So I finally got around to doing a simple test of the speed of several CFe cards in my Z9. Put a 600 mm PF on my Z9. Wide open at f6.3. 1/1000th shutter speed. Auto ISO set ISO 8000, given the overcast day. On a tripod. Focused on a cedar fence with details. 20 fps. RAW only. No card in second slot (and second slot set to overflow). Each card quick formatted before shooting. Ambient temperature around 34F. Pressed the shutter button to see how long the camera would shoot before slowing down. Stopped shooting when the camera slowed.
I think it is possible that using 8000 ISO could slow things a bit. Seem to recall reading that somewhere.
The numbers below (other than the ones that hit my 200 frame burst cap) probably overstate it by a few frames, as I did not stop pressing the shutter button instantly. Also, the camera did not stop at this point (as long as I did not hit the 200 frame burst cap I have set), merely slowed. Did not try to estimate the fps rate after it slowed. It certainly seemed fast enough to continue to be very useful.
With Lossless compressed raw:
Delkin Black 325 gb card (not G4): 75 frames
Prograde Cobalt 325 gb card (version 2.0): 65 frames
Prograde Gold 512 gb card (version 4.0): 65 frames
Delkin Power 650 gb card (G4): 65 frames
With HE* Raw:
Delkin Black 325 gb card (not G4): 200 frames. It stopped here, as I have 200 set as the maximum burst. Never slowed.
Prograde Cobalt 325 gb card (version 2.0): 200 frames. It stopped here, as I have 200 set as the maximum burst. Never slowed.
Prograde Gold 512 gb card (version 4.0): 150 frames
Delkin Power 650 gb (G4): 148 frames
A few thoughts:
I’m sure that someone could do more scientific tests, including doing it more times and averaging results. And testing with better light and lower ISOs would be interesting.
I usually use HE* Raw for most of my wildlife shooting. The longest burst I think I have shot was somewhere around 40 frames. So any of these cards would seem to do just fine for my work shooting stills, even if I went to lossless compressed.
The new Prograde Gold 512 gb 4.0 card was not faster in my Z9 than the 2.0 cards. But it was fast enough to be perfectly useable. And the price was attractive: $179, with a possible discount at Prograde.
I did not test card temperature issues. I think that is important and I will be curious to see how that goes, especially in warmer conditions and with my Z8.
I did not test video.