Which SD card for the Z 8

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

RichF

RichF

Well-known and Infamous Member
Supporting Member
Marketplace
Member's gallery
I am considering getting a new SD card from my soon (I hope) to arrive Z 8. Of course I will have an ample CFExpress card, so this card will only be there in case the CFExpress card fills up or fails or I stupidly forget to replace it in the camera,

Currently I only have V60 cards, and the Z 8 can use a V90 card. Priced V90 cards at roughly $ / GB (about the same as the fastest CFE cards - rather surprising since SD V90 cards are considerably lower than the fastest CFE cards).

Right now thinking about either 64GB or 128GB cards. Thoughts? I will probably wait till there is a flash sale on these cards.

what are other doing?
 
Member's gallery
So the answer is it depends BUT the big learning form all the reviews and tests so far is -- if you want to shoot high fps then do not use the SD card for real time backup. Just write to the CF Express card (which may be 5-6 times faster) and copy files later to the SD card if you want to. I do not shoot RAW & JPG -- just a waste of space for me. I only shoot RAW and only post JPG outputs from LRC

The fastest V90 UHS-II card I could source is the OWEC Atlas S Pro - I bought the 512GB -- and it claims to achieve 276 mb/second write speed. I will use this for overflow ONLY and may copy over 5* reviewed RAWs as a selection when there is a gap in shooting if I cannot just swap CFE cards and offload to a MAC/SSD -- always my preferred route.

I tested an old sony 32GB XQD in my Z9 - I have lots of old SD cards as well these will all be great for travel and landscape -- but for action I want fast and safe. So big fast CF E cards. Especially when shooting vids.

I was not going to source a big fast SD card and then just said hec- and i did.

I may do on the Z8 tests with and without the SD card to see if I can notice any difference -- I am not going to waste the time testing writing to both cards in backup -- a fatuous test whose result was clear -- the buffer slot for an image empties when the image has been written to both cards.

Repricing of V90 -- some poor folk only get to write to cards in SD slots - so it is not a surprise that the top/premium cards are priced "well" -- whereas the price of CF Express Type B cards is dropping as more and more new entrants are delivering exceptional product -- particularly since the X2.0 standard has been widely adopted. Main brands like Sabrent and OWC have entered a traditional camera card market - and this is great for us.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
Andy Miller Photo UK said:
So the answer is it depends BUT the big learning form all the reviews and tests so far is -- if you want to shoot high fps then do not use the SD card for real time backup. Just write to the CF Express card (which may be 5-6 times faster) and copy files later to the SD card if you want to. I do not shoot RAW & JPG -- just a waste of space for me. I only shoot RAW and only post JPG outputs from LRC

The fastest V90 UHS-II card I could source is the OWEC Atlas S Pro - I bought the 512GB -- and it claims to achieve 276 mb/second sustained write speed. I will use this for overflow ONLY and may copy over 5* reviewed RAWs as a selection when there is a gap in shooting if I cannot just swap CFE cards and offload to a MAC/SSD -- always my preferred route.

I tested an old sony 32GB XQD in my Z9 - I have lots of old SD cards as well these will all be great for travel and landscape -- but for action I want fast and safe. So big fast CF E cards. Especially when shooting vids.

I was not going to source a big fast SD card and then just said hec- and i did.

I may do on the Z8 tests with and without the SD card to see if I can notice any difference -- I am not going to waste the time testing writing to both cards in backup -- a fatuous test whose result was clear -- the buffer slot for an image empties when the image has been written to both cards.

Repricing of V90 -- some poor folk only get to write to cards in SD slots - so it is not a surprise that the top/premium cards are priced "well" -- whereas the price of CF Express Type B cards is dropping as more and more new entrants are delivering exceptional product -- particularly since the X2.0 standard has been widely adopted. Main brands like Sabrent and OWC have entered a traditional camera card market - and this is great for us.
Click to expand...
Are you sure about the specs on that card? The one I'm seeing on B&H (OWC 512gb Atlas Pro) shows a max read speed of 290 MB/s, max write speed of 270MB/s, but a minimum write speed of only 90MB/s. Which is the same minimum write speed for every other V90 card on the market. I've yet to find one with a higher minimum write speed.

I plan on using the SD slot for overflow and video. Hopefully there's a table in the manual that clearly shows the limitations for the SD slot for stills and video with hopefully V60 and V90 speeds included.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
It is the OWC Atlas S PRO not the Pro I quoted the data on the packaging - but see https://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/owc/256gb-sd.htm
AND https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SDV90P0256/#:~:text=Highest Endurance with Consistently Fast Performance&text=Additionally, you'll enjoy up,over the card's entire capacity.
AND https://diglloyd.com/blog/2021/20211203_1540-OWC_AtlasSPro-performance.html
"Best performance I’ve ever tested in an SDXC card! Meaning consistently high write and read speeds, and little variation in performance across the entire 256GB capacity (the three big but brief dips in write speed might just be system burps rather than the card itself).
Average write speed: 280 MB/sec <=== outstanding!
Average read speed: 300 MB/sec"

Delete the word sustained write although ... how Ken tests and other tests may be different -- OWC state: "To transition from capture to ingest with maximum efficiency, you need renowned OWC advanced storage technology trusted by professionals. At the heart of each OWC Atlas S Pro card lies advanced pseudo Single-Level Cell (pSLC) flash memory. This near enterprise-grade feature offers up to 10X higher memory endurance than common SD cards to protect your irreplaceable shots and footage. Additionally, you’ll enjoy up to 275MB/s write and up to 290MB/s read consistent performance over the card’s entire capacity. Start fast. Finish fast. No worries. That’s the Atlas S Pro difference."

I really only trust "The SSD Review" site who directly insert the card into a PCI-E card to run their tests - most others attach the card via a card reader which add latency and slows the true in camera performance down a lot.

Do let me know if you find a faster cooler running card -- but my purchase was on a whim. I use Delkin Black 650GB for my main use; Sabrent Rocket (Cooper not blue) 2TB and AngelBird AV Pro 2.0 4TB together with Prograde Cobalt and other similar cards when I want to shoot with no buffer issues or issues at allo in any Video spec/Codex in my Z9.
 
Last edited:
Member's gallery
I picked up a prograde 64GB v90 SD card. I likely won’t ever use it because I have enough CFE cards. I have some older slower SD cards too so i figure if I have one of the faster ones, my slow ones, plus quite a few cfe cards I should be covered even if I do a lomg trip without computer access to offload files. I will probably be shooting in HE* RAW as well, so will get quite a few photos per card and a little less demanding on the SD cards if needed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top