The era of cinematography has created a whole new level of storage thirst. In order to fully utilise the maximum quality made available by our favourite cameras, we'd need a card that is both fast and preferably goes by in T instead of GB.
I'm glad we have the SSD storage, it writes fast, has plenty of space per dollar, and most importantly, it's reliable as far as I'm concerned. The only downside is not all cameras are capable of external storage for recording. In my case, the Sony FX30.
I'm using a 128GB SD card for the FX30, it's a v90 which means it writes plenty fast. But it's not reliable. The camera had stopped recording half way during a shoot. It's either there's an issue with the camera, or it's the card. I figure pointing finger at the card would be a lot easier. Luckily it did not happen often, but enough to bug me.
Then filming becomes a serious hobby, and more space is needed. Naturally I'm a little skittish with getting another SD card. So I've got myself a Lexar CFExpress Type A card, 160GB to be exact. The card and along with a Lexar card reader, are on their merry way to me.
I didn't take the Type A path earlier because having an external card reader would just use up more space on my desk. But then the SD is slowly becoming a pain in the neck. Good thing is, the price of the CF card has gone down quite a bit, it's actually cheaper than the v90 SD card. Maybe it's a promotional discount, Black Friday that sort of thing, the 160GB has the biggest drop in price.
I'm in no hurry to retire the v90 card, it works perfectly fine when it's in a good mood. It's only the full moon that I'm worried about. Having a total of 288 GB is mighty big for my day to day use. As for travelling, I'd like to back up the cards on a separate unit, like the one you see here, My Passport has a SD slot for a direct transfer, I find it rather convenient. I'd rather bring this than a laptop when I'm outing.
But to my surprise, no similar products are available. Would be so nice if we could find a way to transfer files from the SD card directly to a SSD without jumping hoops and hurdles.
