CFExpress Cards Speed Tests

[Kayaker72]

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.

I do usually shoot mechanical. So my experience is skewed towards mechanical. I do occasionally shoot electronic, but when I do I am trying to time specific moments and shooting in bursts.

The camnostic article had 124 frames before hitting a stutter with the R5 and Sandisk 512 GB card at 12fps (mechanical H+). Bryan had similar, but slightly higher, results on a different card. So it is possible, I just haven’t had a lynx walking down a road toward me yet .

I am pretty sure you use Sandisk 512 cards as well. Camnostic’s test had ~310 images in 30 seconds in e-shutter mode. The best cards were around 340. So not much of an improvement to the fastest cards. But then the Sandisk 128, which is my other card, was “only” around 260 in 30 secs. So there can be a difference if you need this type of performance.


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[Jonathan Huyer]

Ah that's interesting. I also shoot the R5 in mechanical mode, and yes I have Sandisk 512 cards. I checked one sequence I did with a lynx walking towards me, when I leaned on the shutter and didn't let go until the cat was gone. It lasted 43 seconds and I got 207 shots. There was one quick 2 second interruption, when I adjusted my exposure compensation (love that you can see when you need to do that!). So overall I got 5 fps. I was shooting at f/5.6 with the 500 mm lens and 1.4 TC attached, so the aperture was wide open. But maybe the fact the cat was moving towards me slowed down the shot rate a bit, as the camera has to adjust focus every time (?). I am pretty sure my battery was close to fully charged, since the encounter happened in the morning without any other prior shooting. This 'real life test' shows that there's room for a faster frame rate, since I never came close to the ideal-world 12 fps. Not that I'm complaining --- I got a pile of keepers from that encounter

[Kayaker72]

Amazing shot.

Looking at the Camnostic data, it does stand out that when holding down for 30 seconds, the R5 performance for most cards was fairly identical whether they were in e-shutter or mechanical, indicating that it is really the write speed to the card that is limiting for longer bursts. I'd put the Sandisk 512 right around the same 310-315 both in e-shutter and mechanical.

Borrowed from Camnostic's data:






Overall, I would say 207 images in 43 seconds is a bit off. I wonder if your battery, even if fresh, was cold? Maybe card speed declines as you have more and more photos on it?

I have focused on 3-5 second bursts when I tested my R5. I hit 20 fps, 12 fps, 9-9.4 FPS pretty consistent in those short burst for E-shutter, H+, and H modes and full battery. One complaint I have with the R5 is that FPS in mechanical shutter modes does decline, noticeably so, as the battery levels drop. I am hoping this is fixed in the eventual R5 II, if not, I do consider this a significant advantage of the R3.

[Jonathan Huyer]

Yes something was probably off. The battery is the best guess, although it was warm inside the vehicle. I just did a test at home with the same setup, using a fully charged battery. In the first trial, I got 238 images at 9.2 fps before the buffer filled. I moved the camera around to simulate a moving subject. Next I switched to manual focus to see if that would make any difference. I got 170 frames at 9.4 fps average, so not much of an impact. The ISO setting will definitely have an impact on things, because higher ISO results in larger files. In my test, I was at ISO 3200 and my file sizes were about 59 MB. For the lynx shots, I was at ISO 800 and the file size was about 50 MB.

Next I switched to C-RAW, and the file size dropped to about 30 MB. I could maintain 9.2 fps indefinitely without filling the buffer (I gave up after >400 shots). Finally I tried electronic shutter with C-RAW, and I got 98 images at 20 fps.

I can't seem to get more than 9 fps with a mechanical shutter, no matter what I try. I followed all the guidelines in the manual (full battery, compatible lens wide open, 1/1000 sec shutter, no flicker detect) and it won't go any faster.

I also noticed that the drive mode icon remains white, indicating 9.2 fps. So at least it's telling me the truth. However I can't make it go green, which would indicate 12 fps is enabled.

Meanwhile, I think I will stick with C-RAW. Everything I've been seeing about it says it has no impact on image quality. And if it gives you unlimited shooting and smaller files, why not?

[Busted Knuckles]

I have elected to shoot electronic shutter, 68B colors (12 bit) is deep enough for me.

I haven't leaned on the shutter for more than 3 or 4 seconds at a time. I have an anglebird 512g, AV Pro. Haven't noticed anything other than 20 fps so far.

[Kayaker72]

Is the H+ green when you shoot it? If it is white, then some setting is preventing you from 12 fps.

I just did a couple tests, with it white, I was at 9.1 fps twice, once with a battery at ~12% and again with a battery that was 97%. But the Icon (H+) was white. So, going through the list, my issue was my wifi, while not "on" as in connected, I did not have my camera in airplane mode. I had connected my camera to my phone via bluetooth recently and that was enough. As soon as I turned my camera to airplane mode, my H+ was green, and I just ran another ~5 second burst, and averaged 12.0 fps over that burst.

Airplane mode is wifi tab #1.

[Jonathan Huyer]

Ah ha! That did it! Thank you!! I just turned wifi off and now I have a green icon. I did a test and got 247 shots in 20 seconds for 12.3 fps before the buffer filled (in C-RAW).

So if I could recreate my lynx encounter once again, I think the best setting would have been 9 fps in C-RAW. Then I could shoot constantly for the full 43 seconds (and beyond) without hitting the buffer. For sure, 12 fps for 20 seconds is pretty nice, but I've had several experiences besides this lynx where it would have been inadequate. For example, bear cubs play fighting (they'll do that for a couple minutes easily). The 12 fps mode is a lot better suited for birds in flight, where you would never need 20 seconds worth of shooting. The next time I go out for owls, that's what I'll use.

Dreaming ahead to the mythical R1, I think it would be good if it comes with a lower MP count than the R5 (say, 30 MP). Then it would stand a better chance of being able to write at 12 fps without buffer issues, especially in C-RAW mode.

[Jonathan Huyer]

More testing: With C-RAW, 1.6 crop factor, and electronic shutter, I got 306 shots in 15 seconds before the buffer filled. I kept the button down and the shutter paused for 3 seconds, then resumed shooting for 4 seconds, in a repetitive cycle. After 30 seconds, I had 481 images.

I know that most people really don't shoot this way, but there are definitely times that I do, and those times are always the most exciting moments in wildlife photography. So this has been a good exercise in finding out what the best mode would be that can allow continuous unlimited shooting. The answer for me is 9 fps in C-RAW, and that will now be my default unless I am going birding.

[Kayaker72]

This really does not seem to pertain to me, but it might someday, if I am shooting a lynx as it walks towards me. But this past month I was shooting birds with Mike down in Florida and just got back from vacation in Costa Rica where I had two half days primarily aimed at photography. With the birds, I was using 20 fps. But, even most of the time in FL and all the time in Costa Rica, I was shooting in "H" mode, namely, ~8 fps. I never hit my buffer in either instance.

That said, I started to wonder if it has been long enough that CFExpress Type B cards are starting to match their specified write speeds as the Sandisk ExtremePro 128 GB and 512 GB cards I have do not....far from it really.

So, for those of you with a need for speed....it looks like the latest cards are now 2-3x faster than those I bought in 2020.

Then, they are also running cooler.

The article indicated that the Lexar Pro Diamond 512 MB, while best performing, they expect the price to come down from the $530 point it is now. Admittedly, the Prograde Gold is right in there in terms of performance and is $179 for 512 GB and $400 for 1 TB. Previously, I have stayed with Lexar or Sandisk, but Bryan is using Prograde in his reviews. Right now, I'd likely go that direction.