More, Cheaper CFexpress Cards for High-End Canon Bodies

Jun 27, 2013
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The protocol it uses on top of PCIe, NVME is still being updated (see https://nvmexpress.org/developers/nvme-specification/ ) and has enough places where vendors interpret things differently.

Apart from that, the firmware also handles how the data gets to and from the flash chips, which is where the optimizations live. If you make the firmware lie about the data being transferred out of the fast buffer, safely into flash, it will benchmark really, really fast. Just don't lose power or remove the drive :)

The 'controller' on flash storage is a full fledged computer, including the need for a non-trivial amount of software to do its job.
Updating communication protocols is nothing new it happens with every single standard and it really doesnt affect compatibility unless there is some major update breaking backwards compatibility.
 
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Delkin had a policy where they would swap out your old card for a new firmware version, if the new firmware was relevant to your use. They (Delkin) have a 2-day service policy.
You have to love Delkin's "World's Best Warranty" and they even say "Not offered anywhere else in the world" which is very true...
"The Delkin 48-hour replacement guarantee covers new cards sold in the United States, to the first buyer.... Shipping address must be a U.S. deliverable address as determined by UPS."

I can't find a camera store reseller in Australia for Delkin unfortunately.
Similarly for ProGrade, I can't find a local reseller here :-(

The only option would be to ship from B&H or via Amazon (stock in the US). Sony Tough is available locally though (and Angelbird!)
 
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This raises a point that I hope others can shed some light on or at least offer an informed opinion. From what I have read, UHS-II is important if you shoot video, but no so much if you shoot stills. I have used a mix of UHS-I and UHS-II in the R5 and R3 (I record raw or c-raw to the CFExpress slot and jpg as a backup to the second slot) and haven't found any performance difference. I don't know if that would be the case if shooting raw to the SD slot, but I would only do that in an emergency (such as running out of space on the CF-E slot and not having a spare card with me).
https://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=34990
measures the buffer depth and says that the cards clear almost at the same time. These would be the worst case scenario as you are mentioning cRaw and jpg so they are even smaller files hence a larger buffer of shots. I don't think that you will see a difference with UHS-I vs II because of the large buffer.
I always shoot dual raw and haven't seen a major performance decrease but I am not doing long bursts.
 
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This raises a point that I hope others can shed some light on or at least offer an informed opinion. From what I have read, UHS-II is important if you shoot video, but no so much if you shoot stills. I have used a mix of UHS-I and UHS-II in the R5 and R3 (I record raw or c-raw to the CFExpress slot and jpg as a backup to the second slot) and haven't found any performance difference. I don't know if that would be the case if shooting raw to the SD slot, but I would only do that in an emergency (such as running out of space on the CF-E slot and not having a spare card with me).

Unfocused, I do think that UHS-II matters for stills. This is the review data we got for various SD cards...

Unfortunately, that review didn't go into video performance because we assumed that people were going to be using the CFexpress card for that sort of thing. What the graph does show is that most UHS-II cards about double throughput, but much more than double cost. It has been surprising to me how resilient the UHS-II prices have been.

What I would have liked to have measured additionally was minimum throughput over an extended period of time, which is what'll goof your video. Of the three primary contributors to Camnostic, none are video people, so honestly, our reviews tend to lack detail there. -tig

PS: In reference to David's comment above about the Digital Picture analysis, Bryan over there notes correctly that real-world performance is evened up between UHS-I and UHS-II because of the buffer. In reality, people don't shoot stills for 30 seconds straight (hopefully). The Camnostic methodology deliberately shot for 30 seconds at a time specifically to maximize the detection of performance differences between cards by minimizing the effect of the buffer. So the differences that show up in the chart are really a worst-case scenario, sort of like if you found yourself able to shoot something spectacular, like a weasel riding a flying woodpecker, etc., and wanted to capture half a minute of action. But what remains untested is whether some of these cards "hiccup" to brief moments of slow throughput, stopping video recording. That seems worth gathering in the future.
 
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SHAMwow

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I bought a very expensive ProGrade Cobalt along with my camera. I expected that eventually prices would drop, but when something is new, you have to pay. My UHS II card was expensive, but nothing like the CFe.
Same. Cobalt for both SD and CFe. Not sure why people are gambling on some of these brands. As of right now I'd only buy Sandisk or Prograde.
 
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It irritates me that in order to upgrade my Angelbird 512GB I have to have an Angelbird Reader. I have two CF Express Type B readers already and neither will work. Don't need a third.
I wonder if you emailed them, they'd let you mail the card to them to have them upgrade. Wouldn't be surprised. But then the shipping might be 1/5th the cost of buying their reader ($80), depending on how you send (to Austria).

If anyone's in Vermont or New Hampshire I'm happy to lend mine.
 
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I can't find a camera store reseller in Australia for Delkin unfortunately.
Similarly for ProGrade, I can't find a local reseller here :-(
To Delkin and ProGrade, the USA is the world!

Had far as I read ProGrades homepage, they only sell online, to 'cut out the middle man'. That unfortunately makes buying from the EU a non-starter.
 
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To Delkin and ProGrade, the USA is the world!

Had far as I read ProGrades homepage, they only sell online, to 'cut out the middle man'. That unfortunately makes buying from the EU a non-starter.

These guys useful? Looks like they're out of Melbourne and carry the Delkin line...

That doesn't mean that the guarantee/warranty are the same terms as in the US , but they'd probably be able to answer what the local policy is.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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To Delkin and ProGrade, the USA is the world!

Had far as I read ProGrades homepage, they only sell online, to 'cut out the middle man'. That unfortunately makes buying from the EU a non-starter.
Check Amazon. I looked at Amazon.DE to check and they have it for shipment to european countries.
 
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These guys useful? Looks like they're out of Melbourne and carry the Delkin line...

That doesn't mean that the guarantee/warranty are the same terms as in the US , but they'd probably be able to answer what the local policy is.
Buying from outside the EU will get you not only taxes and VAT, but also a 'handling fee' from the local postal system - in our case a flat ~USD25 fee. So in general buying from outside <sarcasm>Fort European Union</sarcasm> only makes sense for (very) high value items, or things that are not (officiall) imported to the EU.

Check Amazon. I looked at Amazon.DE to check and they have it for shipment to european countries.
Thanks, I had not noticed that or deliberately ignored Amazon. Seems that Amazon has had ProGrade at least since July 2020.
 
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