I have been using Sandisk cards for many years including CFE cards in my Z8 for over a year and have been very happy with them. I don t shoot much video but even when I do they seem to work fine. Why do you advise against Sandisk?
CF express cards
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ricardo00
Well-known member
Not sure why Kanonka advised against them, but in different tests the Sandisk cards run hotter than many others. However, all these companies are constantly changing their cards, so not sure how a newer Sandisk card would test. That said, Sandisk was bought out by Western Digital and got a bad reputation for denying there was anything wrong with their SSL drives when it was losing people's data. So even though I used to only use Sandisk SD cards, I have stopped using their products. This shows one testing of CFexpress cards and the heat they generate:
Delkin Black CF Express Type B 512GB Memory Card Review – Incomparable Sustained Write Speeds and Low Temps - The SSD Review
In late 2020, Canon introduced the EOS R5 mirrorless camera and that set off a frenzy of companies r
www.thessdreview.com
O
Well-known member
Often when brands are taken over to feed larger growth players, the common objective often used is cut costs 25% raise prices 25% or at best anywhere in between, if you can.Not sure why Kanonka advised against them, but in different tests the Sandisk cards run hotter than many others. However, all these companies are constantly changing their cards, so not sure how a newer Sandisk card would test. That said, Sandisk was bought out by Western Digital and got a bad reputation for denying there was anything wrong with their SSL drives when it was losing people's data. So even though I used to only use Sandisk SD cards, I have stopped using their products. This shows one testing of CFexpress cards and the heat they generate:
Delkin Black CF Express Type B 512GB Memory Card Review – Incomparable Sustained Write Speeds and Low Temps - The SSD Review
In late 2020, Canon introduced the EOS R5 mirrorless camera and that set off a frenzy of companies r
Sandisk products have always worked for myself in the past on DSLRS and less challenging or demanding applications, also then there was no video demand.
Western Digital QC track record has from time to time been of real concern where i now choose to pay more and buy higher end quality server SSD grade hard drives.
ie: example the lifespan of an SSD depends on the number of write cycles it undergoes, which is determined by usage patterns and workload. ---------
the same would apply to Flash Cards one would assume ?
With the Mirror less hybrid cameras and the transition of the camera industry into videography - video,
demand for card quality, performance, capacity and durability is becoming more important.
Is Sandisk moving into that higher end area or staying in the volume affordable market, i don't know as i don't use them anymore.
Sandisk went Chapter 11 again, then was bought by Western Digital who also seems to have/had some of their own different challenges.
Cards in cases have become a separate system of their own based on what you do and at what level we do it at, its not cheap anymore, be it a 250 gig or 2 TB.
Would i use Sandisk cards, yes SD, standard Flash cards for general use, but a Z9 Z8 high demand pro application especially if doing lots of video or time laps i would need to consider things differently.
Only an opinion
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John Navitsky
Well-known member
it’s because they run hot. these and the old, yellow labeled lexar cards
Both here and on Nikonians the Sandisk CFExpress cards probably account for 90% of the reports of card problems. They run hot compared to alternatives, and are prone to overheating, hot camera warnings, and lock ups in Nikon cameras. That's not as true for Canon cameras. Sandisk has also had worse customer service when dealing with these issues - quite a contrast with Delkin and ProGrade. Given that Sandisk CF Cards are on the high end from a price standpoint, there are a lot of alternatives that are better decisions now.
Parfumeur
Active member
FWIW, I use ProGrade Digital 325GB CFexpress 2.0 Type B Cobalt for my every day casual shoots (2 cards). I will not say anything about Delkin Black, except great service.
For intensive work, eventing,, 8am-5+pm, I never had an issue with SanDisk 512GB Extreme PRO CFexpress Card Type B (now $150 street price) in a Z9 at 20fps RAW, including on the fly deleting of bad/early shots (easily deleting ~100+ random shots during the shoot, doing Full & DX captures). Also used to copy in camera from 1 to 2. I have 6 Sandisk 512GB.
I have NO idea why people mention 'not Sandisk' w/o details as to the issues. Maybe shill posts. Maybe an age issue?
I do have Z9 (firm 5.0) lock ups, but these occured more with other cards than Sandisk. Maybe 1 in 4,000 to 5,000 shots. Battery pull fixes the issue (beleive I solved the issue in settings and manipulation). I will not mention the awful way to save & recall settings of the Z9 (for me). Most people like it. Great for the competition.
For intensive work, eventing,, 8am-5+pm, I never had an issue with SanDisk 512GB Extreme PRO CFexpress Card Type B (now $150 street price) in a Z9 at 20fps RAW, including on the fly deleting of bad/early shots (easily deleting ~100+ random shots during the shoot, doing Full & DX captures). Also used to copy in camera from 1 to 2. I have 6 Sandisk 512GB.
I have NO idea why people mention 'not Sandisk' w/o details as to the issues. Maybe shill posts. Maybe an age issue?
