CF express cards

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Parfumeur said:
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.
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Following your suggestion, I did full format on Z9 of the current cards I use, and I am getting a few surprises. May be that's what is expected.
1. Delkin Black CFexpress 256 GB: 30 sec
2. Delkin Power 256 GB G4: 2.6 sec
3. Wise 320 GB Pro: 2.8 sec
4. SONY CFexpress 128 GB: 4 sec. (Hangover from my D6 days)

In last two weeks I have two system lock up while using Delkin Black (#1 above) - battery needed to be removed to get the camera going again. I bought the card two years ago when I got my first Z9 and the card has served me well so far. However, the full format test seems to indicate that this card has the slowest write speed. By the way, all four cards suffer from buffer stuttering after about 70 shots. If the card's write speed is higher, shouldn't one expect the stuttering to start later or none at all?
 

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Dinusaur said:
Following your suggestion, I did full format on Z9 of the current cards I use, and I am getting a few surprises. May be that's what is expected.
1. Delkin Black CFexpress 256 GB: 30 sec
2. Delkin Power 256 GB G4: 2.6 sec
3. Wise 320 GB Pro: 2.8 sec
4. SONY CFexpress 128 GB: 4 sec. (Hangover from my D6 days)

In last two weeks I have two system lock up while using Delkin Black (#1 above) - battery needed to be removed to get the camera going again. I bought the card two years ago when I got my first Z9 and the card has served me well so far. However, the full format test seems to indicate that this card has the slowest write speed. By the way, all four cards suffer from buffer stuttering after about 70 shots. If the card's write speed is higher, shouldn't one expect the stuttering to start later or none at all?
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I wonder if the Delkin Black card has some sectors which are intermittently failing? Delkin may have diagnostics software which might provide insight on that. I don’t recall what the Delkin warranty is, but if the card is failing intermittently it should be replaced. At some point it may fail catastrophically without recourse to full recovery of your data.
 
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JAJohnson said:
I wonder if the Delkin Black card has some sectors which are intermittently failing? Delkin may have diagnostics software which might provide insight on that. I don’t recall what the Delkin warranty is, but if the card is failing intermittently it should be replaced. At some point it may fail catastrophically without recourse to full recovery of your data.
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Delkin black has a " life-time warranty". For failure, not sure about speed.
PS. I have 3 and haven't had any problems (bought the first with my Z9 so 2 and a half years ago. Maybe I won't do a full format.
 
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ricardo00 said:
Delkin black has a " life-time warranty". For failure, not sure about speed.
PS. I have 3 and haven't had any problems (bought the first with my Z9 so 2 and a half years ago. Maybe I won't do a full format.
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Yes, Delkin has a lifetime warranty (See the link below). Thanks, @ricardo00! I need to register my cards, too. 🙂

@Dinusaur, I suggest giving their customer service a call and ask for a card replacement.

www.delkindevices.com

48-Hour Replacement Guarantee - Delkin Devices

Not offered anywhere else in the world, select Delkin products (e.g. BLACK memory cards & reader, POWER SD, PRIME & POWER microSD, CFast 2.0, XQD, PRIME & POWER CFexpress™ & JUGGLER™ SSD) come with a premium 48-hour replacement guarantee in addition to our “Lifetime Warranty” policy. We will...
www.delkindevices.com www.delkindevices.com
 
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There are no statistics or hard numbers regarding card reliability to be found anywhere. And the tests and reviews there are, at least if I put my engineering hat on, meaningless as methodologies are not documented, tests aren't standardized and hence not reproduceable. As a result, there is no meaningful way to distinguish between varaonces between card models and individual cards being tested. Did mention the small sample size in those tests?

Which leaves anecdotes, and there we have hot card warning threads on here (8 if I remember correctly were mentioned, which basically meaningless) and data loss threads on here (and all of those I remember were with Delkin cards).

Well, that leaves the only quantifiable metric: sustained write speads. And given the fact not a single camera body currently on the market writes faster than the slowest CFe card on the market, the card is not the bottle neck in the pipeline regardless of which card is used.

