CFExpress Cards Speed Tests

[Fast Glass]

I went through a similar situation with a lens selection with an ultra wide vs wide angle for a trip to Mt Baker last weekend.

I was somewhat on a budget and because it was last minute I needed to find something either used or new locally.

I knew the 16mm wide end would be fine from my previous excursions up there. I knew the obvious practical choice was the 16-35mm f/4 IS vs the 16-35mm f/2.8 II or the 24mm f/1.4.

I really wanted the 24mm f/1.4 for other uses. And I knew up there I'd still get some great pics. But if I only went by stats I would have probably went with a 24-70mm or 24-105mm because most of my shots were not at the 24mm end at all. But I knew that was when it was snowy and I'd likely get more sweeping vista's. And there was some some shots I ended up doing a pano, but I still wanted more width.

I eventually opted for an ultra wide, which went against what my stats were saying. Because sometimes stats are not everything with lens selection. I knew well enough what I should be getting, rather than just stats.

I more or less dropped the 24mm f/1.4 not only because of focal length, but just as much because it was the original version available locally and I wanted the Mark II.

And after going there and using the 16-35mm it was the correct focal length range, if anything I could have went wider on some shots. I used it most of the time the 16mm end, but I did get some of my favorite shots on the 35mm end as well. So the focal length range proved to be very useful to me. And it didn't come to a surprise because I had the Tamron 10-24mm on the 60D I used to have and enjoyed immensely that lens and focal length range. It really was a great lens though if anyone ever wanted something like that, I was pleased with the IQ of my copy and obviously keeping in mind price and intended format.

I did the same thing with the 24-105mm I had (I owned both versions.) vs the 24-70mm. Statistically I like you used both ends of the focal length range quite a lot. I used IS quite a lot. But I still wanted a 24-70mm. So I got a Sigma version, I was in love with the focal length and aperture combination! So much better for me. Do I miss the longer end? Yeah, I do. But having f/2.8 was more important to me and transformed it for me. So much happier with that combo. But I sold that and now want the Canon Mark II.

Needless to say, sometimes you have to make a decision contrary what your past use experience because while you might have made use of the previous focal lengths, IS or aperture. You will shoot differently with the 24-70mm compared to the 24-105mm. And only with using them side by side will you know which is the right one for you.

[Kayaker72]

If I had to bet, I'll use the 24-70 more but take the 24-105 when I travel.

That makes a lot of sense to me. In all the analysis, my primary thought beyond where it is used, is what could you live without? The missing 35 mm at the long end of the 24-70 is easy to compensate for by cropping. Sure, lost of pixels, and noise becomes more apparent if at high ISO, but it can be done with minimal penalty. Plus, I often have another lens in the bag that could be used to compensate.

But f/2.8 vs f/4. If you need that stop of light, if you want that bokeh, there is not an easy replacement.

[Busted Knuckles]

Ah man the GAS is itching bad.

I have loaded up the shopping cart a couple of times. Like the idea of smaller(ish) cards vs the giant capacity. I had to giggle at the size of my hard drives vs the size of the cards. My laptop is 500g ssd an upgrade a few yesars ago., the desk unit is 1T. Space is reasonably cheap really tells me how long I have been happy with the core processors vs storage capacity of cards. Just an odd juxtaposition you might find humorous

[Kayaker72]

I thought this was interesting...I do not know these cards...but they are no publishing a "minimum write speed" that is pretty consistent with what test results people are finding.

[Fast Glass]

Wish my CFexpress cards are getting anywhere close to those numbers transferring to my PC.

I know what the issue is, my computer doesn't support USB 3.2, so I'm just limited to 37/40MB/s.

I have been wanting an upgrade for a while now, blemish removal is incredibly slow in DPP. Everything else is great. I have to wait forever per image to load and then proceed with my work. And even then it is extremely slow. Regardless of the resolution, even if it is just my 10mp 1D III images it takes FOREVER!

[Kayaker72]

Yeah...generally this has been my surprising conclusion as well, that CFE cards are well below their listed performance. So, all of the theoretical calcs that those of us do, myself included, using the list specs are somewhat erroneous.

Hopped back to this thread as Camnostic has updated their review, for those interested. I still prefer what SSDreview is doing, but Camnostic reviewed specifically ont he R5, so some relevant data there.

Overall, having now shot on the R5 for ~18 months, what I can say is that I cannot recall ever hitting my buffer when writing to the CFE card (I have Sandisk 128 GB/512GB cards). But I have hit it when writing to the UHS II card slot. My solution has been to write only to the CFE card when shooting anything at high FPS and then copying over to the UHS card when I have a down moment. For lower FPS action, I write to both cards simultaneously.

So, while CFE cards do not perform at their spec, even when transferring files, they are still more than fast enough for my needs. The Sandisk CFE cards do get hot. If I was to buy another card, the operating temperature chart would get some of my attention, in addition to speed. This may seem odd, but after transferring files, the Sandisk cards are hot enough, I let them sit before reinserting into the R5. They can also be very warm when pulling from the R5.

[Sean Setters]

I ran into an issue where the original CFExpress card I purchased -- a ProGrade Digital 128GB CFexpress 2.0 Type B Gold -- wouldn't allow me to record 1080p 120fps, let alone 8K RAW video (it would stop recording after a few seconds). I had originally planned to get a Delkin Devices 128GB BLACK CFexpress Type B but found an ebay deal on a used Delkin Devices 128GB POWER CFexpress Type B (I paid about $100) and thought I'd give it a shot. It's allowed me to record high framerate 1080p video and 8K RAW without a hiccup and I've been very happy with it. If I hadn't found the deal on the Gold (a lesser-tier) card, I'm sure I would have been happy with the Delkin Black series card which, at this time, has 46 5-star reviews (no reviewer has rated it for less than 5 stars).

[Fast Glass]

@Kayaker

I use two SanDisk 64gig cards, I never noticed them getting especially hot in practice. Do they get warm when under heavy use like when using them on my 1Dx III? Possibly, but I never pull them out right after heavy shooting. I pull them out when I get home to load the images.

And of course I'm limited in my upload speeds because I don't have USB 3 2.

Not to say I they don't get warm, just my personal experience using them.

[Kayaker72]

Do they get warm when under heavy use like when using them on my 1Dx III?

Of course, I am not sure what your heavy use would be and heat disappation is likely different between the R5 and 1DX III. I, admittedly, have a heavy trigger finger. I have removed my CFE card from the R5 after heavy use and I'd describe it as warm.

I would describe it as hot after it had been in my card reader for awhile and transferring files. Somewhat interesting, just being in the card reader makes it warm to hot (the computer recognizes it as an SSD drive). Transferring a couple hundred GB of files, it is definitely a hot. In the figure I referenced above, theSSDreview found that the 512 GB Sandisk card got up to 80C during large file transfers. I wouldn't say mine was 80C, but the trend is there. It has interested me that a number of cards are much cooler under the same conditions.

The 64 GB Sandisk card has different list read/write speeds, so I am not sure if it would be directly comparable to the other Sandisk cards. But, in terms of heat generated, maybe that is a good thing.

[Jonathan Huyer]

Overall, having now shot on the R5 for ~18 months, what I can say is that I cannot recall ever hitting my buffer when writing to the CFE card

Just to clarify, you're referring to shooting in mechanical shutter mode, correct? I find that the buffer does max out in electronic shutter mode, but that's not a surprise at 20 fps.