CFExpress Type B -- value of trusted brand vs. Pcie 4.0 speed

[ahsanford]

Pulling the trigger on the R5 Mark II shortly. Geeked!

Question: I'm building a new comp in parallel with this, and it will have Pcie 4.0 USB capability. I'm not seeing 'known/trusted' brands on Pcie 4 rated CFExpress B cards (for the size I plan to buy). So I have a choice of a (say) Lexar Gold at Pcie 3 or a (relative) no-name / never heard of them offering pcie 4 transfer speds.

Curious what you'd all rather have: Pcie 4 transfer speeds when you get back to the house, or a reliable Pcie 3 card that will hit its reported transfer rates when shooting?

Thx
A

 

[neuroanatomist]

Prograde CFe 4.0 gives you the best of both worlds. That’s what I use in my R1.

 

[ahsanford]

Prograde CFe 4.0 gives you the best of both worlds. That’s what I use in my R1.

Ooh and they have the 256 I need, which Lexar doesn't have in their Gold 4.0 offering (just 512+ from what I'm seeing).

Tyvm, I should be all set. A scholar and a gentleman always, Neuro. [hat tip]

- A

 

[ahsanford]

While I've got folks' eyes here, is there any reason to have separate CF Express Type B readers for my PC and my iPad?

I have the 2023 iPad Pro, so am I done with specialized Apple connector white dongles? Can I just connect whatever USB-C reader I want to the iPad?

Also, for those who have the magnetic Prograde reader, has that magnet ever been an issue around other storage? Like if it's crammed into your bag too closely to (IDK) a laptop SSD, other CF cards, etc.? Presuming it's a non-issue but I thought I'd confirm.

Thx,
A

 

[koenkooi]

While I've got folks' eyes here, is there any reason to have separate CF Express Type B readers for my PC and my iPad?

I have the 2023 iPad Pro, so am I done with specialized Apple connector white dongles? Can I just connect whatever USB-C reader I want to the iPad?

The USB4 prograde reader works on my 2018 iPad Pro. Bonus 50/1.4 included

Also, for those who have the magnetic Prograde reader, has that magnet ever been an issue around other storage? Like if it's crammed into your bag too closely to (IDK) a laptop SSD, other CF cards, etc.? Presuming it's a non-issue but I thought I'd confirm.

It's been OK for me so far.

 

[neuroanatomist]

You should be able to directly connect a USB-C card reader to the iPad, though I haven't tried that personally.

RE the magnetic base, it's a non-issue. I store my Prograde USB-C reader with the magnetic base in a little bin with memory cards under it, and I've set it on top of a Samsung T7 SSD with both in use. No issues.

 

[neuroanatomist]

Ooh and they have the 256 I need,

I also went with 256 GB cards. One will hold around 8,000 images from my R1, even with pre-capture I doubt I'll ever come close in a day of shooting. There was some discussion here of longer startup times from sleep that some users are experiencing (with both the R5II and R1), and it seems that startup lag time might be directly correlated with card capacity.

With the matched card slots, I went back to what I did with the 1D X – use three cards, after a shooting session swap out one of them and transfer the images to my Mac, then format both of the cards in the camera. That way I always have at least two copies of the images (within an hour of uploading to my Mac, Time Machine will have backed up the new images to my NAS so with RAID 1 at that point I'll effectively have four copies).

 

[docsmith]

There was some discussion here of longer startup times from sleep that some users are experiencing (with both the R5II and R1), and it seems that startup lag time might be directly correlated with card capacity.

At least in my experience, it seems to be how many pictures are on the card. I hadn't reformatted my second card in awhile and I was starting to notice longer wake up times. I reformatted it after it had ~5k images on it (I had pulled off of and reformatted my first card) and suddenly I am not having longer wake up times anymore. These are on 512GB cards.

 

[neuroanatomist]

At least in my experience, it seems to be how many pictures are on the card. I hadn't reformatted my second card in awhile and I was starting to notice longer wake up times. I reformatted it after it had ~5k images on it (I had pulled off of and reformatted my first card) and suddenly I am not having longer wake up times anymore. These are on 512GB cards.

Interesting, thanks. I format the cards when swapping them after every shooting session.