As I have no clue about video, maybe some cards are better for that tham others for whatever reasons. For stills, it doesn't really matter as long as it is a brand name card, and no fake knock-off (that's more off a SD card problem I think).
 
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AnnetteJane said:
I recently went to Lake Clark National Park in Alaska and ran out of card room in my Z9. First time ever to see the camera flashing FULL.
Thankfully my friend had extra cards. Anyhow, now I’m looking at getting new larger cards. I’m mostly familiar with Delkin black. I see a Delkin power 2 tb on Amazon. I’ve been hearing about read and write speeds. Stewart’s photo suggested I get the 1.3 tb with a faster read and write. My husband pointed out other brands but I don’t know what’s good and what’s not. If I’m going for a week somewhere I’m taking tents and such and leaving laptop home I want two 2 TB cards im thinking. I need to schooled on memory cards. What to get and what not to get. I do not do video at all.

Also, my husband is looking at OWC memory cards made here in the states, they look pretty good. any one familiar with this brand ?
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I've been using Delkin Black for about a year now and have had no issues in my Z9 and D850. I opted for the 512GB since I always have access to my laptop and I carry an extra set for the Z9. My usual day of shooting will be upto 3,000 images and have yet to hit the card full level. I did consider the 1TB, but the price difference just didn't make sense since I upload my shots at the end of each day.
So while I can't comment on the higher capacity cards, I can give a solid recommendation that the Delkin Black CFexpress cards are solid and work well in the field.

Good luck with your decision and future photo trips!

Jim
 
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I ended up getting 2 - 1.3 TB Delkin Black cards from B&H photos when they had a flash sale for $300 off per card.
We are hoping to do a bear camping trip next summer and I won't get to download till I come home. Weight limitations are 250 lbs per person inclusive of person food, tents, sleeping bag and all gear. I'm debating if 2 -1.3 TB are enough. Might get more cards later.
 
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AnnetteJane said:
I ended up getting 2 - 1.3 TB Delkin Black cards from B&H photos when they had a flash sale for $300 off per card.
We are hoping to do a bear camping trip next summer and I won't get to download till I come home. Weight limitations are 250 lbs per person inclusive of person food, tents, sleeping bag and all gear. I'm debating if 2 -1.3 TB are enough. Might get more cards later.
Click to expand...
the delkin power v4 2tb cards might make good backup cards
 
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AnnetteJane said:
I ended up getting 2 - 1.3 TB Delkin Black cards from B&H photos when they had a flash sale for $300 off per card.
We are hoping to do a bear camping trip next summer and I won't get to download till I come home. Weight limitations are 250 lbs per person inclusive of person food, tents, sleeping bag and all gear. I'm debating if 2 -1.3 TB are enough. Might get more cards later.
Click to expand...
Looks like a great deal! I bought my first Delkin black card (a 512 GB card) for about the same price in 5/2022 when I got my Z9. It hasn't given me any problems and have been using it since then.
 
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Dinusaur said:
Following your suggestion, I did full format on Z9 of the current cards I use, and I am getting a few surprises. May be that's what is expected.
1. Delkin Black CFexpress 256 GB: 30 sec
2. Delkin Power 256 GB G4: 2.6 sec
3. Wise 320 GB Pro: 2.8 sec
4. SONY CFexpress 128 GB: 4 sec. (Hangover from my D6 days)

