Best CF Card for RAW recording December2013-January2014

[fedemazza]

Hi guys, there are lot of threads abot this but i would like to know something fresh.

I got a KB 1000x 64gb but i would like to invest in a couple more cards.

whic ones are the best at the momnent?

KB 128gb 1000 or 1050X

Sandisk?

Lexar?

Price is not a particular problem (under resonable values) but i need something really reliable.

Thanks a lot

[Krane]

Well if price is no object then Sandisk tops the charts for its quality control. But there are many levels of card so choose wisely.

Chose Extreme Pro for the top of the line, and even then take care to assure that its the latest edition. Some seller will sell you the right level card but not the latest edition which is a bit faster. Lexar is next in line.

[fedemazza]

Thanks a lot Krane.

Here in italy Sandisk is 3 times the price of a KB, does it really worth?

[reddeercity]

Lexar 1000x  are the only stable ones with out problems!
I have 2, I know they may be a bit pricey
But you pay for what you get.
I have been using Lexar since June or this year
And never had a problem ever.
But it you do some searches on the form
You will see many problems with them,
Like "can't get files off CF card" etc...
And the list goes on.
It's the only one I tust for paid work.

[pind]

I have no problems with kpb 64gb and they comes with lifetime warranty so i think you can return the card if dead any time and exchange for new..
Make sure u make some testspeed with your new cards! And not in preview mode make sure you do it in movie mode

[themattcastro]

I HIGHLY SUGGEST NOT GETTING A KOMPUTER BAY CARD!!!!

There are multiple posts on this forum talking about how they've gotten a KB card that just went out on them.

As for me, I did a shoot and started copying in the footage through a card reader on my Mac and in the middle of copying the card stopped working. I could not get the files back and the card no longer mounted onto my mac so I lost my footage.

Returned the card for a new one thinking it was a faulty card and also upgraded my card reader to a USB 3.0 Kingston reader thinking that was the problem, and still it happened again. Sure it worked for 2 more shoots than my last one-but the same problem still happened.

Since then I've gotten a LEXAR 64gb 1000x and I've never had a problem. Sure it's more expensive-but that price is worth the guarantee your footage won't get trashed.

[Midphase]

I've been using KB 64Gb 1000X cards for the better part of the year without any problems. One of the things that Komputerbay advises on is to use a fully UDMA-7 CF card reader, using one that's not UDMA-7 might result in a corrupted CF card, and not all USB 3 CF card readers are UDMA-7 certified.

Now if money is no object, then by all means get yourself a few Lexar cards, but if your budget is tight, I still maintain that 2 or more KB cards are better than 1 Lexar. When it comes down to it, all CF cards can fail no matter the brand.

For all of the bitching about KB cards, there are an awful lot of silent but happy KB customers!

[RenatoPhoto]

I've been using KB 64Gb 1000X cards for the better part of the year without any problems. One of the things that Komputerbay advises on is to use a fully UDMA-7 CF card reader, using one that's not UDMA-7 might result in a corrupted CF card, and not all USB 3 CF card readers are UDMA-7 certified.

This is recommended by all UDMA manufacturers, even by Lexar.  KB cards are risky, so get one if you cannot afford Lexar, and if you can afford shipping time lost due to exchanges, and if you can afford losing some material.

[Krane]

Thanks a lot Krane.

Here in italy Sandisk is 3 times the price of a KB, does it really worth?

They are when your work really counts; and they're just as expensive where I am. The point is, everyone wants to cut costs, but what good is that if you end up riddled with card problems or worse, losing all your data?

A better route would be to have the KB around for your daily non-critical work, but keep a higher level Lexar or two (or Sandisk), card around for when it really counts.

We all know we're in a transition with ML, so isn't that enough to think about without having to worry about the consistent quality of your cards as well?

