Are "Class 4" cards fast enough for High Def video?

[mark-mvs]

Hi, gang, so I have a question for folks using card based cameras like the Panasonic HMC-150/151.... with the SDHC cards what speed class do you use? I see they go all the way up to "class 10" but of course those are very expensive per gigabyte of storage compared to say, a "class 4".

I see the cards now go up to 64 gig of storage which I think is great, especially for cameras that are "card only" (no internal hard drive.)

thanks
Mark

[DavidPartington]

I have 11 x 16GB cards in total (need to buy some more!) - They are:

6x Class 4
4x Class 6
1x Class 10

They all work perfectly with the HMC (which states class 4 or above - ignore the typos that say class 6 - it really is class 4).

The only difference I see is slightly faster transfer to the computer through a USB reader.  For recording they are no different.

Just in case you wondered, I only record at the highest quality level too....

[mark-mvs]

Thanks David, that's very helpful info. Good to know that a class 4 will work with the HMC as I may be getting that camera before the end of the year. It's got two card slots right?

I'll keep you posted on my "what will my next camera be?" situation

[DavidPartington]

One card slot.

[kwshaw1]

Doesn't look like it's worth buying Class 4 cards any more - on Amazon.com you can get 16gb Class 6 for about $32.