XQD Cards

[chuasam]

for those of you with cameras that can use both XQD and SDXC, which do you use?
Do you think that the premium is worth it?
I don't shoot sports and I don't often go full burst.
Is it justifiable to to pay that 5x premium for the new card or is a fast SDXC UHS-II good enough?

 

[Derrel]

If you don't shoot sports, and don't shoot full-burst, and have a camera with a good buffer, and do not shoot lengthy, high-rez video, then it seems to me that it is not economically sensible to pay the huge price premium for XQD cards. Just.Not.Worth.It.For.Most.People.

I realize most of this information is out of date, but this is the largest database that I know of of actual, real-world memory card performance speeds and timings, as related to commonly-understood d-slr models and commonly-understood card types and speed ratings.

Rob Galbraith DPI: CF/SD/XQD Performance Database

You're a smart guy, and you other half has a high-end Nikon or two, with known buffer depths and frame rates. Using the data provided on Rob's site, you can perhaps draw some conclusions, and can see the actual,real-world frame counts and buffer clear times and card-write times.

I think that, for some situations, the XQD card _could_ be worth the potential speed in emptying the buffer timings, for things like say,extended action sequences, or bird-in-flight or other nature type scenarios, where you might get _one,single opportunity_ in say a day or a week, to capture a long sequence that could never be repeated. Otherwise, you camera's 29-frame-or-more RAW buffer ought to more than adequate. What is the real killer though is when something extraordinary occurs, and you shoot a buffer filled with raw images from a new,high-megapixel sensor, and it takes too long for the NEFs to flush from the buffer and be written to the card, and you stand there almost helplessly as your formerly high-speed camera is able to do nothing but click off a frame every three seconds or more in-between clicks, and you watch as once-in-a-lifetime shot opportunities go down the toilet....and THAT is when the five times the price cost of the XQD card justifies its cash cost...but, those types of scenarios do not happen for most of us on a regular basis...but still, when they do...

And of course, there's the video side of things, where the fast cards perform better. And there's also the download transfer speed side of things, where if you have a high-speed card reader, the faster off-loading times of the fastest cards can make downloading files to the computer less of a time suck.

 

[tirediron]

I've ordered one to test for video and the occasional high-speed session. I'll post some results when I have tested it.

 

[chuasam]

I've ordered one to test for video and the occasional high-speed session. I'll post some results when I have tested it.

What fast camera did you finally buy?

 

[tirediron]

I've ordered one to test for video and the occasional high-speed session. I'll post some results when I have tested it.

What fast camera did you finally buy?

850

 

[Nwcid]

I put both cards in my D850. I went with 64gb and have my SD set to over flow.

I can not say $ wise if it is the best deal or not. Probably not the best way to make a decision on what to buy, but I bought a premium camera and am using a premium card. As I said above I went with the 64gb as I could not justify the cost of the 128gb. Also, while I do have a ton of back up storage, I only have 1tb in my computer. That means if I fill up the XQD card 7 times, it would be more space then my computer.

When I put in the XQD my shot count reads a little over 500. Yesterday doing graduation photos I shot just under 800 pics. My counter said I had just over 100 shots left so I thought I was well into using my over flow SD card. When I pulled the cards, all were on the XQD.

I do plan on doing some video in the future which is another reason I went XQD.

 

[mrca]

I just paid close to 4 grand for an 850 and battery pack and I am going to quibble over $ 100 for a memory card that will last 2 or 3 years? I sure wouldn't want my memory card choking up when a shot of a lifetime comes by. Or have to explain to a client that I missed his shot of a lifetime because I was too cheap to spend $30 a year for a memory card. Why would I scrimp on a memory card in a 4k camera? The down load time is no small consideration because shooting in burst at 9 fps really racks up the number of shots that have to be down loaded. I have experienced my speed light freezing up or should I say heating up as great unrepeatable moments were unfolding and don't want to relive that with a memory card.

 

[chuasam]

I just paid close to 4 grand for an 850 and battery pack and I am going to quibble over $ 100 for a memory card that will last 2 or 3 years? I sure wouldn't want my memory card choking up when a shot of a lifetime comes by. Or have to explain to a client that I missed his shot of a lifetime because I was too cheap to spend $30 a year for a memory card. Why would I scrimp on a memory card in a 4k camera? The down load time is no small consideration because shooting in burst at 9 fps really racks up the number of shots that have to be down loaded. I have experienced my speed light freezing up or should I say heating up as great unrepeatable moments were unfolding and don't want to relive that with a memory card.

I’m just mad that my stable of CF cards are now useless and that even my 1000x SD Cards feel slow.

 

[adamhiram]

I just paid close to 4 grand for an 850 and battery pack and I am going to quibble over $ 100 for a memory card that will last 2 or 3 years?

I concur. When I picked up my D500, a few extra bucks for a faster memory card seemed like a no-brainer, even if I rarely use the 10fps burst rate that would actually utilize the faster card. If anything, I actually regret not spending a little more to get the 128GB XQD card instead of 64GB, but I've only filled it once in 2 years.

 

[Nwcid]

I just came up with another reason, and it is to help me keep from doing stupid things.

In my previous camera I had dually SD slots. I typically used the second slot as "back up" and only had one card out of the camera at a time. With the new camera and write speeds I have the SD set to "overflow".

Last night, thinking I has used both cards, I put both cards in the reader to down load. Today I put my camera in the car as I went to town. I had a perfect opportunity to shoot a bald eagle, and I did shoot it, only to find out both cards were home on the desk.........

 

[mrca]

Chusam, I feel your pain. I had to cough up for a new lap top with new operating system, so new monitor and updated LR and PS cc since my old $600 ps 5 didn't easily support my new camera in raw. But hopefully that memory card will give years of service and if it saves some precious moments, well worth it, not to mention the peace of mind knowing you did all you could. I still use the CF cards in the d700. But, sooner or later they will be delegated to the same bone pile as the floppy disks and cd's and even dvd's now.

 

[mrca]

Yes, dual cards in multiple cameras can lead to not getting some shots downloaded promptly, multiple subjects on the same card. I solved the no card problem keeping an extra sd card in the bag at all times. Not only for unlikely filling both cards but as you found, having multiple card readers and a morass of cords behind the monitor, it is possible to have both cards in readers and none in the camera.

 

[chuasam]

Chusam, I feel your pain. I had to cough up for a new lap top with new operating system, so new monitor and updated LR and PS cc since my old $600 ps 5 didn't easily support my new camera in raw. But hopefully that memory card will give years of service and if it saves some precious moments, well worth it, not to mention the peace of mind knowing you did all you could. I still use the CF cards in the d700. But, sooner or later they will be delegated to the same bone pile as the floppy disks and cd's and even dvd's now.

My once blazing fast iMac 27” i7 is starting to feel the pain when I’m sorting things in Lightroom. I had first bought it to handle the files from my D810 and now it feels so clunky.

 

[Tailgunner]

They make some pretty nice SD cards as well. When I bought my D500, the XQD cards I wanted was on back order and had a 3-4 week wait. So I ordered one of Sony's SF-G64/T1 High Performance cards. Its no XQD card but its faster than my standard 90MB red/write Pro Scandisk cards.

As for XQD cards, I went with Sony Professional G class 64 GB cards. I use the Sony SF G64's for the SD slot.

If you ever plan on shooting 4k video, you want at least 64 GB...128 GB if you plan on shooting long videos.

 

[chuasam]

i want to get the XQD and the reader or I could buy a MBD18 (but not both)
le sigh!