Nokia 1520 and micro SD cards

[Mike Paez]

Ive come across some posts on the Nokia forums with folks saying that with a class 10 SD card, they've noticed some lagginess with videos recorded to the SD card. The same in regards to music being saved to a class 10 SD card.

Has anyone had any issues?
Does MS or Nokia suggest which class to be used with the 1520?

 

[crav4speed]

Most of the issues happen to be with SanDisk cards. Mine is not a SanDisk and I haven't been having any issues. Look at this thread:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/nokia-lumia-1520/255353-what-micro-sd-cards-you-all-using.html

 

[Mike Paez]

I noticed that as well. I'll scan the thread and see what folks say. Hopefully ADATA is on that list, I really like the brand and haven't had an issue with any of the cards that I have purchased.

 

[Mr Lebowski]

A Class10 is what any high MP camera ( not camera phone) uses (usually) without issue, if you have lagginess with the video camera something else is going on.
I'd try another SD card, it might be the card not the Classification. A Class 6 should be enough but many insist on using a Class 10 just cover all the bases.
My GF has no issues with a Class 6 on her 1520. Nokia in instructional videos showing how to insert an SD Card use a Class 4 and in Tweets to NokiaCare suggest using at least a Class 4 but don't say at minimum use a Class 10. You'll get lots of augments here about that but as I said my GF uses a Transcend 32GB SDHC Class 6 with no issues whatsoever.
Try a different card first if you have one.

Here's what Nokia says about recording video

"Record video to phone memory, not your microSD card
In the same fashion that external storage on your PC is slower and less reliable than your onboard hard drive, memory cards can vary in speeds and reliability. Photographers often run into this challenge when trying to shoot high quality HD video on DSLR cameras. Sometimes the memory card just can’t keep up.
....If you’d rather record the video to microSD, it’s important to use a high-quality brand name memory card."

They say nothing about "at minimum" a Class 10.

 

[irvin792]

I had a SanDisk ultra , it stuttered. I now have a SanDisk Extreme Plus and its smooth as silk.

My dad has a SanDisk class 2 or 4 and videos are pretty much unplayable

 

[Mike Paez]

A Class10 is what any high MP camera ( not camera phone) uses (usually) without issue, if you have lagginess with the video camera something else is going on.
I'd try another SD card, it might be the card not the Classification. A Class 6 should be enough but many insist on using a Class 10 just cover all the bases.
My GF has no issues with a Class 6 on her 1520. Nokia in instructional videos showing how to insert an SD Card use a Class 4 and in Tweets to NokiaCare suggest using at least a Class 4 but don't say at minimum use a Class 10. You'll get lots of augments here about that but as I said my GF uses a Transcend 32GB SDHC Class 6 with no issues whatsoever.
Try a different card first if you have one.

Here's what Nokia says about recording video

"Record video to phone memory, not your microSD card
In the same fashion that external storage on your PC is slower and less reliable than your onboard hard drive, memory cards can vary in speeds and reliability. Photographers often run into this challenge when trying to shoot high quality HD video on DSLR cameras. Sometimes the memory card just can?t keep up.
....If you?d rather record the video to microSD, it?s important to use a high-quality brand name memory card."

They say nothing about "at minimum" a Class 10.

Thanks for the input. I don't have a 1520 yet so I have yet to experience and issues but in doing some research for a SD card I came across folks posting the issues I mentioned using class 10 (both were using SanDisk like crav4speed mentioned).

Class 2 and 4 have been mentioned by both MS and Nokia for the 1520, like you mentioned but nothing further than that.

Per Wikipedia: Secure Digital - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SDHC Speed Class 2.svg Class 2 2 MB/s SD video recording
SDHC Speed Class 4.svg Class 4 4 MB/s High-definition video (HD) recording including Full HD (from 720p to 1080p/1080i)
SDHC Speed Class 6.svg Class 6 6 MB/s
SDHC Speed Class 10.svg Class 10 10 MB/s Full HD (1080p) video recording and consecutive recording of HD stills (high-speed data bus)
UHS Class 1.png UHS Class 1 (U1) 10 MB/s Real-time broadcasts and large HD video files (UHS bus)
UHS Class 3.png UHS Class 3 (U3) 30 MB/s 4K video files (UHS bus)


The reason everyone opts to go with class 10 cards is the transfer speed is 10MB/s so if you are going to use "external storage" you'd want to go with the fastest transfer speeds, i.e. USB 2.0 vs USB 3.0. Back when I had my HTC Evo 4G, I initially had a class 2 card and had some serious slowness in the camera app (default was save to SD). I then replaced it with a class 10 card and noticed the camera app running faster for both video and stills. Nokia also doesn't tell us what the bus connection speed for the SD card slot is so if its at say 6MB/s a class 10 card really wont give you any benefit as opposed to a class 6.