 

[ahsanford]

At least in my experience, it seems to be how many pictures are on the card. I hadn't reformatted my second card in awhile and I was starting to notice longer wake up times. I reformatted it after it had ~5k images on it (I had pulled off of and reformatted my first card) and suddenly I am not having longer wake up times anymore. These are on 512GB cards.

Yeah, right-sizing the card is a big new wildcard for me.

I've shot with 64 GB SD cards on my 5D3 forever it seems -- and comfortably. I've only had a 'clean the card out in a hurry' happen a handful of times in 13 years of use. But with 30 fps + pre-capture now being on the table, I didn't know how much to pad for overzealous use of those features.

Keep in mind that I don't shoot high fps much at all... but when I need it, I really need it. Examples would be the odd bald eagle visits the neighborhood, a fox sneaks down the street, I bring the camera to school sports events, etc. But it's never a day of leaning on the shutter at max fps for me.

- A

 

[docsmith]

Interesting, thanks. I format the cards when swapping them after every shooting session.

Yep, this is my normal procedure as well. With birds, my primary subject with the R1 so far, I was just doing this with my primary card. It was not even fully intentional. Especially with pictures at my feeder, if I see good light or something interesting, I take photos and sometimes just grab the primary card to download the photos. It becomes more sporadic and less deliberate. The result was >5k photos on the second card.

Yeah, right-sizing the card is a big new wildcard for me.

I've shot with 64 GB SD cards on my 5D3 forever it seems -- and comfortably. I've only had a 'clean the card out in a hurry' happen a handful of times in 13 years of use. But with 30 fps + pre-capture now being on the table, I didn't know how much to pad for overzealous use of those features.

Keep in mind that I don't shoot high fps much at all... but when I need it, I really need it. Examples would be the odd bald eagle visits the neighborhood, a fox sneaks down the street, I bring the camera to school sports events, etc. But it's never a day of leaning on the shutter at max fps for me.

- A

I know my thought process when getting the 512 GB cards was that the vast majority of time that much memory is completely unnecessary, but I am building up to some photo-expedition like trips (likely 2026) where I might use that much space in less than a day.

Currently, it is extreme overkill. I could probably get by with 32 GB cards, certainly 64 GB cards.

 

[neuroanatomist]

The result was >5k photos on the second card.

It's muscle memory for me, at this point. Format card is in My Menu, and I automatically just format card 1 then card 2.

I know my thought process when getting the 512 GB cards was that the vast majority of time that much memory is completely unnecessary, but I am building up to some photo-expedition like trips (likely 2026) where I might use that much space in less than a day.
Currently, it is extreme overkill. I could probably get by with 32 GB cards, certainly 64 GB cards.

I had that thought, but personally I'd just get more 256 GB cards. I'd hate to have 5000+ shots from a once-in-a-lifetime trip and lose them. Even writing two two cards to mitigate card failure, a camera can slip out of my hands and fall off a boat or cliff. Or other possibilities...



I'd prefer to have a second set of cards (of whatever size) and swap out part way through the day, keeping the full cards in a pocket.

 

[docsmith]

Yep....I failed to consider the lion walking off with my camera contingency.

 

[P-visie]

Yep....I failed to consider the lion walking off with my camera contingency.

Or the squirrels in your garden .

 

[alFR]

Or the squirrels in your garden .

That’s nuts, isn’t it?

I’ll get my coat.

 

[a.jiang]

Prograde CFe 4.0 gives you the best of both worlds. That’s what I use in my R1.

ProGrade CFe cards are great. I got two 512GB CFe 4.0 Gold cards in November 2023 for just over $300.

Interestingly, they seemed to have changed the Gold Series specs. The ones I bought have a sustained write speed of 2400 MB/s, and the ones they're currently selling are 850 MB/s.

 

[neuroanatomist]

ProGrade CFe cards are great. I got two 512GB CFe 4.0 Gold cards in November 2023 for just over $300.

Interestingly, they seemed to have changed the Gold Series specs. The ones I bought have a sustained write speed of 2400 MB/s, and the ones they're currently selling are 850 MB/s.

From ProGrade:

There are no design changes to the product itself, only the sustained write speed message and label design...
Reason for change
In consideration of the current usage environment of general PCs, we have changed the speed measurement method to specify a sustained write speed that is closer to actual usage conditions

I guess what that means is that people figured out the 2400 MB/s sustained was not practically achievable, so ProGrade changed the number to match reality.