64 GB Compact Flash Card Update

Lance Librandi · October 24th, 2009, 07:02 AM

Hey great news Mike 64GB will help solve my issues.
Thanks Mike

Mark Job · October 24th, 2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Keaton

I would not get too excited until we are able to test the 128 GB card, and learn the price and performance.

...OK. I will save my shekels for now and wait for the 128 GB fast CF cards.

John Richard · October 30th, 2009, 07:36 PM

Any update on the approval testing for this new 64GB compact flash card?

Gints Klimanis · October 30th, 2009, 09:05 PM

How are these cards tested? Are they written to capacity?

I had two recent failures on Transcend (green stripe -> SLC) 16 GB Class 6 cards on my EX1. Very weird as they worked for months and both failed in the same hour, but again, both cards were nearly full and failed at about 12.7 GBytes.

Dan Keaton · October 31st, 2009, 03:34 AM

Dear John and Gints,

We have been testing the PhotoFast 64 GB (Gigabyte) CompactFlash card now for weeks.

It worked in our intial tests and worked in every test since then.

Note: We have found a magic, "secret sauce" way of getting more performance out of most all CompactFlash cards. Our improvement is measured between 10% and 40%.

For example, the Sandisk Extreme III 32 GB card is currently limited to 140 Mbps in our 1.0.112 firmware. We will allow 160 Mbps in our next release, due out in approximately two weeks.

The PhotoFast 64 GB card, the G-Monster 533x card is currently limited to 160 Mbps in our 1.0.112 firmware. In our next release it will work up to and including our 220 Mbps bit-rate.

We also spent the last few days testing the Pretec 64 GB CompactFlash card. The individual card that we tested did not pass our tests.

Dear Gints,

Long Answer:

We have a person on our staff that is dedicated to testing things, our hardware, our firmware and special projects like testing CompactFlash cards. He is very thorough.

Typically, we have multiple Flash XDR's and nanoFlashes in our testing area. These are all connected to a video source, and we then record until the cards are full, then we check the files on various editing systems.

I heard we we going to develop a special testing routine in our firmware to record until the cards were full, then playback the files continuously. I do not have the exact status of this, at this time, but I think this routine is in use.

In the past, during certain peak times, we would have someone come in late at night to re-populate the Flash XDR's and nanoFlashes. This was usually done when we were testing a new release.

Also, all of our recorders go through a burn-in process, then a final test. During this time, the units are recording to CompactFlash cards.

Short Answer: Yes, the cards are tested to their capacity.

Paul Cronin · November 1st, 2009, 09:01 AM

Look forward to knowing they are dependable on Mac OS prior to purchase.

Ed David · November 3rd, 2009, 10:23 AM

Got the new Sandisk Extreme Pro 64gb card - used it with my nanoflash for 4 hrs recording at 50 mpbs - no problems at all. using on mac os x leopord and brought into final cut 7 totally fine. New card will hopefully be ready for any future overcranking developments with the Nanoflash.

Mike Schell · November 3rd, 2009, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed David

Got the new Sandisk Extreme Pro 64gb card - used it with my nanoflash for 4 hrs recording at 50 mpbs - no problems at all. using on mac os x leopord and brought into final cut 7 totally fine. New card will hopefully be ready for any future overcranking developments with the Nanoflash.

Hi Ed-
We have a Extreme Pro 16GB card due here on Thursday. I expect this card will easily work at all our bitrates, but we will test and post our results here.

Best-

Paul Cronin · November 4th, 2009, 09:07 AM

Dan will you also be testing the Extreme Pro in larger size?

Dan Keaton · November 4th, 2009, 09:53 AM

Dear Paul,

We are going to first test the 16 GB Extreme Pro card. Our card arrives tomorrow.

As these cards are very expensive, at this time, so we want to first test the 16 GB.

We are confident that the 64 GB card will work fine, especially after we release our next firmware, which increases the write speed, and thus the usable bit-rate, for all cards.

We were already fast, we are just making the nanoFlash and Flash XDR dramatically faster. For some, the difference in speeds is only 10%, for others 40%. We use some sophisticated techniques to achieve this increase in speeds.

Another user, Ed David, has tested the SanDisk Extreme Pro card at 50 Mbps. Maybe Ed could run some quick tests at other bit-rates. We are already confident that these cards work, we just have not completed formal testing, so they are not fully qualified yet.

The PhotoFlash 64 GB Model 533x card has been qualified for use with our next firmware release, but is not qualified for use in our 1.0.112 release. We had to change our code to see that this card is 64 GB and not the 8 GB that it reports internally.

Gints Klimanis · November 4th, 2009, 01:53 PM

I see that the Sandisk Extreme 30 MB/sec III has been discontinued on the BH Phote website. A new arrival in that price range is the SanDisk Extreme 60 MB/sec. It seems as if SanDisk has halted the use of the III and IV's in the product names and moved to Extreme and Extreme Pro that are disinguished by speed ratings printed on the card. Thanks for providing real units! I hated the 133x type ratings.