Also your statement about class 10 being reserved for high MP digital cameras and not smartphone cameras, I really disagree. The Lumia 1520 and 1920 are 20MP and 40MP so they really don't fall into your traditional camera phone. Class 6 should work well, which is one reason why your GF's 1520 hasn't had any issue.

Lastly I find it funny that Nokia says: "it?s important to use a high-quality brand name memory card" yet the issues have been reported with SanDisk which is considered just that. Personally I have never cared for SanDisk products, they are overpriced and you can get better performancerice in other brands.

 

[Mike Paez]

I had a SanDisk ultra , it stuttered. I now have a SanDisk Extreme Plus and its smooth as silk.

My dad has a SanDisk class 2 or 4 and videos are pretty much unplayable

Irvin, which devices were you using those cards in, I'm just curious.

The SanDisk extreme Plus is a UHS class 1 SD card which is rated at 10MB/s like a class 10 but
"UHS-I cards, specified in SD Version 3.01,[20] support a clock frequency of 100 MHz (a quadrupling of the original "Default Speed"), which in four-bit transfer mode could transfer 50 MB/s. UHS-I cards declared as UHS104 (SDR104) also support a clock frequency of 208 MHz, which could transfer 104 MB/s.
Double data rate operation at 50 MHz (DDR50) is also specified in Version 3.01, and is mandatory for microSDHC and microSDXC cards labeled as UHS-I. In this mode, four bits are transferred when the clock signal rises and another four bits when it falls, transferring an entire byte on each full clock cycle."

 

[crav4speed]

I noticed that as well. I'll scan the thread and see what folks say. Hopefully ADATA is on that list, I really like the brand and haven't had an issue with any of the cards that I have purchased.

It's funny you mention that because mine just happens to be an ADATA card :smile:

 

[Mr Lebowski]

I wasn't saying a Class 10 is reserved for high MP Cameras ( not camera phone) I was just trying to signify
I wasn't taking about a phone's camera and that a Class 10 shouldn't be the cause of lagginess in your phone' s camera
since it isn't in a "camera". A 1520 and 1020 have high MP count so... they shouldn't either. I say bad card.
I like Transcend they have great CS and replace SD card pretty much without issue but it does take a few week to get one back -they are 1/2 the price of SanDisk and no one seems to make counterfeit Transcend SD cards like they do with a ScamDisk SD so getting a fake one is pretty much a non issue

 

[HyperMatrix]

For anyone curious...the Lumia 1520 MicroSD Card interface itself seems to be limited to about 20MB/s, which is just 1/4th the speed of the card I bought for it. So a 1gb movie takes 50 seconds to transfer to my PC, as opposed to the 12 seconds I'd have expected. Though I have the same problem with my Sony DSLR, where the max transfer through the camera is 10MB/s, and I have to take the card out of the camera and plug it into my usb3.0 high speed card reader to hit 100MB/s. USB 2.0 should still be capable of hitting around 50MB/s so the limitation can't be from the USB interface itself.

I use Sandisk memory cards on all my devices.

 

[HyperMatrix]

I wasn't saying a Class 10 is reserved for high MP Cameras ( not camera phone) I was just trying to signify
I wasn't taking about a phone's camera and that a Class 10 shouldn't be the cause of lagginess in your phone' s camera
since it isn't in a "camera". A 1520 and 1020 have high MP count so... they shouldn't either. I say bad card.
I like Transcend they have great CS and replace SD card pretty much without issue but it does take a few week to get one back -they are 1/2 the price of SanDisk and no one seems to make counterfeit Transcend SD cards like they do with a ScamDisk SD so getting a fake one is pretty much a non issue

I'm confused about your line, saying "class 10 shouldn't be the cause of lagginess in your phone's camera since it isn't a 'camera.'" A 20mp camera is a 20mp camera. Regardless of sensor size and image quality, the resulting file size on a 20mp shot with my Lumia is about the same as a 21mp shot on my dslr. Although the bigger sensor size in my dslr results in much higher quality pictures. The actual pixel count, which determines the size, remains the same.

 

[irvin792]

Irvin, which devices were you using those cards in, I'm just curious.

