1DX II cfast write speeds for 4K

[East Wind Photography]

Not much published regarding CFast card write speeds needed for sustained 4K recording. Please post your experience in 4k recording using the 1dx mark ii, both 30 and 60fps. Also which card you are using.

Prices vary widely depending on write speed. Would be nice to see some real field data.

 

[mistaspeedy]

I don't own a 1DX, but I think I read somewhere that the 4K video bitrate is 800mbit per second... Or to put it another way, 100MB/s. This shouldn't be problem for most, if not all cfast cards. I've seen speeds of up to 440MB/s. Hopefully an owner will see this thread and post their experiences.

 

[J.R.]

I don't use the video features much (may change going forward) but the information you are seeking is given at page 530/531 of the manual.

 

[East Wind Photography]

I don't use the video features much (may change going forward) but the information you are seeking is given at page 530/531 of the manual.

Not exactly. It still just says cfast 2.0 required for 4k 60 fps. Doesnt say you need a card that can write xxmb/sec.

The other chart shows the bit rate but its not clear if that is the buss bit rate or after jpg compression. I dont know of any card that can write 800mb/sec which leads me to believe this is the buss bit rate before jpg compression. Likely a useless spec for the average user but usefull for determining bit rate differences between settings.

 

[kaptainkatsu]

4K@60p is 800 Mbps, megabits per second. So it's really 100 MB/sec, megabytes per second.

Manual says you can shoot 4K@30p on a umda7 cf card.

 

[J.R.]

4K@60p is 800 Mbps, megabits per second. So it's really 100 MB/sec, megabytes per second.

Manual says you can shoot 4K@30p on a umda7 cf card.

+1

Difference in the megabits and megabytes

 

[East Wind Photography]

4K@60p is 800 Mbps, megabits per second. So it's really 100 MB/sec, megabytes per second.

Manual says you can shoot 4K@30p on a umda7 cf card.

Intersting about the mbps and MB/sec. That would seem to make sense. However if that were the case we should be able to record sustained 4k 60fps using a fast udma7 card and at best we can only get 10 seconds of video. Im thinking it should be in the order between 200 to 400 MB/sec.

If it is actually approximately 100MB/sec then we should be able to record 4k 60fps using the least expensive cfast 2.0 card we can find. slowest ive seen is about 270.

 

[douglaurent]

Tested it. Normal 1000x CF cards do write 4K 25fps. They also record 8 seconds of 4K 60fps. All CFAST cards work.

Not too surprising for me, as the 1DC was able to record on 1000x CF cards AND the video quality of the 1DC is even better / less noisy.

 

[East Wind Photography]

Tested it. Normal 1000x CF cards do write 4K 25fps. They also record 8 seconds of 4K 60fps. All CFAST cards work.

Not too surprising for me, as the 1DC was able to record on 1000x CF cards AND the video quality of the 1DC is even better / less noisy.

Are you able to record the full 30 minutes....or until the card is full? I was only able to get 10 minutes on a freshly formatted card before the buffer gave up. About 10 seconds at 60fps.

 

[East Wind Photography]

So thought i would post an update to this. Obtained a 256gb Lexar Cfast 2.0 card 3500X model.

Started with a formatted card, fully charged battery, and the camera set for 4K 60 fps.

I was able to record 42 minutes of video with no frame drops and no buffer issues but had to restart the recording after 30 minutes which is a hard limit. The camera got very warm but not unbearably hot and it recorded until the card was full...then the camera shut down and i mean no displays until i cycled power. I checked the battery status under battery info and it was exactly 50%.

Not having a card reader, i tethered the camera to my computer and was not able to see the files in windows explorer that were over 4gb. They show as 0 bytes and not readable. This was the same for both win7 and win10.

I was able to transfer the files using EOS utility 3 but it was very slow. I believe the issue has to do with the windows cfs driver that is native to the os. Likely results will be different with an actual cfast card reader and dedicated drivers.

 

[Bane]

Tested it. Normal 1000x CF cards do write 4K 25fps. They also record 8 seconds of 4K 60fps.

Can you please confirm that you can record few seconds of 4k60p on CF card?

 

[Jack Douglas]

I've just come across this and have interacted a bit on an alternate thread.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00LL4QUX0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_img?_encoding=UTF8&colid=11JC4ONZKCUUH&coliid=I27SM1ZYZP4PJD

I'm pretty insecure in what I'm doing but my thought was it's cheap enough that even for stills it's decent value. Presently I have only the Canon gift 64GB Cfast and a friends gift of a 8GB CF (all mine were SD). The seller states that it won't do 4k60 which I accept. Any comment appreciated?

