Kingston SDCAC microSD Testing and Results

After a full day of using the Kingston SDCAC card in an outdoor video shoot, it is clear that the card can handle heavy use without stress or damage. The card appears to be well sealed against moisture, and after multiple insert and extract cycles the card feels solid and maintains error-free connectivity.

A card this size might seem like an unusual product to market as “rugged”, yet it is it’s small size that is most likely to cause the card to end up in a harsh environment. If the card slips out of the camera or carrying case, it becomes a nearly invisible scrap of plastic that could easily end up being washed and dried while in the pocket of your favourite jeans or jacket.

The Kingston SDCAC/64GB is rated at UHS-I U3 (Ultra High-Speed Bus, Speed Class 3) and is specified at 90MB/s read and 45MB/s write capability.

The SD Association defines three types of SD speed classifications, “Speed Class”, “UHS Speed Class” and “Video Speed Class.” A device with a “Speed Class” or “UHS Speed Class” rating basically guarantees that there is a minimum write data rate to ensure that video or audio recording can be performed without risk of a transfer glitch caused by a sudden slowing down of the data rate.

An SD card with a Speed Class rating is marked with Class 2, 4, 6 and 10 corresponding to the minimum write speed in MB/s. Note that the data rates for SD cards is in megabytes per second as opposed to megabits per second.

Cards with a UHS Speed Class rating are marked with U1 and U3 corresponding to a write speed of 10 or 30MB/s respectively. Finally, video Speed Class is marked with V6,V10,V30,V60,V90 again identifying the write data rate in terms of MB/s.

Testing the Kingston SDCAC/64GB microSD with CrystalDiskMark shows that the manufacturer’s claims are pretty much right on target, with the initial write speed coming in well above target.

The BlackMagicDesign Disk Speed Test is intended to stress SSD and other digital media with video data rates used in professional video cameras. The Kingston disk benchmark below shows fast read and write performance, and confirms the card is capable of recording 4K video files at the lower 30fps range.