I do have Z9 (firm 5.0) lock ups, but these occured more with other cards than Sandisk. Maybe 1 in 4,000 to 5,000 shots. Battery pull fixes the issue (beleive I solved the issue in settings and manipulation). I will not mention the awful way to save & recall settings of the Z9 (for me). Most people like it. Great for the competition.
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Parfumeur
Active member
This may be meaningless, but something to think about.
Do a full format of your card in the Z9, and time the format. - Do it twice, as the first time may not be accurate. The second time is on a cleaned card. -
See which one is fastest at writing the new format. I have no idea if valid, but to me it shows the speed of the card.
I validated that the slower full format, also had the slower buffer clearing of a sequence. Watch that back light and when you can pull the trigger again.
Do your own test, due diligence. Be carefull of hype, shills and influencers.
Do a full format of your card in the Z9, and time the format. - Do it twice, as the first time may not be accurate. The second time is on a cleaned card. -
See which one is fastest at writing the new format. I have no idea if valid, but to me it shows the speed of the card.
I validated that the slower full format, also had the slower buffer clearing of a sequence. Watch that back light and when you can pull the trigger again.
Do your own test, due diligence. Be carefull of hype, shills and influencers.
For what it's worth, I have seen at least 9 posts about hot card problems and 8 of those were with Sandisk cards. That's after the original Sandisk CFExpress card that simply failed in Nikon cameras but worked in Canon cameras. Sandisk discontinued the card and released a new version. 8 hot card failures and a number of hot card warnings is enough to consider a different card for high performance shooting. The related problem is that Sandisk was unresponsive to the hot card reports when people called them for help. Thom Hogan has consistently reported that Sandisk cards run hot - the only such card he describes in that manner.
I use a Sandisk SD card in slot 2 of one of my cameras, but won't purchase a CFExpress card for the time being. I expect they will release a new version in the future that runs cooler - but in cameras that are designed for high performance and high frame rates, it seems to be an easy choice to avoid those cards unless you want to accept a greater than normal risk or your camera demands do not include frequent bursts, pre-release, or high speed video.
Parfumeur
Active member
My Sandisk are about 1 year old. I have NO idea of their version number or PID. I'll check later in the device manager/properties or use TC/Properties and note the information FWIW. The card manufacturers hide that info, They are black boxes, and pot luck. The six cards were bought two at a time over ~2-4 months to expedite my workflow. Yes, they run hot, but so do some SD Sony Tough G (UHS II) and even USB sticks.
I guess there is an implication it's not good for the body?
I guess there is an implication it's not good for the body?
I've heard that hot card warnings are mainly to make sure you are careful when handling the card. But extended shooting with a hot card may lead to a hot body warning and a camera shut down. There is nothing wrong with occasional hot card warnings for short periods.
You're right about memory cards being a black box. There are a lot of components in these cards and any one can cause heating or delays. At one point Delkin was assembling cards with larger memory than indicated because it was cheaper to substitute larger memory than to halt production. Retail markups on cards are high so there is a lot of room for discounts and promotions - especially when the memory market is oversupplied.
Like you, I remember the good old days when you just bought a memory card and they were all pretty similar.
I prefer more cards over larger cards. If you shoot HE* you will get over 30,000 images on a 1TB card. I prefer to swap cards out every few days when traveling which allows me to keep my collection for a trip separate. I can also take a card out of use if it even has a slight hiccup. I have even accidentally formatted a card in camera and I could just replace it with a different card and keep the formatted card untouched until I returned home to recover the files. It just makes me nervous to have all of my images for a trip on one card or even in the camera together if I have it set to backup to the second slot.
The advantage to larger cards is that they are usually rated faster than the lower capacity cards for the same manufacturer and card line.
The advantage to larger cards is that they are usually rated faster than the lower capacity cards for the same manufacturer and card line.
beano
Active member
Hi, I commented earlier regarding my reasons for using predominantly Delkin Blacks, as they do run very cool in my Z9 at higher video resolutions. For me personally, Sandisk CFExpress B doesn’t work well, but I have zero issues with their SD cards. FWIW.
kanonka
Member
As others above already said, Sandisk cards run hot. At some point in time they were "the" brand to go with, then gradually went down, and it's hard to trace which ones are good, and which ones are not - just easier to remove brand from consideration altogether. I don't mind card running hot, but Nikon (and Fuji for that matter) shuts camera down on overheat. It might not be a problem in Alaska, but being in Florida it's a problem.
As for the size, here is the deal. Cards internally are wired in chunks, and each chunk has a max speed for read/write. But for bigger size cards controller allows for parallel writing for different chunks (i.e. one file is spread around in multiple parts of the card). If you take a look, you'll realize that bigger cards almost always have better speed grade; also, they heat less as writing happens in different (physical) areas, so it's easier for card to get rid of the heat (because it heats more evenly). Yes, best cards (SLC-based) are faster and cooler, but they tend to be of smaller capacity and exorbitant price. If you take 2Tb, or even better, 4Tb card of mediocre tech (TLC or even QLC), they would show same performance AND heat profile as good but small card. I.e, I would not buy 256GB Sabrent, but easily would go for 2Tb Sabrent, which would cost me less than Delkin Black 1.3Tb. Almost double capacity for cheaper and good enough heat profile plus high sustained writing speed (1300MB/s) is a win in my view.