Jack

 

[gwooding]

Hi Jack,

I see that card is only rated at 160MB/s write so has a similar rating to the fastest CF cards on the market (it might be faster in the actual camera though). Therefore if you don't need any additional speed over standard 1066x CF cards I would say go for it (it is a nice option to just ensure you have a card in each slot).

I do believe with that card you will be able to do 4k30p without issue (I can shoot 4k30p on a Lexar 1066x CF card without issue).

Because a 256GB CFast 2.0 card in South Africa costs in excess of $1000 I decided to get a friend to bring me these two cards from the UK.

Integral Ultima Pro X2 64GB
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Integral-UltimaPro-CFast-Memory-Card/dp/B071Y43DZB/ref=sr_1_19?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1502039851&sr=1-19&keywords=cfast

Komputerbay Professional 3600x 256GB CFast 2.0
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Komputerbay-Professional-3600x-256GB-CFast-x/dp/B01LX7HEA0/ref=sr_1_18?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1502039851&sr=1-18&keywords=cfast

I bought the Integral as basically a gamble since it was so cheap while the Komputerbay seemed to get decent reviews.
I have attached benchmarks for the cards measured using a transcend CFast 2.0 to USB 3 reader. As you can see both cards measure pretty close and both should in theory be good enough for 4k60p.

In the real world I found I could achieve the following:
Komputerbay - I was able to hit the 30min limit
Integral - was a bit of a mixed bag, sometimes it would fill the card other times it would only shoot like 3 - 5min (I should mention that around 10 min is all you can get out of a 64GB card). I think this might be related to heat (I think the card might be getting too hot)

Lexar 128GB CF 1066x card - 13s

 

[Cthulhu]

Tested it. Normal 1000x CF cards do write 4K 25fps. They also record 8 seconds of 4K 60fps.

Can you please confirm that you can record few seconds of 4k60p on CF card?

11 seconds on a lexar 1066 CF.

 

[Jack Douglas]

I'm pretty insecure in what I'm doing but my thought was it's cheap enough that even for stills it's decent value. Presently Ary Tv Dramas
I have only the Canon gift 64GB Cfast and a friends gift of a 8GB CF (all mine were SD). The seller states that it won't do 4k60 which I accept. Any comment appreciated?

You've lost me on this post??

Jack

 

[Jack Douglas]

Thanks gwooding,

I didn't pull the trigger on the card I linked to but I will tomorrow just to have a large card for stills and if it works for video somewhat, fine.

My best option is to buy via Amazon.ca. It doesn't make a lot of sense to shop Britain, although in a couple weeks my son will be in London for a two year master's program so ... who knows.

Jack

 

[gwooding]

Thanks gwooding,

I didn't pull the trigger on the card I linked to but I will tomorrow just to have a large card for stills and if it works for video somewhat, fine.

My best option is to buy via Amazon.ca. It doesn't make a lot of sense to shop Britain, although in a couple weeks my son will be in London for a two year master's program so ... who knows.

Jack

Hi Jack,

I think for you to buy in the UK would probably be more expensive (except if you decide to give the Integral cards a try).

If you are not interested in 4k60p then I believe that Transcend card you originally linked is great value. If you want to do 4k60p it will cost you an additional CDN$75.

https://www.amazon.ca/Komputerbay-Professional-3700x-128GB-CFast/dp/B01MSPELSS/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1502108715&sr=8-11&keywords=cfast+2.0

If you like when I get home I can try test photo (RAW & RAW + JPEG) buffer depth using my different cards.

Gareth

 

[Jack Douglas]

Thanks Gareth. Don't trouble yourself on that issue. Last night I ordered one of the Transends. For 4K60 I actually wanted 256 so it's back to why did a poor guy buy a camera he can't afford cards for.

I'm holding off, on more purchases and will follow whatever CR advice/info into the near future, there is. Next spring is soon enough for me regarding a proposed trip.

I should have the card in a week if anyone is interested in feedback on it.

Jack

 

[Jack Douglas]

Wish I'd seen this before my purchase of 128. Seems impressive. Not after reading more.

https://www.amazon.ca/Super-Talent-CFAST-Storage-FDM256JMDF/dp/B017YOX6Y6/ref=pd_sbs_504_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Y87CQSBQE9BB8BTBE8K5

Jack

 

[Jack Douglas]

My Transend CFX600 128 card arrived minutes ago and although it proves nothing I did pop it in and record about a 2 minute clip at 4K60.

I'm totally ignorant on video - the playback on my computer is jerky and seems like it's jumping from frame to frame. Looked OK on the camera. I can sure see how pulling frames could be interesting with 8M stills.

I'm supposed to be working and the boss isn't exactly thrilled, I mean wife, so back to the drudgery.

Jack