Fastest 64GB SD for D850 (Sony?)

[david_r._edan]

So, it looks like I'm getting me a D850 after all.

 

According to this guy's findings right here:

Best Memory Cards For The Nikon D850 - Alik Griffin

 

The Sony G is the fastest performer. And just so we're all on the same page, here it is:

Sony64GB SF-G Series UHS-II SDXC Memory Card

 

What's your experience? Anything better out there in terms of in-camera write speeds? It can be a little more expensive, though I am currently interested strictly in a 64GB SD card.

[ShunCheung]

Are you going to use the D850 "machine gun" style, pushing the performance of the memory card? If so, get UHS-II SD card should work well, such as the Sony or the SanDisk. Personally I have the SanDisk.

 

Of course, my preference is to use the XQD slot, but that is another story.

[Andrew Garrard]

I have the 2000x Lexar, which is reported as writing slightly faster for compressed raw. I doubt there's much in it. It's certainly fast, and I suspect measurably faster than my UHS-I SanDisk cards. I've got the pricey Sony combo reader that does both XQD and UHS-II, which works well and quickly.

 

Thom Hogan seems to prefer just using the XQD; I've not experimented to see whether writing raw + JPEG to the XQD is faster than my normal "raw to XQD, JPEG to SD" split, for which I hope the writes are parallel and I rely on the JPEG being smaller - but then I usually record the JPEG so I can get at them quickly in a laptop with an SD reader anyway. I have the Sony XQD, since the Lexar was no longer available. Both mine are 128GB, which seemed to be the price sweet spot (less than twice the price of 64GB, less than half the price of 256GB), although it was still quite expensive; I also have one of the previous generation cheaper XQD cards as backup, which is significantly slower in use. Image review with my combination is effectively slow animation rate - it's a very fast camera.

 

Also factoring in some third party radio triggers because I can no longer use the on-camera flash as a CLS trigger and a new L plate, and the D850 upgrade from my D810 had an "accessory tax" of over £500 - if you're after a 64GB UHS-II as a stop-gap to avoid paying all this at once, I sympathise, although I'd still get an XQD eventually.

 

Enjoy your new toy!

[CvhKaar]

Also factoring in some third party radio triggers because I can no longer use the on-camera flash as a CLS trigger

 

Ok bit off-topic..

 

Depending on the situation, i either use third party raio triggers, A cheap Meike MK320 (Flash + CLS) or a cheap off-brand SU-800 ( CLS only, DEABO from Aili Express.;)) to replace the on camera flash (which also is not on the D500) .

 

Both CLS solutions work satisfactoraly for me and offer the same CLS functions as i used to have on my D300(s) camera's

[david_r._edan]

A fast XQD card will definitely be my go-to in this camera but it'll have to come later. The thing is that I will need a good SD card anyway, so, I figured I'd start with something that I'm familiar with and something that I already have a very good reader for.

 

Seeing how no one here is voicing any disdain for the Sony G SD card, I am going to pull the trigger on it.

 

Oh, and to me, no flash on the D850 is actually a blessing.

 

Thank you all.

[heimbrandt]

I think you will be happy with the UHS-II card from Sony. Keep looking for an XQD card though. I have a Sony XQD card and really appreciate it both for shooting and image file transfer (with the cheap Sony XQD/SD UHS-II card reader - yes, sometimes things are cheap in Sweden). I kept the UHS-I SanDisk Extreme Pro when I sold my D800E and have it in the other card slot. When comparing write speeds, the XQD clears the buffer significantly faster. The same goes for file transfer. I do not think I would be that happy with the UHS-I performance only, so the added speed from a UHS-II card should be enough to keep you happy. My Sony XQD is my first non-SanDisk in years but it appears to do the job well.

[Andrew Garrard]

Oh, and to me, no flash on the D850 is actually a blessing.

 

Ah, it's one of those "you never need it until you do" things, like video. I wouldn't use direct flash for aesthetic images (probably even for fill), but I did sometimes use it when I was trying to record something in the dark (such as a map) for which my camera was the most convenient thing, and I needed information rather than prettiness. More to the point, I used it to trigger my SB600s.

 

Radio is probably better anyway, it's just bulkier than using an integrated flash, and I don't use flash of any kind often enough to justify an exotic set-up. I'd have been much happier in terms of bulk and risk of damage if Nikon had integrated either a CLS infrared trigger where the flash was, or if they'd found a way to insert a radio trigger inside the body. No big deal; things change.

[Dieter Schaefer]

There's now a new Sony SF-G TOUGH series with the same specs as the SF-G but a "more rugged construction". Given about equal cost for XQD vs SD UHS-II, I certainly would go for XQD. I don't own an UHS-II capable reader yet - another reason for me to stay away from that format.

[Andrew Garrard]

There's now a new Sony SF-G TOUGH series with the same specs as the SF-G but a "more rugged construction". Given about equal cost for XQD vs SD UHS-II, I certainly would go for XQD. I don't own an UHS-II capable reader yet - another reason for me to stay away from that format.

 

That should just mean you're reading more slowly (using the UHS-I pins), no? It's certainly been reported that some UHS-II cards are slower at being UHS-I cards than the best (but still cheaper) UHS-I native cards, but I worry more about the speed of the camera than the reader. The Sony XQD/UHS-II combo reader is pretty quick, but it's certainly not the cheapest way to read an SD. Some UHS-II cards come with minimal USB readers, too.

[Dieter Schaefer]

About the only times I might feel the need for a fast UHS-II card in backup mode would be when photographing birds or airplanes as in both cases the "slow" UHS-I SD card brings the buffer capacity of the D500 back into play and could result in me either losing opportunity (because the buffer is still clearing when another shot opportunity presents itself) or be "limited" in the length of a burst (though I don't often shoot burst of 20 frames or more). An UHS-II card would either eliminate that issue altogether or at least allow for a long enough burst without the camera slowing down. In weighing the risk of losing images vs the cost of an 128GB UHS-II SD card, so far the cost appeared too high a price to pay. For all other kinds of shooting, I always found the SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I card fast enough as to be not limiting. And AFAIK, an UHS-II card would not help on a D810 at all (and may even be slower than using a UHS-I card).

 

I haven't found speed measurements on the new ProGrade UHS-II SD cards yet - nominally they are slower than the fastest ones from Sony or SanDisk.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Dieter Schaefer

[ShunCheung]

ProGrade seems to have two different grades of UHS-II SD cards. The gold ones are 200 MBytes/second and the silver (platinum??) ones are 250 MBytes/second, but the gold ones are like half the price of the fastest ones. I haven't seen test results, but if one doesn't need the absolutely fastest ones, perhaps the gold ones are a good deal and should still be much faster than UHS-I, which maxes out at 100 MB/second, at least theoretically.

 

Personally I am shifting to XQD and now have cameras that cannot take SD any more. Therefore I probably won't be adding any more SD cards.

[Ed_Ingold]

Using a Sandisk UHS II reader, with a USB 3 connection, and BlackMagic software...

 

Sony 128 GBUHS-II G:(R300/W299) the rates are 239 MB/s and 221 MB/s respectively

 

Sony 128 GB UHS-II M: (R260/W100) the rates are 91 and 55 respectively

 

I have never suffered a buffer overrun in either a Sony A9 or Sony A7Riii with these cards. The buffer does fill, and it takes some time to upload to the cards. I don't have any numbers on the time that takes. Suffice that it doesn't interfere with my style and needs, shooting bursts of 6-20 frames at the peak of action.

[Dieter Schaefer]

Sony 128 GBUHS-II G

There's a newer "tough" 120GB one now - currently available at a 10% discount for $189.