My guess V4 of the CFE cards will not be supported until the next round of pro cameras are released. I think card reader support is already out.
mathjak107
Active member
i had the sandisk 325 gb extreme pro express in my z8
i was shooting occasional stills , not even long bursts on a hot day in the sun and got a hot card warning .
i switched to the prograde cobalt and no issue
I’m with you. I lost over 1000 photos of an entire trip to Ireland with my wife for our 25 anniversary because I didn’t switch out my card each day . Luckily, she had a camera as well. So we did have photos of the trip. I will never buy another PNY card again. Not even sure they are made anymore.
O
Well-known member
Tools are all different, if a cheaper tool fits the occasional purpose that's perfectly fine, i have bought the $69 Ozito sander over a $499 Makita because the one or two times i needed a sander the Ozita got the job done.
I have no issue with Sandisk cards they are a good tool fit for the purpose, i have used them for years, knowing the exact purpose or the limitations is what matters.
You can always get a replacement tool or your money back but not the time lost or cost of the trip or opportunity lost.
I have had the 1700/1500 sustained 325g Pair of Cobalt cards since just before the Z9 was released. I sleep at nights, especially under the stars on long treks for days.
I do believe the Cobalt 325g cards are discontinued ?
Only an opinion
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Parfumeur
Active member
"Only an opinion" ... YES ... but based on experience from trial and error and quantified.
RussellT
New member
Care to elaborate on the Sandisk comment, I just bought a 500gb Sandisk
fcotterill
Well-known member
There were problems reported last year with SanDisk, relating to failures of SSD drives
petapixel.com
SanDisk's Name is Now Mud
Poor response to widespread failure reports has resulted in a tarnished reputation.
petapixel.com
fcotterill
Well-known member
I also follow the strategy of investing in (relatively) smaller CFExpress B cards of 128 or 256Gb, given the admittedly slim risks of lost cards. These are Delkin Power mostly, also Lexar Professional bought in gear bundles/specials, but I have a few older 64gb Sony cards that these days are in my D6. My strategy maintains regular backups, which are always daily to small SSD HDD's if I'm out in the bush.
The options and specs of CFExpress cards sure have expanded significantly since we began discussing the format a couple of years ago here. In addition to the excellent technical advice and first hand experiences shared on BCG, I check in on The SSD Review site. Their reviews of CFExpress cards are irregular but thorough, including temperature comparisons and sustained read write speeds, such as they matter considering even the fastest of cameras can't get there
www.thessdreview.com
More CFExpress threads additional to above links
bcgforums.com
The options and specs of CFExpress cards sure have expanded significantly since we began discussing the format a couple of years ago here. In addition to the excellent technical advice and first hand experiences shared on BCG, I check in on The SSD Review site. Their reviews of CFExpress cards are irregular but thorough, including temperature comparisons and sustained read write speeds, such as they matter considering even the fastest of cameras can't get there
Sabrent Rocket CFX Pro CFExpress B Memory Card Review (512GB/1TB/2TB) - The SSD Review
Sabrent has just released an upgraded version of their Rocket CFX CFExpress B Memory Cards and added
www.thessdreview.com
More CFExpress threads additional to above links
Best CFexpress card brands/models?
Does anyone understand why Delkin Blacks are not on the Approved Nikon Z9, Z7ii, Z8, Z6ii ... list? It never seems to overheat in reports from the high frame rate tracking of BIF or from the Video guys. It has no lower read/write speeds to others and specifically tells you the continuous rates...
bcgforums.com
John Navitsky
Well-known member
sadly, he doesn’t seem to be updating the cfe section lately
Even the better sites comparing CFExpress cards only compare one or two sized cards per brand. Performance varies a lot, and you can't assume a card that tests well at 256 GB or 512 GB will be okay with a 128 GB card. Almost all the 64 GB cards are relatively slow. And of course, while you can test the cards you have, you generally can't return cards that have been used if you find they are slow. I still think it's worthwhile to seriously test a new card with a long burst and verification of write speed after the buffer fills.
These older threads contain good information, but only as of a point in time. I've noticed some are no longer accurate and don't reflect current cards. We don't need to re-open a 6 month old thread and side track things with those differences. For example, the Delkin Power cards have been updated to version 4.0. The 512GB and smaller cards are slower than the earlier version, while the 650GB and larger cards are faster and near the speed of Delkin Black.
O
Well-known member
Good point,
there is so much new stuff out there and things have come a long way.
I think the important thing is if you need a professional level tool the manufacturing company needs to be really considered as there are creators and there are ones that just copy.
Video, AI, live transmission, larger processors, expanded sensor capability, more speeds its all interesting times ...........all in a air or thermal cooled compact light powerful affordable tool makes for interesting times ahead.
The old Mac towers used liquid cooling LOL.
Only an opinion