Using microSD with adapter, a bad thing?

[reverend]

They're opening a can of worms with that one - there are already quite a few examples of people on here who have had issues with various cameras when using a microSD card in a full size SD adaptor.

Hopefully those sorts of problems will be minimised as microSD cards speed up but like Jokiin says the heat is another potential issue.

I've got to admit I assumed they gave you a microSD adaptor to full size adaptor to use it with the provided Lukas SD card reader so you can access both in the PC.

The 7950 already has issues closing down files onto a full size SD card so it would only be worse using a microSD card in an adaptor - just waiting to hear back from them on how to fix that one as it feels like a firmware issue.

 

[mac]

Ar e we certain that heat dissipation is an issue when using a microSD card in an adapter? This would imply cameras that naively use microSD cards are subject to overheating due to using the smaller form factor. Also, I'm fairly certain if one were to break open a full sized SD card they might find a lot of empty space inside.

 

[Nigel]

Ar e we certain that heat dissipation is an issue when using a microSD card in an adapter? This would imply cameras that naively use microSD cards are subject to overheating due to using the smaller form factor. Also, I'm fairly certain if one were to break open a full sized SD card they might find a lot of empty space inside.

I imagine the electronics inside most are identical and produce an identical amount of heat, the larger case may act as a heat sink to spread that heat out and prevent a concentrated hotspot but the camera should end up at the same temperature.

In the case of your picture where they appear to have put a cut down micro SD card inside an SD case, which is probably normal for everything but the biggest capacities, the only difference to using an adaptor is the quality of the contacts between the card and the case.

It's the same card in the same reader, just in an adaptor, and you can see that the throughput of various IO patterns drops across the board.

Although it is the same card in the same reader, it is not in the same slot. How do you know that it isn't the slot that is making the difference rather than the adaptor? Maybe the reader doesn't have UHS 2 on the full size SD slot but does on the micro SD slot because that is the one everyone uses these days and extending the UHS capability to both slots would cause interference issues!

In any case, the camera doesn't produce a sufficient data rate to require UHS etc. You have shown that the mini 0806 at highest resolution and highest quality is happy with a basic Class 4 card so the fact that an adaptor might slow maximum speeds down is not a problem, in fact things are quite likely to work more reliably if using the basic SD interface and not using the high speed extensions to the SD interface.

PS: The description of that card is "full size SD card", not sure how they placed it in a micro SD to full size adaptor - I guess the description is wrong, or did they have it dangling on the end of a full to micro adaptor, in which case I would expect issues at UHS speeds and they should have done the test with a micro SD card...

 

[jokiin]

Ar e we certain that heat dissipation is an issue when using a microSD card in an adapter? This would imply cameras that naively use microSD cards are subject to overheating due to using the smaller form factor. Also, I'm fairly certain if one were to break open a full sized SD card they might find a lot of empty space inside.

this is what's generally inside the fake cards

 

[Google]

It's very interesting and confusing to note that other manufacturers like Blackvue [750] uses only microSD cards.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Here is our product breakdown

The Panorama S and G uses full size SD

The new Street Guardian SG9665GC, Panorama X1, X2, and Innovv uses microSD

 

[reverend]

It sounds like BlackVue have their own fair share of compatibility problems:

http://blackvueshop.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=721

A lot of cameras are using microSD because they physically cannot fit a full size SD card in there.

Here's an example of what can happen when you use a microSD in an SD adaptor in a dashcam:

The Russian guys who do the custom BlackVue firmwares recommend only using a high quality Samsung Pro MLC card to prevent issues with their custom firmware at higher bitrates.

 

[Google]

I've experienced the above when I accidentally used a slower microSD card but not a class 10.
In my case, it does make sense to use the full size card. I am just wondering though if one could use a microSD on a short term basis without issue? eg. when parked overnight in a hotel parking lot

 

[Street Guardian USA]

It might work short term sure, just don't rely on it long term.

 

[Google]

The reason I ask is because initially I used the microSD card from the get go in my previous cam. I then changed to a full size card a few months ago but it would occasionally not record video despite using a full size SD card. Not sure if the the microSD somehow messed up the cam or not. Of course, there was the lack of response on the LCD as well.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

More likely the SD card is defective. Check it with h2testw.exe

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oj6sz2qdpfyygzd/h2testw.exe?dl=1

 

[reverend]

Unfortunately not all SD / microSD cards are created equal.

You can get really high quality versions of both that are probably as quick as each other these days - but if you're picking one up in a shop it's hit and miss what you'll actually get.

If you get a high quality card from somewhere like Amazon you should be fine and likewise if you really get stuck a microSD card in an adaptor might work short term - but it's really one of those suck it and see tests as you never really know until you try it and it's something I'd rather not risk as with my luck it would go tits up when I really needed it!

 

[Google]

More likely the SD card is defective. Check it with h2testw.exe

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oj6sz2qdpfyygzd/h2testw.exe?dl=1

Yeah, my memory cards are all decent quality and come with a lifetime warranty. The issues remained even after using the OEM memory card.

Unfortunately not all SD / microSD cards are created equal.

You can get really high quality versions of both that are probably as quick as each other these days - but if you're picking one up in a shop it's hit and miss what you'll actually get.

If you get a high quality card from somewhere like Amazon you should be fine and likewise if you really get stuck a microSD card in an adaptor might work short term - but it's really one of those suck it and see tests as you never really know until you try it and it's something I'd rather not risk as with my luck it would go tits up when I really needed it!

Agreed, I am surprised how many people don't realize that. I imagine the Lukas memory cards are in fact low quality. Lukas only gives a 6 month warranty.

 

[reverend]

To be honest the warranty on it's own isn't an indicator of the quality - more they must have seen from testing how long those cards are likely to last for under heavy usage scenarios.

If you look at a lot of manufacturers you'll see lifetime warranties are turning into 10 year warranties, PNY only offer 1 year warranties on their higher end cards now and Sandisk are rating their new endurance cards for dashcam use at 2 years or a particular number of hours of recording - you can bet that if you try and claim warranty on one of those they'll test it and see if you've gone over the number of hours you may be out of pocket.

Speed wise the Lukas cards aren't actually bad - but they're just covering their arses - it's possible it's even just a decision from their finance guys that they don't make much money on a free SD card so likewise they don't want to lose money on those items by offering long warranties.

Lifetime warranties were fine in the days of cameras and phones writing less than 100MB a day, but when you've got an action camera or a dash camera that can easily loop the card multiple times a day you can see they're all reacting to it.

I've only ever had to claim once on warranty and that was for a CompactFlash card way back in the day that just died on me - it took ages but I did get a new one. I've probably still got it sat somewhere even now!

One of the reasons I like buying from CostCo where applicable as I can just walk in and get a refund - saying that I need to send back two Samsung cards to Amazon today for a refund that started acting strangely after months of continuous use.

 

[Google]

Quite true. Warranty is not necessarily an indicator of quality but it does offer peace of mind. Unless you have a very large size memory card that costs $50+, most manufacturers will gladly swap or RMA your card, no questions asked. You just have to mail the dang thing to them.

As far as Costco goes, in North America they put a restriction on their electronics return policy. I am not sure if memory cards are included but for PCs, tvs and many electronics, it's now 90 days due to customer abuse.