What's the best SD card to use for 4K video?

Joined
Feb 26, 2016
Messages
24
Reaction score
2
Age
55
Thanks for all you advice in advance!


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Most class 10 memory cards should work since the Phantom can only write at a max of 7.5MB/s. You can find a list of commonly used memory cards here. My suggestion would be to purchase a memory card that has a fast read and write speed to cut down on the time it takes when manually transferring files to/from your memory card.
 
I like SanDisk cards
 
Is there a max GB card that can be use in the phantom 3 pro?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
64GB is what DJI recommends as the max. Some people are using 128GB memory cards with no trouble though. I personally just have a handful of 32GB cards.
 
5817bd76d72decc9d102efc26d25ebee.jpg
this is what I'm using now


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Is there a max GB card that can be use in the phantom 3 pro?
Although getting the biggest SD card is a popular option with forum members, it's not a very good idea.
I remember reading of a "pro" shooting a music video with his Inspire on a boat off Miami.
He was one of those get-the-biggest- SD-card guys because bigger is always better?
He had been shooting all day and and at the end of the eighth flight when bringing his inspire in, it hit an outrigger pole on the game boat he was using for a camera boat.
The Inspire went straight down in a bust shipping channel with his whole day's work on his expensive high capacity SD card.
He was disappointed about the Inspire but more concerned about the work he'd lost.

You only need about 8-10 GB to hold a whole flight of full 4K video or over 3000 jpg photos.
It makes a lot more sense to have several 16GB cards and swap out between flights so that you don't risk losing precious work every time you fly.
i-GdPnCkp-M.jpg
 
I thought for 4K video you needed a U3 card ? I know thats what I needed for my GoPro and that is what I put in my P4 day 1 , and took that other cheap card out. DJI gives you cards that wont even work with 4K.
 
I thought for 4K video you needed a U3 card ? I know thats what I needed for my GoPro and that is what I put in my P4 day 1 , and took that other cheap card out. DJI gives you cards that wont even work with 4K.
What card did dji give you that doesnt work?
 
The P4 requires a class 10 memory card. Other devices that shoot at 4K might have beefier requirements if they shoot at a higher bitrate.
 
Right now the best option is probably a 32 or 64 gig card. For me, I get fast cards because I'm impatient they are fairly inexpensive. I always shoot max resolution and transfer the card when it is near capacity. I am an event videographer so I have have a number of really fast cards..and some medium range class 10 cards.. I learned the hard way that you have to do your research on cards. I lost footage on a wedding because I didn't pay attention to the card.. It would only record a few minutes at a time then stop the recording.. BCam operator was forced to keep pressing record and lost some segments. I'm very lucky that I had a stationary unmanned backup that allowed me to fill in for the B camera. Moral of the story understand what card is necessary for what you plan to shoot. If you want max resolution make certain the card can handle the write speed necessary to keep up.. Else lose that footage.. Some cards are rated fast enough to handle 4K but they just don't. Another good point is don't go too big on a card. It forces you to offload more often.

Just my .02


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Right now the best option is probably a 32 or 64 gig card. For me, I get fast cards because I'm impatient they are fairly inexpensive. I always shoot max resolution and transfer the card when it is near capacity. I am an event videographer so I have have a number of really fast cards..and some medium range class 10 cards.. I learned the hard way that you have to do your research on cards. I lost footage on a wedding because I didn't pay attention to the card.. It would only record a few minutes at a time then stop the recording.. BCam operator was forced to keep pressing record and lost some segments. I'm very lucky that I had a stationary unmanned backup that allowed me to fill in for the B camera. Moral of the story understand what card is necessary for what you plan to shoot. If you want max resolution make certain the card can handle the write speed necessary to keep up.. Else lose that footage.. Some cards are rated fast enough to handle 4K but they just don't. Another good point is don't go too big on a card. It forces you to offload more often.

Just my .02


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
Several 16gb cards with a 2tb portable nas and a card slot works well for me.
 
Sounds great for you and probably for most. Especially using the 2TB NAS.

That would not be enough space for me. I have two GoPro Hero Blacks that I wire up for events. I like to set them up and run them without worrying about record time. 4K burns through 16 gb PDQ so I use 64 GB cards. I use those same cards in the P3p.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Sounds great for you and probably for most. Especially using the 2TB NAS.

That would not be enough space for me. I have two GoPro Hero Blacks that I wire up for events. I like to set them up and run them without worrying about record time. 4K burns through 16 gb PDQ so I use 64 GB cards. I use those same cards in the P3p.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
Its all about purposes. 32gig cards would probably be a good match for the gopro battery change interval, im guessing about an hour given same specs as P3P canera. I can comfortably fly three batteties on a 32 gig card. I use 64 gig cards also as a have a couple. I just routinely dump to the drive after avery flight now (swap a new card in while the other is copying). Loosing the phantom permanently would be bad enough without loosing the footage also. I spend enough time over water and ither areas where recovery options are slim. It's all going to be over permanently when it happens (touch wood).
 
whole day's work on his expensive high capacity SD card [...] You only need about 8-10 GB to hold a whole flight of full 4K video or over 3000 jpg photos.
It makes a lot more sense to have several 16GB cards and swap out between flights so that you don't risk losing precious work every time you fly.

Yes, change the SD card when changing the battery:

P3P 4K video = 60 Mb/s = 7.5 MB/s = 450 MB/min = ~0,44 GB/min
P3P max flying time plus some = 30 min

30 minutes of P3P video = ~0,44 GB/min x 30 min = 13 GB
 
  • Like
Reactions: Schnoidz
Right now the best option is probably a 32 or 64 gig card. For me, I get fast cards because I'm impatient they are fairly inexpensive. I always shoot max resolution and transfer the card when it is near capacity. I am an event videographer so I have have a number of really fast cards..and some medium range class 10 cards.. I learned the hard way that you have to do your research on cards. I lost footage on a wedding because I didn't pay attention to the card.. It would only record a few minutes at a time then stop the recording.. BCam operator was forced to keep pressing record and lost some segments. I'm very lucky that I had a stationary unmanned backup that allowed me to fill in for the B camera. Moral of the story understand what card is necessary for what you plan to shoot. If you want max resolution make certain the card can handle the write speed necessary to keep up.. Else lose that footage.. Some cards are rated fast enough to handle 4K but they just don't. Another good point is don't go too big on a card. It forces you to offload more often.

Just my .02


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

Another moral from your story would be - have redundancies wherever/whenever possible!
 
I thought for 4K video you needed a U3 card ? I know thats what I needed for my GoPro and that is what I put in my P4 day 1 , and took that other cheap card out. DJI gives you cards that wont even work with 4K.
Not sure what card you got but the Lexar cards that come with a lot of Phantoms are very high performance cards.
 
Not sure what card you got but the Lexar cards that come with a lot of Phantoms are very high performance cards.
Not saying it was a bad card , just thought they were not fast enough for 4K. I have been set straight about that though. I have a U3 32gb card that I was going to put in the P4 anyway and used the Lexar in my tablet. No issues on either.
 

Recent Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,086
Messages
1,467,525
Members
104,965
Latest member
cokersean20