High Definition Video cameras

[blondebier]

After a bit of umming and arring, I bit the bullet and bought a HD video camera... a Sony HDR-CX11E. (Looks like a nice piece of kit.)

I'd like to get some more memory for it and this looks like a potential mine field.

1) It says that the recording media is Memory Stick DUO. Does this restrict me to only using Sony branded stuff or can I put Sandisk cards in it?

2) Looking at some benchmark tests it looks like Sandisk performs better... any opinions on this?

3) What's the difference between "Pro Duo Mark 2" and "Pro Duo HG"?

4) What should I buy?

I was thinking that it might be better to get multiple cards in smaller sizes so that if one fails all my eggs are not in one basket.
The 4Gb card supplied looks like it will store over an hour in HD.

Any help gratefully received!

 

[grober]

I am lead to believe Sandisk make the memory cards for Sony. I think duo memory sticks are smaller than the older memory sticks and need an adapter to fit older equipment. Most Sony memory sticks don't differ in storage but rather in writing speed. You may find that some of the faster data or HD acquisition modes in your camera won't be available if you use the slower/cheaper memory sticks. Look carefully at the access/writing speeds to make sure they fast enough for your camera.

 

[blondebier]

Thanks Grober.

I think the top spec ones are Pro Duo HG cards which are the high speed variant of the PRO to be used in high definition still and video cameras. They must be twice the price for a reason!

They also have a larger capacity (apparently up to 2TB!) making this technology truly amazing.