SDHC): Really fast card for full 1080p video on a DSLR and maximum rapid shots for stills. These range from around 30Mb/s to over 90MB/s, depending on the card. A DSLR should have something in the 40-45Mb/s range to ensure you don't overrun the buffer due to the card not keeping up.

It's hard to find regular SD cards anymore! Mine won't take even HC. Any ideas?

It's pretty foolish to trust any single backup solution. Choose diversity.

The Transcend 32GB SDHC I use with my GoPro Hero 2 for video and stills has been great. The transfer rate is good and I've never had any read nor write errors. I also have a Transcend 32GB micro SDHC card for my smartphone that has worked perfectly. Good performance for good prices in both cases, and I would buy these again given the chance. Sorry to hear that you have had problems, Camper.

I bought in a Gold Box lightning deal about three years ago a "Transcend T.sonic 840". It is an MP3 Player * Radio * Recorder * Video * Photo * E-book. I got it because I really wanted an MP3 Player and the radio. The other bells and whistles don' t mean all that much. Some day the might but for then, I just wanted music.

Now, I have the music filled up but would like more. If I get one of these storage deals, can I store what I have on it and download more music on the Transcend T.sonic 840?

If any takes time to help me out, I would appreciate it but would also need a little patience. I don't know even some very basic stuff about this technology as is probably evident. So thanks in advance! Lynda

Pretty much entirely wrong.

SDHC has no relation to actual speed, it is just a reference to its capacity, they are what replaced traditional SD cards, which also had class speeds. SDXC is the same, it is just a reference to its capacity. SDXC just like SDHC, has varying classes of speeds.

The Ultra SDHC, as referred to is really just a brand specific from Sandisk, in which is their third faster performer going up to 30mb/s while the Extreme series goes up to 45mb/s and Extreme Pro up to 95mb/s. The faster cards are referred to as a speed class rating of UHS-I or UHS-II, though I haven't seen anything from the UHS-II specification yet.

@Lynda

Nothing I can see shows that mp3 player has a memory card slot, take a look and see if you see one, but it isn't uncommon for mp3 players to not have them, and if they do, they are likely micro sd/sdhc anyways.

I love a good deal, but most of these Transcend products don't seem very reliable, based on the reviews. I think I'll pass, as much as I'd love a 64gb flash drive.