They are too often a sadly disregarded part of a camera kit, but good storage cards are really essential to a camera’s optimal functioning, while offering assurance that precious images are safely stored. Case in point: SanDisk’s Extreme Pro 8 GB SD HC card.

 

Part of the problem SD cards have is essentially they all look similar. However, in performance stakes, they vary greatly, and can certainly make a great deal of difference to how quickly one can capture an image.

 

 

The Extreme Pro 8 GB SD offers speeds of up to 90 MB/s write and 95 MB/s read; and while this is great for compact cameras that house SD cards, such as Olympus’s Tough TG-1 (review), it would be a definite contender for a  dual card DSLR like the EOS 5D Mark III (review), or for a DSLR that only accommodates SD cards, such as the Nikon D7000.

 

Indeed, high performance DSLRs like the aforementioned often offer dual JPEG and RAW capture; something which is certainly aided by a fast card. Additionally, the speed of the card caters towards another trend in cameras, namely their ability to capture HD video.

 

However, if video is your main pursuit, you are mostly likely going to want larger than 8 GB.

 

 

Although the card is also available up in 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB models, purchasing an SD card (of HC variant or not) is not just about the size of storage. An even more important consideration is the integrity of the data, especially as users trust their once off images to larger cards. Indeed, speaking from bitter experience, the only thing worse than losing 8 GB of once-off data is losing 16 GB or 32 GB of it.

 

On this front, SanDisk asserts that its advanced Error Correction Code engine improves overall data integrity and reliability of the card during read and write. Thankfully, we did not have to put this feature to the test; the card coped more than capably both in our compact cameras, as when shooting high speed bursts, and doing our utmost to fill the card, in our DSLR.

 

Given the erratic weather we have and the ruggedness with which good cameras’ are being built, we were happy to note that the Extreme Pro 8 GB SD HC can also function at temperatures between -25 degrees Celcius to 85 degrees Celcius.

 

We suspect though that any photographer reaching the upper end of this spectrum will long since have stopped caring about their photos, or given the hardcore nature of some outdoor photographers, perhaps not.