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Sony 8 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo Mark2
by TheTallOne
I bought this 8GB Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo Mark 2 to use with a Sony Cybershot DSC-TX1. The product comes with the storage device (to fit into the current range of Cybershot cameras being produced) and also with an adapter to convert the Pro Duo into a 'Memory Stick Pro' (which was used a few years back with older Cybershot ... models).
The Storage Device:
The storage device clicks in to the slot in the camera like most memory cards do these days. It certainly holds a lot of data (well over 1500 10.2MP Digital Photos when the camera is at its highest setting, and over 9999 when you start decreasing the quality of the photos you are taking). It is also capable of recording 720p HD video at 9Mbps - you can capture well over 90 minutes of video with it [see below for an issue though]. Some older memory cards are not capable of recording HD video because the rate at which data is produced is not as fast as data is recorded onto the memory card. The Mark2 indicates this faster data transfer rate. [To put these data transfer rates into perspective, 9Mbps is faster than many people's broadband connections, which are often sold at 'up to 8Mbps']
There is one issue with the card, however, that I believe will affect any Memory Stick which has a size of 8GB or greater (4GB cards are not affected by this). Due to the way files are stored on the Memory Stick, the maximum file size is 4GB. Because of this, if you try and store a file larger than 4GB (which will only be a 45+ minute long video at top quality) it is likely that there will be some error with the file. The solution is to stop recording and restart again - the stick can hold 2 4GB files but not a single 8GB file. In addition, a message appears on my Cyber-shot telling me this. Perhaps it is a slight inconvenience that every time I want to take a photo or shoot a video a message will appear on screen that means I have to clear it by pressing the shutter down slightly or touching the screen. A 4GB Memory Stick will not have is problem (so it is up to you whether to buy 2x4GB or one 8GB and live with the annoying message). In either case you will not be able to have a video file larger than 4GB.
The advantages of having an 8GB stick is that I have not yet had to remove photos or video from the stick (after 8 months I've taken over 1500 photos and still have plenty of space left) - you can go on a holiday for probably a month and take photos on the camera's highest setting, without having to worry about changing memory card or moving the photos onto disk/computer (in fact, a DVD only holds ~4.7GB compared to the 8GB on the Memory Stick).
The adapter:
I have also found the adapter to be very useful. The adapter allows me to use the memory stick with a card reader on my Dell Laptop, as well as the card reader on my (old version of the) Playstation 3. The reader on my Dell Laptop allows me to quickly and easily copy my photos I have taken onto my hard disk, however it only accepts Memory Stick Pro cards (hence the adapter is required). Similarly, my Playstation 3 only accepts Memory Stick Pro cards so the adapter is required to convert the Pro Duo into the Pro. I can then watch the photos and videos I have taken with my camera on both devices. In addition, I can back up data on my PS3 onto the Memory Stick, as well as transfer my own video onto the Memory Stick from my laptop and play them back on my PS3 and through my Television (compared to my monitor).
It is possible to transfer photos between my laptop and camera via the cable supplied with the camera, however that does require finding the cable (often they are tailored directly for use with that camera only, so a generic USB cable may not work).
Small issue has been that some photos and videos have been corrupted, but I believe that is due to my camera rather than the Memory Stick.
Overall, this 8GB Memory Stick Pro Duo Mark 2 has an insane amount of storage and can be used for a multitude of purposes, but perhaps it is too large for its own good as its size causes an inconvenient message to appear on the screen of my camera every time I turn it on. For that reason I only give it 4 stars.
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Sandisk Ultra II 8 GB CompactFlash Card
by marcfoto
My standard memory card for shooting; the Sandisk 8gb Ultra is a great compromise between size, speed & cost.
What you need out of your card is going to depend on what you shoot and how you shoot it. I choose this particular card as it provides a decent shoots' worth of images, around 300 at 12mp, while not being too ... expensive (until you buy half a dozen!). Any larger and you risk too many photos on one memory card and any smaller and you'll be chopping and changing all day.
I'm fairly certain that CF cards are mainly for the SLR market, so what speed to you need to get?
Well, considering your SLR has an integrated buffer which provides you with some lee-way with the speed of your card you can afford to get a slower memory card. Of course, when you start pushing the card with hunderds of RAW files a minute you will see the benefit of a larger card.
However, shooting on a D300 provides around 7 full-size RAW frames in the buffer continuous. None of my work requires me to shoot continuous RAW frames for longer than that I never fill the buffer and therefore never need the additional speed of the higher priced cards. If you think that you will be shooting more than once a second for long periods then you probably need to look elsewhere.
