R1 CFexpress Type B cards

[dolina]

A bit late to the party but I'm looking to buy 128GB CFexpress Type B cards for a R1.

As I'm the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" type I'm looking to get 128GB cards that has been my size standard since 2015.

I've narrowed it down to:

- $250 — Lexar DIAMOND 4.0 (LCXEXD4128G-RNENG) 3,200 MB/s
- $135 — Delkin POWER G4 (DCFXBP128G4) 805 MB/s
- $130 — ProGrade Gold (PGCFX128GBPBH) 250 MB/s

I'll be using this with mostly EF L lenses such as

- EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM
- EF 500mm f/4L IS USM
- EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
- EF 200mm f/2L IS USM

Thanks for the ffeedback.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Any should be fine. I have a set of ProGrade Gold 256 GB cards for everyday use, and another set of ProGrade Gold 1 TB cards that I use for shooting birds (lots of precapture and 40 fps shooting).

Why not get somewhat larger cards, if you shoot RAW? If you write simultaneously to both cards (which is what I do), all your eggs are in two baskets from the moment you press the shutter button.

 

[dolina]

That’s a fair point especially about precapture and long burst sequences. Those can chew through space very quickly and I don’t disagree that larger cards make life easier in that scenario.

For a bit of background my hesitation isn’t about capability so much as risk management and timing. I’m coming straight from a 5Ds R-era workflow where 128 GB CF was already generous and I’ve intentionally kept that capacity as a personal ceiling so a single card failure never represents an entire shoot. Even when writing to dual slots I’m still rotating cards during the day rather than committing everything to one volume.

Since nearly all my work is stills and I’m rarely holding the shutter down for extended <40 fps bursts. I’m mostly balancing sustained write speed, thermals and price rather than headline capacity. The R1 being limited to a 2.0 bus also makes me cautious about paying today’s premiums unless there’s a clear practical benefit other than faster downloads from memory card to MBP.

That said I do take your point that once you’re writing simultaneously to both cards all your eggs are effectively in two baskets anyway. Because of that I’m warming to a mixed approach. Keeping my usual 128 GB cards for general shooting, while adding one or two larger-capacity cards specifically for situations where precapture or extended bursts are likely.

Appreciate the perspective. It helped me sanity-check where my habits are legacy thinking versus where they still make sense with the R1.

 

[Frodo]

The Prograde 256GB card has a much faster write speed than the equivalent 128GB card.

 

[dolina]

You are 100% correct on the physics of it. In the ProGrade Gold lineup, the 256GB (and larger) cards utilize more flash channels to hit higher sustained write speeds (~850MB/s) compared to the 128GB (~300MB/s). For someone shooting an R1 with native RF glass at a sustained 40fps, that 128GB card would be a massive mistake.

However, I’m sticking to the 128GB tier because I’ve found a different bottleneck that makes those extra flash channels irrelevant for my current kit: The Glass.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I am still shooting with legacy EF "Big White" primes (2008 EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM, 1999 EF 500mm f/4L IS USM, and 2008 EF 200mm f/2L IS USM). I checked the https://cam.start.canon/ky/H001/supplement_0080.html and confirmed that these lenses are not supported for the R1's 40fps mode. The camera’s firmware physically throttles the drive speed to 20fps to keep the older AF motors and apertures in sync.

Doing the math for my specific setup:

- 20fps x ~27.5MB (RAW) = ~550MB/s total data generated.
- Even in C-RAW at 20fps I’m only pushing ~250MB/s.

Because my lenses won't let the R1 "upshift" into 40fps I simply don't have enough data to saturate a faster card. Paying the "capacity tax" for a 512GB card just to get a higher write speed would be like buying a 1,000-watt power supply for a computer that only draws 200 watts.

Plus I recently discovered "startup lag." Keeping the cards to 128GB keeps the camera’s polling time snappy during battery swaps which is a higher priority for me than theoretical write speeds I physically cannot reach with an 800mm lens attached.

When I eventually move to RF 1200mm, RF 600mm & rumored RF 300mm f/2.0 and hit the 40fps wall I'll buy a bigger "basket" then.