[evilash]

I've been having reasonably good luck with the 32GB Transcend 1000x, was going to try out a KB card but the Transcend was on sale at B&H for $85 with a free reader so I went for it. The reader is the Transcend USB3 one, which is UDMA-7 compliant. So far I've been able to capture at 1728x972 (on a 7D, of course) continuously, with Global Draw off. The Warm Up card option seems to help as well. I hear a lot of debate about the KB vs the Lexars, but not many people talking about these cards. Probably because they're terrible and I've made a huge mistake, but I'll live with it.

[Krane]

I've been having reasonably good luck with the 32GB Transcend 1000x, was going to try out a KB card but the Transcend was on sale at B&H for $85 with a free reader so I went for it. The reader is the Transcend USB3 one, which is UDMA-7 compliant. So far I've been able to capture at 1728x972 (on a 7D, of course) continuously, with Global Draw off. The Warm Up card option seems to help as well. I hear a lot of debate about the KB vs the Lexars, but not many people talking about these cards. Probably because they're terrible and I've made a huge mistake, but I'll live with it.

There's no grade on these cards but if they were I'd be B. Its not that they're bad, since many cards can be faster than the devices you put them in. But its just that they're not good enough. And in cases where you may push them to the limit, they fail.

The higher priced cards cost more because they're the cream of the crop; and give you the highest cap even though you may not use it.

One things for sure, quality control goes a long way in the manufacture of these cards. In the lesser manufacture, ome come out good, some not so good. Since they don't throw anything away, you get the savings.

[canoncan]

Lexar 1000x  are the only stable ones with out problems!
I have 2, I know they may be a bit pricey
But you pay for what you get.
I have been using Lexar since June or this year
And never had a problem ever.
But it you do some searches on the form
You will see many problems with them,
Like "can't get files off CF card" etc...
And the list goes on.
It's the only one I tust for paid work.

I have no problem with the price, but I read an article about the Lexars failing randomly, and now I'm not sure if they are reliable after all. Lexar is still my top choice, but it's hard to find reliable information.

[reddeercity]

I Think it really come down to best practices for All Cards no matter what brand.
Like formatting , Ejecting the card right from reader, etc....
there's No Prefect CF card just degrees of better manufacturing
and it seems Lexar's are near the Top.     

[canoncan]

I Think it really come down to best practices for All Cards no matter what brand.
Like formatting , Ejecting the card right from reader, etc....
there's No Prefect CF card just degrees of better manufacturing
and it seems Lexar's are near the Top. 

Oh. Thank you for the answer.

[Midphase]

I have no problem with the price, but I read an article about the Lexars failing randomly, and now I'm not sure if they are reliable after all. Lexar is still my top choice, but it's hard to find reliable information.

I think all brands are rock solid or not depending on your luck of the draw. Komputerbay appears to have more problems on the surface, but I think this is not entirely accurate. There are far more people on these forums who purchased KB than other brands like Lexar, Transcend and Hoodman Steele, so due to the high number of these cards being out in the wild when some of them go wonky it might appear to be huge issue compared to Lexars and others, but if you take into consideration the numbers of actual users out there, then that number is not necessarily much higher than any other card brand.

[Baarman]

The newest Sandisk Extreme Pro UDMA7 160MB/s VPG65 CF cards are great for raw video. I tested 64GB, 128GB and 256GB and finally decided to purchase 256GB which is absolutely reliable with my 5dMK3.
And even older Sandisk Extreme Pro UDMA7 100MB/s VPG20 handles continues 24fps 1080p raw video well. Make sure that you don't mix it with older Sandisk Extreme Pro 90MB/s UMDA6 that wasn't capable to hold recording speed above 83MB/s but rather stood around 75MB/s.

[Krane]

The newest Sandisk Extreme Pro UDMA7 160MB/s VPG65 CF cards are great for raw video. I tested 64GB, 128GB and 256GB and finally decided to purchase 256GB which is absolutely reliable with my 5dMK3.
And even older Sandisk Extreme Pro UDMA7 100MB/s VPG20 handles continues 24fps 1080p raw video well. Make sure that you don't mix it with older Sandisk Extreme Pro 90MB/s UMDA6 that wasn't capable to hold recording speed above 83MB/s but rather stood around 75MB/s.