The SanDisk extreme Plus is a UHS class 1 SD card which is rated at 10MB/s like a class 10 but
"UHS-I cards, specified in SD Version 3.01,[20] support a clock frequency of 100 MHz (a quadrupling of the original "Default Speed"), which in four-bit transfer mode could transfer 50 MB/s. UHS-I cards declared as UHS104 (SDR104) also support a clock frequency of 208 MHz, which could transfer 104 MB/s.
Double data rate operation at 50 MHz (DDR50) is also specified in Version 3.01, and is mandatory for microSDHC and microSDXC cards labeled as UHS-I. In this mode, four bits are transferred when the clock signal rises and another four bits when it falls, transferring an entire byte on each full clock cycle."

They were used in a 1520

 

[Mr Lebowski]

I'm confused about your line, saying "class 10 shouldn't be the cause of lagginess in your phone's camera since it isn't a 'camera.'" A 20mp camera is a 20mp camera. Regardless of sensor size and image quality, the resulting file size on a 20mp shot with my Lumia is about the same as a 21mp shot on my dslr. Although the bigger sensor size in my dslr results in much higher quality pictures. The actual pixel count, which determines the size, remains the same.

I NOT saying that. I didn't say it wasn't a camera, IT isn't a DSLR camera or a LIECA that's for sure, I'm saying that a stand alone "camera" doesn't have issues ( usually) with a Class 10 so a HIGH MP camera (phone) shouldn't either = conclusion it's a defective Class 10 card. Not saying that a functioning SD Class 10 won't work in an 1520.
Still a Nikon D 7000 DSLR is more of a "camera" than any phone's camera no matter how many pixels a 1020 etc has.
Would anybody compare a Fiat 500 Abrath with a Porsche Carrera GT3 ? Agreed = both are fast, both handle really really well
and both are cars but a FIAT is not equal to a Porsche no matter how you slice it.

 

[HyperMatrix]

I NOT saying that. I didn't say it wasn't a camera, IT isn't a DSLR camera or a LIECA that's for sure, I'm saying that a stand alone "camera" doesn't have issues ( usually) with a Class 10 so a HIGH MP camera (phone) shouldn't either = conclusion it's a defective Class 10 card. Not saying that a functioning SD Class 10 won't work in an 1520.
Still a Nikon D 7000 DSLR is more of a "camera" than any phone's camera no matter how many pixels a 1020 etc has.
Would anybody compare a Fiat 500 Abrath with a Porsche Carrera GT3 ? Agreed = both are fast, both handle really really well
and both are cars but a FIAT is not equal to a Porsche no matter how you slice it.

Except that if you're shooting 5mp + 19mp with the Lumia, you're looking at 25MB per shot. So yes. Memory card speed does matter. However as I mentioned in another post, the 1520's microsd interface seems to be capped at around 20MB/s. So anything beyond 20MB/s write speed is unlikely to help you shoot faster. Though it is still incredibly handy when it comes time to transfer a couple hundred 25MB shots from your phone to your PC (albeit even then only when transferred through a separate card reader, due to previously mentioned 20MB/s cap)

 

[PT1520]

Ah man, i have a great SanDisk ultra class uhs1 card that has this issue. it is starting to look like i will have to replace it with something faster or something with less brand name but known to work. Any good recommendations anyone?

 

[maclancer]

Ah man, i have a great SanDisk ultra class uhs1 card that has this issue. it is starting to look like i will have to replace it with something faster or something with less brand name but known to work. Any good recommendations anyone?

I use in my 1520 a 64GB Samsung class 10 and works pretty good.

 

[PirateSunil]

I will go for samsung sd cards only, just confused b/w class 6 or class 10.

 

[Jarip]

I will go for samsung sd cards only, just confused b/w class 6 or class 10.

I suggest to condsider a fast class 10 card, like Sandisk Extreme Plus (read/write: 80/50 Mb/s.) - I think that Samsung has a fast one too ....

I bought Sandisk Ultra class 10 / u1 (advertised read 30 Mb/s., but no advertised write - well, class 10 is over 10 Mb/s.). I think that it should be faster one ...

 

[Yagbadoodles]

I'm using trancend 64GB class 10 and experiencing lags in music. Though I am not sure if it is related to the volume of music I have, right now 35gb worth of music. In videos never encountered issues.

 

[Neusyn]

Umm, I haven't heard anyone mention a thing about latency times. Latency was the huge problem and discrepancy with WP7 devices, you could have a class 6 card in the phone but the phone would have problems because that SD cards latency was so high that the system would essentially timeout on certain tasks. Most SD cards don't list latency and they vary even with their own class. So I think that's a factor that hasn't been discussed.