The advantage of getting this branded, SanDisk card over cheaper types is that the speed (15Mb/s) is often more than what cheaper cards can handle. You also get some reassurance that the card will be tougher and apparently more reliable than non-branded or economy cards - while this might not be true it's not something I want to find out the hard way.
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Sandisk 8 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo
by cognition
INTRODUCTION
The Memory Stick Pro format of memory card was originally a joint effort between Sony and Sandisk. This was followed by Memory Stick Duo, which was much smaller in physical size, in order to fit into handheld devices, however because of file size limitations, the Memory Stick Pro Duo format of memory cards was then ... developed to allow for far larger file capacities.
Sony is the name that primarily comes to mind with the Memory Stick Pro Duo format. Most of their digital cameras support the format, as well as some Sony Ericsson phones, and the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP). Often the prevalence of Sony on the market can somewhat overshadow the fact that Sandisk also have memory cards in this format on offer, at comparable high quality, and usually at a lower price.
While Memory Stick Pro Duos can be found in sizes from 128mb up to 32gb (and maybe soon even more), this review is of the Sandisk 8gb Memory Stick Pro Duo. I got this for my Sony PSP, and having paid about £18, I thought I had found a good balance between price and capacity at the time (April 2010).
BUILD QUALITY
I believe you can get the memory stick in blue, black and transparent. Mine is blue. It was the default colour I got sent from the store, which was a seller on the Amazon Marketplace. The memory stick is made of hard plastic, and if you touch it with your fingers, you can feel that the serial number is engraved into the plastic. Obviously, I haven't put it through too much abuse, but when you hold it between your fingers, you can tell it's well made. It's not going to break unless you put considerable force into trying to break it.
PERFORMANCE
The card was instantly recognized by both my card readers (one external usb card reader and the internal one on my laptop), and also my Sony PSP. Transfer speeds are stated as being 15Mbps, which is stated as being sufficient for real time playback of DVD quality video. In real terms, transfer speeds are reasonable. I think I spent about 10-15 minutes filling up the memory stick. The only thing I have to compare with is a fake (counterfeit) Sony memory stick, that I got with my PSP from eBay, and the Sandisk card was noticably faster. Often with products that work as expected it can be difficult to expand too much on performance and operation. It's all rock solid in every aspect.
WATCH OUT FOR COUNTERFEITS
When you are looking for a cheap memory stick, it's very tempting to have a look at eBay, and there are some seemingly very good deals to be had there. However, do note that there is a very thriving counterfeit market for memory sticks, and this is particularly strong and prevalent on eBay. The memory stick brand most heavily counterfeited is Sony, however, I've heard rumours there might be counterfeits of other brands, such as Sandisk, around as well. Basically, the counterfeit cards will most of the time look almost identical to the real cards, so it can be challenging to tell a difference visually. However, usually they are much slower and the build quality is inferior. There can also be horrific cases of the memory cards being sold as having a certain capacity while the real capacity is a low lower. In these cases the cards are formatted in a special way so that when you copy files to the card it will behave as if it has the advertised amount of space and it will allow you to copy that amount of files, but the files will in fact be corrupted when they are copied. My personal experience with counterfeit memory sticks is limited to when I got my Sony PSP second hand on eBay. It came with a memory stick with a couple of games on it, and within my first thirty minutes with the PSP it had crashed twice. Transfer speeds to/from the memory stick was painstakingly slow, and when I tried to eject the card, the build quality was so low than when I attempted to insert the card into my usb memory stick reader, the card litarally broke. Since I got my hands on the real and proper Sandisk memory stick reviewed here, I have been using the PSP for probably 15 hours or so without one single crash. The moral of this paragraph is, don't fall for what might seem like a very good deal on eBay. Buy from a reputable seller. I was even nervous about buying from an Amazon marketplace seller, so I thoroughly researched their feedback, and it was all good. With memory sticks it's better to spend a few pounds more and know for sure that you have a genuine product.
CONCLUSION
I paid £18 including delivery from an Amazon Marketplace seller (April 2010). In a proper shop you could pay as much as £30 (June 2010). I would wholeheartedly recommend the memory card for anyone in need of this capacity storage in the Memory Stick Pro Duo format. I feel that I found the perfect balance between price and capacity at the time. There are faster cards with higher capacity to be had, but at a significantly higher price. Depending on your needs, you may find you can get away with getting a lower capacity card as well.
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