Actually, that's the average record speed of 1080p RAW ( +/- 2MB/s), so even that should be sufficient for RAW acquisition. Go for the updated UDMA 7, only if you prefer a bit more headroom for good measure.

I average 83 MB/s. Well below the card's stated 150 MB/s or my as tested, 120 MB/s write speed.

Incidentally, Canon lists the 5D MKIII CF card slot as being UDMA 7 compatible (Max 167 MB/s) whatever you care to take from that.

[DanJam]

Lexar 1000x  are the only stable ones with out problems!
I have 2, I know they may be a bit pricey
But you pay for what you get.
I have been using Lexar since June or this year
And never had a problem ever.
But it you do some searches on the form
You will see many problems with them,
Like "can't get files off CF card" etc...
And the list goes on.
It's the only one I tust for paid work.

This dude is right.

Tried two Komputer Bay cards and one Transcend. All 1000x and tested on either 5dII or III. All had poor write speeds or were dead on arrival. It's like they say, "you gotta pay to play." Lexar has seemed to be the way to go when it comes to Magic Lantern.

In the past, Transcend cards have worked fine for h.264 for me.

Have a friend that owns two Bays, and hasn't had issues yet. My friend is lucky. Check Amazon and more threads and you'll see that not everyone shares such luck.

[Thralluther]

Are  there still problems with the 5d mk ii and the 128 GB cards?

[Johannes]

The newest Sandisk Extreme Pro UDMA7 160MB/s VPG65 CF cards are great for raw video. I tested 64GB, 128GB and 256GB and finally decided to purchase 256GB which is absolutely reliable with my 5dMK3.
And even older Sandisk Extreme Pro UDMA7 100MB/s VPG20 handles continues 24fps 1080p raw video well. Make sure that you don't mix it with older Sandisk Extreme Pro 90MB/s UMDA6 that wasn't capable to hold recording speed above 83MB/s but rather stood around 75MB/s.

Hm.. 256GB sounds cool.

I maybe decided to purchase to. How many times have you use the card until yet? Often?

Maybee you can warn me If Something goes wrong with you card.

[Krane]

Hm.. 256GB sounds cool.

I maybe decided to purchase to. How many times have you use the card until yet? Often?

Maybee you can warn me If Something goes wrong with you card.

There is an exponential increase in price that was left out from the above post. By the time you reach the maximum 256 GB the price becomes astronomical, so choose wisely. I don't think anyone else makes a card of that size, and although any card can fail, Sandisk is as good as it gets.

[Johannes]

There is an exponential increase in price that was left out from the above post. By the time you reach the maximum 256 GB the price becomes astronomical, so choose wisely. I don't think anyone else makes a card of that size, and although any card can fail, Sandisk is as good as it gets.

I'm not sure what you mean. My post rises the price? Really? - Sorry for that dumpy question?

For me the Question is when drop the price..

[Baarman]

Hm.. 256GB sounds cool.

I maybe decided to purchase to. How many times have you use the card until yet? Often?

Maybee you can warn me If Something goes wrong with you card.

I use my card every day. Hundreds of times so far, tens of times from 0-256. Sure, will let you know if any problem appears. Without VAT the price of this card is around 825 EUR in CVP.com. I suggest it!

[Johannes]

Thank you man! 

[Krane]

I'm not sure what you mean. My post rises the price? Really? - Sorry for that dumpy question?

For me the Question is when drop the price..

I was referring to the "cons"  left out of the pros and cons. I think its best when folks know both side, don't you agree?

One is the enormous price. The other, is that's a lot of data to put on one card that could get lost, stolen, damaged, or corrupted. You might want to choose two 128 GB, or four 64 GB cards? Just something to keep in mind.