In last two weeks I have two system lock up while using Delkin Black (#1 above) - battery needed to be removed to get the camera going again. I bought the card two years ago when I got my first Z9 and the card has served me well so far. However, the full format test seems to indicate that this card has the slowest write speed. By the way, all four cards suffer from buffer stuttering after about 70 shots. If the card's write speed is higher, shouldn't one expect the stuttering to start later or none at all?
Click to expand...
If you are having a system lockup with the Delkin Black card, contact Delkin customer service. The have some added tools for formatting, and can troubleshoot any issues. That Delkin Black card is the prior version, so it is not quite as fast as the latest version. The Delkin Black card should be the best of the group tested.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "buffer stuttering". I see frame rate and write speed vary after the buffer fills, and if you are continuing to shoot continually it sounds like stuttering in the frame rate. The degree of stuttering varies by card. I interpreted this behavior to be related to the camera regulating speed with a full buffer in order to prevent overheating and stopping shooting altogether. When I tested 30 second bursts a couple of years ago, I found my Z cameras and the D850 did not maintain consistent speed with a full buffer, and did not resume full speed until the buffer cleared completely. All the cameras shot at the maximum frame rate until the buffer filled, and then slowed to the actual write speed of that specific card in the camera. The write speed of the card that is printed on the label is not relevant - it's the sustained write speed that matters and even that is subject to hardware and software limits of the camera.
 
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hef19898 said:
Well, that leaves the only quantifiable metric: sustained write speads. And given the fact not a single camera body currently on the market writes faster than the slowest CFe card on the market, the card is not the bottle neck in the pipeline regardless of which card is used.
Click to expand...
There are only a handful of cards that have published the Sustained Write Speed. Most cards only have the benchmark maximum write speed printed on the label - and it is for a specific test with lab formatted data. Nikon - and other camera companies - regulate the processor speed and performance once the buffer is filled. You get a fast burst at the camera frame rate, then once the buffer is full, the camera slows based on actual write speed and the hardware and software of the camera and the card. My understanding is that Nikon also has a check function that verifies that the data is completely written and is correct before moving to a second image, and while this limits speed, it reduces the impact of any data fault or loss of images. If the camera's data check fails for any reason, you get a camera ERR message and the camera does not continue to shoot.
 
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I'm using Angelbird 160GB AV Pro SX with 1785 GB write speed - claimed.
Not sure if these are an option in the US due to pricing compared with Delkin?
In any case, with the matched Angelbird card reader I've had no issues in 2 years with the Z9, and the Z8.
 
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flashpixx said:
I'm using Angelbird 160GB AV Pro SX with 1785 GB write speed - claimed.
Not sure if these are an option in the US due to pricing compared with Delkin?
In any case, with the matched Angelbird card reader I've had no issues in 2 years with the Z9, and the Z8.
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That particular Angelbird card is a good one. Some of the others are only fast enough at larger sizes - but that one is fine. It can be harder to find high performance cards at 160 GB or 128 GB. The pricing and performance of the Angelbird 160GB AV Pro SX is comparable to a Delkin Black or ProGrade Cobalt - both premium cards that work well.

My take is to look for high frame rate experience before choosing a card. You don't want to buy a card without really knowing how it will perform because there are so many options. I also don't want to be stuck with a card that performs poorly or one that carries a premium price and below average performance. If you are especially sensitive about price, you might choose to accept a card that overheats or has slower speed because you don't ever shoot at high frame rates, and that's a valid option if you know in advance. For example, the Delkin Power 128 GB card is a bit slow for extended burst shooting, but is very economical for someone who rarely shoots at high frame rates and wants a cost effective solution.
 
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I've been using a SanDisk 512GB Extreme PRO CFexpress Card Type B - SDCFE-512G-GN4NN since I got my Z8 and it's displayed a hot card warning once when in use in direct midday sun with ambient temps near the operating limit of the Z8. It was short and when using long periods of pre-capture. The camera never stopped functioning.

That's the only time I've seen it. Write speed seems quite fast as the buffer is pretty long in HE* and basically forever in HE. I don't shoot anything but HE/HE* as I honestly cannot tell the difference in editing the files.

The Sandisk was a $140 card. I'd been using them forever in SD cards so just grabbed one for CF Express.

With how hot it was on the day I got the card warning I'm not sure I would have wanted to be out long anyway, but for really hot climates it would probably be something to consider. But it's only happened once and I live in Alabama which isn't known for having cool summers.

If I lived somewhere much cooler I'd never worry about it. It's probably an advantage in arctic conditions.
 
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