How much recording time would i get with this camera / card? - 1

I ordered a nikon d 3100 camera but i'm unsure which sd cardhc card to buy

i plan on using it for videos quite a bit but unsure which one i should buy

how much recording time would i get with 16, 32, or 64 gig sdhc card?

You can download the manual before you get your camera.

Actually what you probably don't know is the record limit on any dslr camera is about 12-minutes of video. What that means is the sensor will over heat at that continuous 12-minute limit so the camera stops automatically.

However that doesn't mean anything about the time on the card. You can of course record again and again. But once your sensor gets hot you need to let it cool for a time before starting another
12-minute shot or the camera will just shut down because of the heat issue.

As to your original question… I carry 3 8gb cards in my bag per camera. 8gb / Class 10, the fastest card currrently available is plenty for any average shoot.

I did a career in video recording and production for broadcast television and let me give a little advice.
I don't know what kind of video work you're used to but the proper way to shoot any kind of video is in short clips, usually no more than 20-seconds or so and then edit the raw material into a finished piece.
Not a good idea to try to shoot all your video by simply allowing the camera to roll on and on.

If you already knew that, sorry. If you didn't perhaps you can use it.

Here's a piece I shot with my Canon dslr. Done in the way I described above. For this though you'll need a video editor and a fast computer. You'll notice lots of video clips cut together. Good Luck

The largest video file that can be saved on a memory card is 4 gb. If you are shooting from a script, your shots will be less than two or three minutes for each take

This is why it is wise to use multiple cards of 4 gb each when recording video. If any of the cards later become corrupt, then you will not have lost all your work.

I do have a few 8 gb cards, but most are 4 gb and they are the ones I used most.

In order to record HD video on the D3100, your memory card will need to have a Class 6 rating or higher. If it doesn't meet this requirement, video recording may stop unexpectedly.

No matter how large your memory card is, video clips are limited to 10 minute segments. The information below shows the overall recording time based on the highest quality movie frame size (1920×1080):
4GB - 26min 40sec (.mov)
8GB - 53min 20sec (.mov)
16GB - 106min 40sec (.mov)
32GB - 213min 20sec (.mov)
64GB - 426min 40sec (.mov)