Why does my T3i shut down on video recording when using a class 10 SD card?

[TonyAnt]

With a class 10 speed SD card, my T3i will only shoot photos, but shuts down on video.  I've been using 32GB class 4 cards lately, simply for photography.  The manual says use a class 6 SD card, or higher, when shooting video for proper recording.  Does anyone have any suggestions on why its shutting down on me?  Thanks!

[kvbarkley]

How long does it take to "shut down"? Could it be getting hot? Have you tried a lower resolution like 720x480 as an experiment?

[TonyAnt]

The T3i shuts down immediately.  As soon as I switch from photos to video.  No time to get hot.  I haven't tried a lower res. since I have to shoot high res.

[diverhank]

My only guess is that even in class 10...there are various speeds and your class 10 card is not fast enough.  I'd get an SD card that can handle 30MB/sec or something like that...faster is better.

[TonyAnt]

Thanks for replying diverhank!  The only problem is I can shoot video with a class 4 with no problem, which is slower, but a class 10 shuts it down.  Does anyone think the class 10 is too high?

[Waddizzle]

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@TonyAnt wrote:

Thanks for replying diverhank!  The only problem is I can shoot video with a class 4 with no problem, which is slower, but a class 10 shuts it down.  Does anyone think the class 10 is too high?

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A class 10 should work just fine.  Not unless you have a low quality brand, a mini-card with an adapter, or too many GB for the camera to know what to do with and format properly.

[TonyAnt]

Thanks Waddizzle!  This Canon is high quality.  That much I know.  The class 10 card is a 32GB, but so is my class 4, so class 10 shouldn't have any issues.  Its difficult to find a class 6 locally, so that's why I'm even using a class 10 card.

[kvbarkley · Accepted solution]

He meant a low quality brand of card, not camera. 8^)

Did you low level format the card in the camera?

Did you try a different brand of card? I had no problems with my T3i.

[TonyAnt]

Doh!  Channeling my inner Snoop Dogg, 'My bad, Waddizzle my shnizzle'.  I misunderstood you.

Thanks everyone for your advice.  It turns out that someone had used the card, formatted it for their camera, but didn't tell me.  I thought it was a new SD card when it was given to me.  kvbarkley's suggestion of a low level format prompted me to do a format since I had nothing to lose.  Then I find out that there's 8GB of footage on the card that I couldn't see due to the camera shutting down when switching to video (and playback didn't work either).

Problem solved.  Brainstorming is still the best problem solving method!  Thanks again everyone!