SD cards are boring, yet highly important. After my original SD card, a 32GB Transcend SD card, broke down from 5 years of full time use, it was time for a replacement.

transcend-600x-32gb-sd-cardI Love Transcend

I love Transcend, and that’s for one reason: it’s a perfect balance of affordability and functionality. They don’t offer the fastest speeds, but the card was always reliable for me. Filming video was always smooth, but I would experience a bit of lag when shooting bursts or RAW. The casing on my card broke after 5 years, so the actual memory functionality still works. Naturally, I was going to replace it with another Transcend card, but then I saw the SanDisk Extreme Pro on Amazon.

Giving SanDisk a Chance

Wait.. 95MB/s? Wow! Yep. The Extreme Pro boasted a read speed of up to 95MB/s. Impressive! In addition, this card has a perfect 5-star review on Amazon. I’ve heard of many professionals I trust that use this exact card, so I decided to spend the extra $10 to see what the hype was all about.

I Love SanDisk Moreextremepro_sdxc_u3_front_512gb-retina-png-thumb-319-319

I received the card, popped it into my camera, flipped the camera on, and held down the shutter. Burst after burst, the card never slowed down! On my Transcend card, busts would get a little slow after 5 or 6. Additionally, the card has almost zero wait time after shooting bursts. The Transcend card would say “busy” for a few seconds after I end a burst. The SanDisk card is simply fast. After just a few minutes of testing, I immediately knew that it was worth the extra $10, so I will be using SanDisk as my primary brand from now on.

“Transcend Offers Cards Just as Fast!”

I hear all of you hardcore Transcend fans out there. “Transcend offers cards with a 95MB/s read speed too!” You’d be correct, but at only $6 cheaper than SanDisk, wouldn’t you rather be shooting with the company many professionals rely on? I know I feel like I’m in good hands with SanDisk. I’ve never had an issue with Transcend, and I don’t hold my SD card falling apart against them – I got 5 years of full time use out of it! I just think that SanDisk is the icing on the cake. I noticed that Transend doesn’t have many options for contacting them, where SanDisk has every option.. From email, to live chat, to phone. The support experience with SanDisk is always a breeze.

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I reached out to Sharky James, a photographer I trust, to ask him what SD cards he uses.

“What About Lexar??”

I hear you Lexar fans as well. At this point you’re screaming at me. “What’s wrong with Lexar? Have you even tried it?” The answer is no, I haven’t tried Lexar. I have nothing against Lexar, I just haven’t tried it yet. I’ll try it at some point, but for now, let’s keep to SanDisk and Transcend.

Who Is Transcend For?

I recommend SanDisk AND Transcend to people. So who is Transcend for? Transcend is for the casual videographer and shooter looking for a high quality SD are on a budget. It’s reliable, with the 2 main drawbacks being support and speed. It will work perfectly for seasoned and casual camera users.

Who Is SanDisk For?

SanDisk, specifically the Extreme Pro, is for professional and/or anyone who is looking for the fastest, most reliable card in town with the fastest, most reliable support in town. With SanDisk, you’ll be in good company. The cards are definitely pricier than Transcend, though.

Kevin Nether