XQD Cards

oriole12

oriole12

Nature Lover
With the purchase of D4S and now the D500, getting the fast XQD card looks desirable/ tempting. Earlier, the XQD cards were prohibitively priced, taking them beyond my reach. Now Sony launched a new version, the M series with 440 X read and 180X write speed. I am planning to pick up a card or two along with the reader. Has anyone used the XQD? Your experiences and suggestions? I find the poor r/w speed of SD card a limiting factor for D500. 4K Video positively benefits from fast XQD. But even with the cheap new version, it is a lot of money. Any review wound be appreciated.
 
hensil

hensil

Guru
Sir, Greetings.
I'm using below card that came along D5. This is the G series and fastest XQD. The M series has max write speed of 150 MB/s. In B&H the cost of G and M series is nearly the same therefore buying G is better for write speed, which is more important when shooting.

Sony 128GB XQD G Series Memory Card
  • 128GB Storage Capacity
  • Max. Read Speed: 440 MB/s
  • Max. Write Speed: 400 MB/s
I have also been shooting from two years with slower card that came with my D4.
Sony 32GB M Series XQD Memory Card

In practice even while shooting fast sports like football with D4 and M series card, I never ran out of buffer even once.
Unfortunately I haven't shot at all with D5 and D500 even after getting it from one month. I am sure it will be much, much faster then the D4 combination, however that won't be any advantage to my photography. I have seen on net, both D5 and D500 with XQD G series card shooting non stop and will only stop when the shutter busts.:grin:

As for video and even shooting in 4k, (actually UHD) you don't need a fast bust write card like XQD which has variable speed and max out 400 MB/s in case of G series, but a constant write speed which is noted in SD card like Class 10 or U3.
Which means Class 10 will never write slower than 10 MB/s and U3 means, will never write slower than 30 MB/s. For video constant speed is useful.
Also to add to this confusion SD cards have a new version from UHS-I to UHS-II which has faster read/write speed and ideal for 4k video. UHS-I cards support up to 104 MB/s, and UHS-II cards support up to 312 MB/s.
However, UHS-II are very expensive. I feel if you want to shoot 4k occasionally, SD card UHS-I rated U3 (3 is written inside U) should suffice. Of, course any XQD card will also work for video.

I hope you are aware shooting in 4k video with D500 will gave x2 crop and with D5 x 1.5. HD video uses full sensor.

Henry


 
oriole12

oriole12

Nature Lover
Henry, Thank you very much for the prompt response. In the USA, the difference between 64GB M series and G series cards are only about $20 or so.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1261720-REG/sony_qdg64e_j_64gb_xqd_g_e_memory_card.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1219032-REG/sony_qdm64_64gb_m_series_xqd.html

But in India, see the difference! Nearly five times!
http://www.amazon.in/Sony-64GB-Memory-400MB-QDG64A/dp/B00WHVYZRE/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1470129939&sr=1-8&keywords=sony+xqd+card
http://www.amazon.in/Sony-Memory-440MB-Speed-QD-M64/dp/B01BV2VDZQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1470129939&sr=1-1&keywords=sony+xqd+card

I think this is daylight robbery. I tried to speak to Sony India, but they wanted details of my ancestors, address, occupation, chest size, shoe size and Aadhar number before they would even discuss the price.
I have been shooting with a D4S for over one year now and in my kind of photography speed (FPS) matters. But I have been using class 10 CF cards and never had any trouble with bursts of 5 to 10 shots. I feel more than that is seldom justified.
As for Video, I am aware of the limitations (double cropping by 1.5 factor) of 4K and I seldom use it beyond 1920X 1080 and that too infrequently. I have never had any problem with the CF card.
I did get a free Sony SD card 64 GB Class 10 u3. May be, its just my perception, but I found SD card slower than my CF card. Some reviewers on the net also have felt so. I found the SD card a bit too slow for my liking. In any case, the fastest CF card is about 160MB/s. Hence the idea of getting a pair of XQD for both cameras. Since I am used to having two cards in my camera, and use both cards to write same images, the feeling of safety is missing using one card only.
In view of the huge difference in price, I'll buy one M series which writes 150MB/s, not 80 as Henry suggested. It seems prudent to get it from the USA.
 
hensil

hensil

Guru
Sir,
If you are using two cards simultaneously to record the same file as safety back-up then the speed of writing to both the cards will default to the slowest card write speed, however fast the other card is.
Henry
 
oriole12

oriole12

Nature Lover
A very interesting point, Henry. That means I have two options: one, use the XQD for RAW and the SD/ CF for JPEG or two, use the SD/Cf card only for overflow.
 
oriole12

oriole12

Nature Lover
In the type of photography I do, that is birds and wildlife, I have to keep several cards and also have a provision for backing the data on a portable hard disk. Therefore overflow is not a real issue. If I have a 32 GB I get something like 700 odd RAW plus JPEG fine in one card. If I shoot RAW on one card and JPEG on the other, I get 870 images. By most reconing that is sufficient for one session. So in session II post lunch if the card fills up, you change card and carry on. Gerally at night you back up your images of the day in a separate folder for each day. At the most, therefore one needs one 64 GB card or two 32 GB ones. Of course one also carries one or two extra cards in case of some failure. Most of the locations being remote and electricity not being guaranteed, one also carries a Delkin type car inverter for charging battery, laptop, etc.
Let me experiment with one 64 GB XQD and 32 GB lexar professional or Sandisk Extreme Pro for JPEG. Let me also put the combination to test by unusually long burst expsures. Will report the results.
In the meantime, inspired by Henry's post, I found one or two sites that explain the technical gibberis regarding cards. You may find it useful.
http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/buying-advice/understanding-memory-cards-9083 (Mostly about SD cards)
http://www.lexar.com/tips-lessons/tips/making-sense-memory-cards
 
hensil

hensil

Guru
I have this battery to charge my laptop and other USB devices though only 6000mAh.
The best part of this battery is it can charge with the same adapter of my laptop. My 12 inch i5 Acer laptop gives me 5 hours of battery usage and then with this battery it adds another 4 hours. I only use this laptop on photo tours and to transfer photos to HDD via Lightroom. This Energizer battery cannot be charged via usb, it need an adapter which is provided.

https://www.amazon.com/Energizer-XP18000-Universal-External-Netbooks/dp/B002K8M9HC?ie=UTF8&ascsubtag=0d3284f4eb30c566e1289ccb23e9e94c9c30f406&rawdata=[r|https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com[t|link[p|509802431[a|B002K8M9HC[au|5716553178370339807[b|lifehacker&tag=gmgamznmod-20#_ga=1.242507202.1356777147.1470133874

Henry
 
oriole12

oriole12

Nature Lover
Wow! The link doesn't seem to work.
In any case, I do occasionally go on trips where I have to spend several days without power supply. Like in Eagles Nest, Arunachal or in Coffee House, Mishmi Hills! Car inverter is the best solution for me. However, I would like to have one of the type you mentioned.
 
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