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32G CF card performance question: slow importing?


shineofleo

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<p>Hi Guys,</p>

<p>So I got a transcend 400x 32G CF card for the D800, and I use transcend F8 USB 3.0 card reader. The Crystal Disk Mark tested well with this card, which reads (Card to computer) fast at 80-90 MB/s.</p>

<p>However, I found it is very slow to import the pictures in real world. I use Lightroom 4.1, and it takes ages for the card reader transfer some pictures (20-ish) from CF card to computer hard drive.</p>

<p>There may be multiple possible causes. For example, faulty card? (I don't think so). So I checked the internet, and some say Crystal Disk Mark is not a good test software anyway. Now what I am guessing: for a big file e.g. 50MB, the reading performance is good, but for many smaller files (15MB each for example), it can take some time. I also excluded the LR cause, see below.</p>

<p>Anyway, I just want to ask around if there is anyone else has the similar issue: 32G fast card imports very slowly?</p>

<p>By the way, I also tried to copy the pictures from CF card in windows 7 system. It IS slow, the transfer rate is around 8MB/s-9MB/s. (Correct me if I am wrong about the unit, which I believe it is the same as in test software)</p>

<p>Any comment is appreciated. Thanks!</p>

<p>Leon</p>

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<p>You might want to check the transfer speed of the port you are using on your computer. Files in the 50Mb range and a USB 2.0 'wire' will make for a slow transfer. You may consider looking at a new computer that has a chance at greater transfer speeds from your CF card to the computer's hard drive. [...just a guess here.]</p>

<p> </p>

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Leon,

 

Just asking, what kind of USB port do you have on your PC, to which you connect the card reader ?

( I.e. USB 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0 )

 

USB 1 & 2 often have either a whiteor a black connector, USB 3.0often has often a blue connector on the "PC side", and most PC's that have USB 3.0 ports also have USB 2.0 ports.

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<p>I can confirm that I am using USB 3.0 port, with blue frame, and driver installed.</p>

<p>Another thing is, the Crystal Disk Mark test result showed the sequential transfer speed is around 90MB/s for reading and 50MB/s for writing a 100MB block. The software may not the best, and the 100MB sequential means little for 15MB small files transfer, but this speed should prove the correct USB 3.0 port configuration? and of course, the card reader, and the card itself.</p>

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  • 1 month later...

<p>Sorry to bring this up but again I am very confused.</p>

<p>The same CF card, it performs very well using Nikon D800 USB 3.0 connection directly; however, it is very slow using the card reader (Transcend F8).</p>

<p>ATTO software indicates the card performs fast, but why? Why on card reader is so different from Camera body connection? by the same USB 3.0 interface and cable</p>

<p>Any idea?</p>

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thanks Shun, I think the card reader is the weakest link, and I will try to get another reader to test.

 

Actually I tried the combination on another pc with usb3 port, it is still slow file copying performance.

 

However, I checked the Internet finding that transcend uses genesys logic GL3220 as the card reader controller, same for

many cheap usb3 card readers. But I can find nothing about imagemate reader.

 

There was something even worse happened. I imported some photos using the card reader into Lightroom, and it

finished. When I was checking the pictures, I found some of them were faulty: one was in negative style, some were

showing horizontal bands. I was scared and thought a faulty Nikon D800. But later I found the original photos on CF were

good. Import again and fixed it.

 

Then, I was not surprise, because I used a extension USB 3.0 cable. Of course I removed the extension, but the copying

speed is still slow.

 

The D800 direct connection at least told me my card is all right. However, perhaps the system setting or anti virus

software did something funny? Since bench mark software shows fast transfer rate? Stupid win explorer reason?

 

Anyway I will keep the thread updated when I give it a closure,

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I have those same cards and I think I have the same reader as you (although that's not really a complete description.)

 

Have you monitored the speed using the appropriate system utility during the transfer? For a Mac that would be Activity

Monitor, for a PC it is Task Manager. I've run a few quick tests on D300 files and see a noticeable difference in speed

when copying NEFs vs Jpegs. At some point I will probably test the bulk of my cards and a couple of different card

readers.

 

I would never use a program to copy files - that is what the OS is for, imho.

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<p>Thanks Joel. I think we should be the same: transcend 32GB 400x CF card and RDF8 USB 3.0 card reader, and I have upgraded it to TS-10 firmware. So you are all right with MAC?</p>

<p>It is very weird. Just now I tried again. It is fast to copy several files (TIFF for example) from HDD to CF card, but from CF to HDD it is slow again - 3 MB even hundreds of KB per second. When using ATTO or crystaldiskinfo to benchmark the CF card, I found the reading speed is USB 3.0 spec - 90 MB/s! Again, this is not happening for copying file from CF to HDD.</p>

<p>I originally use Lightroom but it is slow, and that's why I want to test with windows file explorer.</p>

<p>And as I mentioned before, when using Nikon D800 direct USB 3.0 connection, everything is in USB 3.0 so I am wondering there is something wrong with the reader, or something else.</p>

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  • 2 weeks later...

<p>I have 2 of those cards, one is UDMA 7 and the other one only states UDMA (I guess that's UDMA6). Anyway, the UDMA card is superfast in my cheap internal Eminent USB 3.0 card reader and reaches easily 90 mb/s. the other card (UDMA 7) is horribly slow and thumbnails pop up very slow if i open the folder with photos in it. I already received a replacement card and the new one is slightly quicker but still very slow.<br>

The weird thing is: both cards work perfect in a USB 2.0 cardreader, but when it is USB 3.0 the UDMA 7 card is terrbly slow (for reading)<br>

i looked up the serial number of both cards and the fast card's number is:<br>

<strong>457580 1349 8332AC 0U6RR</strong><br>

while the new replacement card's number one is:<br>

<strong>A23449 0692 6312AC 0U7RR</strong><br>

i remember that the serial number of the card that was replaced also started with an '<strong>A</strong>'. Does your's also start with an A? You should check your cards performance with a USB 2.0 device.<br>

BTW, i also never use LR to copy photos to my HDDs. I first copy and then import in LR.<br>

cheers, Udo</p>

 

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  • 1 year later...

<p>Have you been able to resolve the issue with the terrible read speed of the CF card?<br>

<br />I have the same problem with the following combination of card and reader:<br>

Transcend 16GB 600x UDMA7 mode card<br>

Plugable USB 3.0 card reader (same chipset as the Transcend one - Genesys Logic GL3220)</p>

<p>Card or Card reader could be the problem? I'm thinking about not full support of UDMA7 vs. UDMA6 mode cards.</p>

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