CFexpress playing cards are in every single place now, so a producer launching a brand new card wants one thing particular to face out from the gang. Headline most learn/write speeds are sometimes the go-to advertising and marketing win, however with its new Professional-Cinema line, SanDisk is focussing not on most switch speeds, however the playing cards’ minimal sustained write fee.
Though nice for information headlines, peak learn/write speeds matter a lot much less in real-world situations. Alternatively, sustained write velocity is way extra important, particularly when recording excessive decision, excessive bit-rate video which calls for prolonged durations of quick write velocity. To that finish, the SanDisk Professional Cinema card is rated for a powerful 1400MB/s minimal sustained write velocity. This in flip qualifies the cardboard for VPG400 certification and SanDisk claims Professional-Cinema playing cards are quick sufficient to document 8K video “flawlessly”.
Distinction this with SanDisk’s authentic Sort B playing cards, which although able to 1700MB/s learn and 1400MB/s max learn speeds in 512GB guise, don’t have any quoted sustained write velocity, making them an unknown amount for recording excessive res video.
Professional-Cinema playing cards are able to most 1700MB/s learn and 1500MB/s write charges: that is good, however not at all the quickest figures amongst Gen 2.0 Sort B playing cards, and manner in need of the 3500+MB/s efficiency that the newer Gen 4.0 Sort B playing cards can obtain. However since no present client digital camera can really utilise the additional efficiency of a Gen 4.0 card but, the Professional-Cinema’s peak efficiency is completely acceptable.
Solely two capability choices can be found: 320GB and 640GB, which on the time of this evaluation are priced at $399.99/£397.99 and $699.99/£696.99, respectively. A separate ‘Professional-Cinema CFexpress VPG400′ in a 256GB capability can be accessible, however this has a minimal write velocity of solely 400MB/s, so we do not contemplate it to be a real various to the 320GB and 640GB Professional-Cinema playing cards.
(Picture credit score: Future)
In-keeping with the skilled Professional-Cinema ethos, SanDisk additionally claims the playing cards have a sturdy enclosure that may face up to drops from as much as 1 meter, and a crushing drive of as much as 50 newtons. Externally although, the strict Sort B type issue commonplace signifies that aside from the label, a Professional-Cinema card appears to be like and handles similar to every other Sort B card.
Efficiency
We examined the Professional-Cinema in a Nikon Z6 III, as its 6K, 60p RAW recording is good for stress testing the cardboard’s video write velocity. However even at these most decision / body fee / bit-rate settings, the Professional Cinema had no bother recording clean video with no glitches or dropped frames. Switching to burst taking pictures on the Z6 III’s quickest steady excessive velocity mode additionally proved uneventful, with digital camera capturing its full 200-frame burst restrict and transferring it from the inner buffer to the reminiscence card with no noticeable delay. We additionally carried out the identical take a look at with a V60 SDXC card and this did require a number of seconds to be able to clear the digital camera’s buffer.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Evidently the Professional-Cinema can deal with something a digital camera can throw at it, so to essentially take a look at its full velocity potential, we broke out a quick USB 4.0 Sort B card reader from Prograde Digital and a HP Z-Guide Studio laptop computer with USB 4.0. That is vital as most Sort B card readers use a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, which successfully bottlenecks switch speeds to round 800-900MB/s – manner in need of the speeds most Sort B playing cards are able to. With appropriate testing {hardware} in place, we then fired up our reminiscence card benchmarking software program of selection, CrystalDiskMark:
(Picture credit score: Future)
And the outcomes have been extremely respectable. With a most learn velocity of 1646MB/s and peak write fee of 1441MB/s, our take a look at card acquired impressively near SanDisk’s claimed 1700/1500MB/s learn/write velocity claims. No complaints right here.
Verdict
It is not typically we take a look at a CFexpress Sort B card that performs near-enough as marketed. Most fall in need of their producer’s velocity claims by some margin after we software program benchmark them, although they nonetheless are typically greater than quick sufficient for any real-world state of affairs. However SanDisk’s Professional-Cinema card aced not simply our demanding real-world purposes, but in addition our artificial benchmark testing. In case you want a reliable Sort B card that’ll deal with not solely the occasional want for velocity, but in addition sustained durations of heavy use – recording prolonged durations of 4K, 6K and even 8K video, for instance – then the Professional-Cinema is good.
Nonetheless this efficiency and dependability does come at a comparatively excessive worth. On the time of writing the 320GB card may be had with a $100 low cost, making it $299.99. Likewise, the 640GB model is presently accessible with a $200 low cost, bringing its worth all the way down to $499.99. However even with these reductions, the competitors continues to be considerably cheaper. A fundamental 512GB Sort B card can value lower than $200, whereas a card just like the Delkin Units 650GB BLACK CFexpress Sort B is even sooner than the Professional-Cinema with a 1530 MB/s minimal sustained write velocity, but presently prices simply $380.
Make no mistake, the SanDisk Professional-Cinema is a superb Sort B card, however simply make sure you test its pricing is aggressive whenever you come to purchase.