October 31st, 2009, 03:34 AM	#20
Dan Keaton Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Augusta Georgia Posts: 5,421	Dear John and Gints, We have been testing the PhotoFast 64 GB (Gigabyte) CompactFlash card now for weeks. It worked in our intial tests and worked in every test since then. Note: We have found a magic, "secret sauce" way of getting more performance out of most all CompactFlash cards. Our improvement is measured between 10% and 40%. For example, the Sandisk Extreme III 32 GB card is currently limited to 140 Mbps in our 1.0.112 firmware. We will allow 160 Mbps in our next release, due out in approximately two weeks. The PhotoFast 64 GB card, the G-Monster 533x card is currently limited to 160 Mbps in our 1.0.112 firmware. In our next release it will work up to and including our 220 Mbps bit-rate. We also spent the last few days testing the Pretec 64 GB CompactFlash card. The individual card that we tested did not pass our tests. Dear Gints, Long Answer: We have a person on our staff that is dedicated to testing things, our hardware, our firmware and special projects like testing CompactFlash cards. He is very thorough. Typically, we have multiple Flash XDR's and nanoFlashes in our testing area. These are all connected to a video source, and we then record until the cards are full, then we check the files on various editing systems. I heard we we going to develop a special testing routine in our firmware to record until the cards were full, then playback the files continuously. I do not have the exact status of this, at this time, but I think this routine is in use. In the past, during certain peak times, we would have someone come in late at night to re-populate the Flash XDR's and nanoFlashes. This was usually done when we were testing a new release. Also, all of our recorders go through a burn-in process, then a final test. During this time, the units are recording to CompactFlash cards. Short Answer: Yes, the cards are tested to their capacity. __________________ Dan Keaton Augusta Georgia

November 1st, 2009, 09:01 AM	#21
Paul Cronin Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 4,048	Look forward to knowing they are dependable on Mac OS prior to purchase. __________________ Paul Cronin www.paulcroninstudios.com

November 4th, 2009, 09:07 AM	#24
Paul Cronin Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 4,048	Dan will you also be testing the Extreme Pro in larger size? __________________ Paul Cronin www.paulcroninstudios.com

November 4th, 2009, 09:53 AM	#25
Dan Keaton Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Augusta Georgia Posts: 5,421	Dear Paul, We are going to first test the 16 GB Extreme Pro card. Our card arrives tomorrow. As these cards are very expensive, at this time, so we want to first test the 16 GB. We are confident that the 64 GB card will work fine, especially after we release our next firmware, which increases the write speed, and thus the usable bit-rate, for all cards. We were already fast, we are just making the nanoFlash and Flash XDR dramatically faster. For some, the difference in speeds is only 10%, for others 40%. We use some sophisticated techniques to achieve this increase in speeds. Another user, Ed David, has tested the SanDisk Extreme Pro card at 50 Mbps. Maybe Ed could run some quick tests at other bit-rates. We are already confident that these cards work, we just have not completed formal testing, so they are not fully qualified yet. The PhotoFlash 64 GB Model 533x card has been qualified for use with our next firmware release, but is not qualified for use in our 1.0.112 release. We had to change our code to see that this card is 64 GB and not the 8 GB that it reports internally. __________________ Dan Keaton Augusta Georgia

October 24th, 2009, 07:02 AM	#16
Lance Librandi Major Player Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: South Australia Posts: 374	Hey great news Mike 64GB will help solve my issues. Thanks Mike

October 30th, 2009, 07:36 PM	#18
John Richard Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Incline Village, Nevada Posts: 604	Any update on the approval testing for this new 64GB compact flash card?

October 30th, 2009, 09:05 PM	#19
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	How are these cards tested? Are they written to capacity? I had two recent failures on Transcend (green stripe -> SLC) 16 GB Class 6 cards on my EX1. Very weird as they worked for months and both failed in the same hour, but again, both cards were nearly full and failed at about 12.7 GBytes.

November 3rd, 2009, 10:23 AM	#22
Ed David Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 119	Got the new Sandisk Extreme Pro 64gb card - used it with my nanoflash for 4 hrs recording at 50 mpbs - no problems at all. using on mac os x leopord and brought into final cut 7 totally fine. New card will hopefully be ready for any future overcranking developments with the Nanoflash.

November 4th, 2009, 01:53 PM	#26
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	I see that the Sandisk Extreme 30 MB/sec III has been discontinued on the BH Phote website. A new arrival in that price range is the SanDisk Extreme 60 MB/sec. It seems as if SanDisk has halted the use of the III and IV's in the product names and moved to Extreme and Extreme Pro that are disinguished by speed ratings printed on the card. Thanks for providing real units! I hated the 133x type ratings.