Why does my Nikon 1 J1 stop recording?

I got the Nikon 1 J1 camera as a gift this last Christmas. It has never been dropped, damaged, etc. I have a Lexar 8GB memory card with a speed of 4. The camera records for about 20-50 seconds, (empty card) then stops, which is extremely frustrating. Can anyone help!

Your card is too slow
you need a class 10

Your camera records Full HD video… So, you should be using a faster SDHC card than Class 4. You need Class 10 instead. And, it should be freshly formatted prior to using.So, when you buy your new memory card, format it via the camera Menu before you use it and reformat it to delete All files from the card. Don't select delete all files'… To 'empty the card'… Always format it instead.

Your manual states Class 6 minimum, which is why you are experiencing the issue. Your card is too slow to keep up with the camera. So when the card can't accept any more data - the camera stops.

These days though, Class 10 are as cheap - or cheaper than Class 6 (if you can even find a Class 6 card anymore), so the conventional wisdom is to buy Class 10.

Get a class 10 card. Make sure it's formatted in the camera before use.