Buying a Micro SD card for your GoPro

GoPro cameras do not come with a memory card. That means that you will have to pick one up separately. Most memory cards will work well with the previous models of the GoPro camera, but not all of them will work with the  GoPro HERO4 Silver and Black editions.

Tips for Using and Buying microSD Cards

  • Before using the memory card, format the card in the camera. It’s a safer option than formatting the card on your computer and thus can help prevent problems. It’s advisable that you reformat the memory card in the camera fairly regularly as a way to prepare the memory card for use. You can find the reformat function on the settings submenu Settings > Delete All.
  • If you are using a GoPro Hero 3 plus Black or an earlier model, you have more options. This is because the earlier models use slower write speeds.
  • Buy the memory card from a reputable retailer. Don’t buy memory cards that are being peddled by less reputable retailers, there are a lot of counterfeit memory cards in the market today..
  • Always test your memory card before you can use it on your once-in-a-lifetime footage. MicroSD cards are pretty reliable, but it is very possible to get a faulty one.
  • Do not use your memory card for long-term storage. Regularly download it to a computer as soon as possible (Always create a backup).
  • There are also other reputable brands that make very good memory cards, and these memory cards might work well in the GoPros but GoPro does not include them on their recommended list. If you decide to go with another brand, there is one main thing to look out for- the write speed of the card, not the misguiding read speeds that are often used in marketing.

Memory Cards that GoPro Recommends for the HERO4 Silver and Black

When GoPro launched the HERO4, there were very few types of memory card on the GoPro’s official list of recommendations. The main microSD card on the list was the SanDisk Extreme, that has since been rebranded by the manufacturer and was replaced with a new microSD card with the same name with a slower write speed and a faster read speed. When choosing a memory card for your GoPro, one of the main spec to look at is the write speed.

Is Your MicroSD Card Fast Enough?

If you constantly find that the camera is freezing while you’re trying to record video or your video is stopping prematurely, the first thing you should check is whether your memory card is fast enough.You will not see any error message that tells you the problem.

This is because a lot of data must be written quickly to the memory card when the GoPro is recording at high resolution. Not all memory cards have equal writing speeds. You can’t just put any Class 8 microSD card in the GoPro HERO4 and expect it to work flawlessly. If the memory card is too slow, you will find that the camera immediately stops recording as the memory card just can’t keep up with the speed. The faster memory cards use a new transfer technology known as the UHS-I that allows for speeds that can exceed the older Class 10 technology.

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