Pro storage: Five CF cards

The simplest model from the CF-drive family has a modest capacity (32 GB in the maximum configuration) and non-outstanding high-speed performance. However, this does not prevent her from remaining in demand among photo enthusiasts.

The flash drive records data at a speed of 10-15 MB /s, while when reading files, the speed gauge arrow rises to a value of 20 Mbps. With such data, the drive cannot be recommended either for a reporter's photo shoot or for video recording, but in everyday tasks it shows decent behavior. Transcend CompactFlash 133x is well suited for working in tandem with DSLRs-"oldies", for example, Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

Unfortunately, the percentage of defects in the model is high (in comparison with other players in the memory card market), which manifests itself in the loss of part of the footage or in the refusal to see the full amount of memory after formatting the flash drive. Fortunately, the manufacturer provides a 5-year warranty for its product, which covers these problems when they occur.

The drive confidently tolerates the effects of low temperatures (up to -25 °C), and it attracts the main attention to its person with an affordable cost. After all, if you need a flash drive for thoughtful photographing, then it's better not to find an option with such a democratic price tag.

The drive from the American company SanDisk claims to be a reliable "workhorse" for owners of "adult" mirrors. It is in a pair with them that he reveals his capabilities 100%.

According to the characteristics of the CF drive, there are not enough stars from the sky, being a typical representative of the middle class. Nevertheless, the stated information exchange rates are observed with special care — when writing, the data "moves" to the memory of the flash drive at a speed of about 85 MB / s, and when reading, they leave the internal storage of the drive at a speed of up to 120 MB /s. There are no surprises in this, because these numbers are indicated on the box with the memory card.

The external shell of the flash drive does not bend under load, is resistant to shock and vibration, and is also coated with high-temperature silicone, so that SanDisk Extreme CompactFlash 120 MB/ s can be safely used in the temperature range from -25 to +85 °C. It's not for nothing that the prefix Extreme appears in the full name of the model.

The memory card provides stable video recording with a continuous speed of at least 20 Mbps, as indicated by compliance with the VPG-20 standard. This may not be enough for shooting videos in UltraHD resolution, but it's just right for recording FullHD videos. To work with the 4K format, the closest relative of the model, which is the SanDisk Extreme Pro 160 Mbps CompactFlash drive, will be more suitable. It implements support for a more advanced version of the Video Performance Guarantee specification under the name VPG-65, which guarantees a bitrate of at least 65 Mbps.

The 800x multiplier in the name of the CF drive model from Transcend indicates the ability of the flash drive to exchange data at speeds up to 120 Mbps. In fact, everything is even more rosy — during the tests and in real operation, the maximum speed of reading and writing data reaches about 130 Mbps.

It is still not worth deluding yourself with such high figures, since the memory card does not enter the maximum performance mode so often. The average speed of writing files to it is 70 Mbps, and reading information is 120 Mbps. However, these values are quite capable of satisfying the needs of photographers in the production of serial photography.

The drive is also well suited for recording videos in FullHD format. Support for the VPG-20 standard guarantees a stable recording speed of at least 20 Mbps when shooting videos. This eliminates the possible loss of frames from the video sequence. And from errors in the process of data transfer, the flash drive is insured by a built-in algorithm for their correction, which automatically recognizes and corrects errors.

A nice bonus for the owners of the memory card will be an annual subscription to the RecoveRx lost data recovery software. In addition, the owners of the flash drive will be pleased with its resistance to low and high temperatures — the model maintains performance in frosts up to -25 °C, and in extreme heat (up to +85 °C). And although the percentage of defects of the Transcend CompactFlash 800x is slightly higher than that of analogues, the manufacturer will easily replace the non-working drive under warranty, since its term is 5 years.

Useful to know. The speed rating of CompactFlash memory cards is indicated as a multiplier (for example, 1000x), where the value of 150 kbytes/s acts as an "x". It was chosen for a reason — this is the minimum playback speed of a CD (the main media at the dawn of the appearance of CF cards). Deciphering the speed indicators of the drive, knowing its index, will not be difficult. So, a model with a 400x prefix provides a data processing speed of 60 Mbps, and with an index of 1067x — 160 Mbps.

A reliable CF card for performing serious tasks functions at speeds over 100 Mbps. This is reflected both in the claimed characteristics of the model, and the corresponding result was obtained during its testing.

Synthetic memory card tests made by experts of an authoritative resource cameramemoryspeed.com , demonstrate full compliance with the stated speeds of reading (150 Mbps) and writing data (120 Mbps) when exchanging large files (weighing more than 1 GB). Arrays of images in RAW format are written to the memory of the drive at a speed of about 100 Mbps. So, paired with the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR, it was possible to achieve a result of 103.5 MB /s, and with the reportage "monster" Canon EOS 1D X Mark II — 92.4 Mbps. There is usually enough space in the built-in 64 GB data storage for about 1200 RAW+JPEG images.

Video recording into the memory of Toshiba Exceria CompactFlash should also not cause significant problems, since the flash drive supports the VPG-20 specification (guarantee of stable video recording at a speed of at least 20 Mbps). The older brother of the model in the person of Toshiba Exceria Pro CompactFlash corresponds to an even higher class of video recording VPG-65, which allows you to shoot video in 4K format.

The drive is not afraid of shocks, vibrations and is protected from X-rays. In addition, the packaging with it has a serial number for downloading a data recovery application (annual subscription). The flash drive will help solve the vast majority of the tasks assigned to it and will definitely leave its owner satisfied.

Ultra-high-resolution video shooting at advanced amateur and professional levels requires particularly high-speed memory cards. These are CFast 2.0 standard drives, in particular the Lexar Professional 3500x CompactFlash flash drive.

Unfortunately, the model is not backward compatible with previous generations of CF drives, so it is supported by a limited number of compatible devices. Slots for this flash drive are available on board Canon XC10 and Canon EOS C300 Mark II video cameras, as well as in Nikon D5 and Canon EOS 1D X Mark II reportage cameras.

Lexar Professional 3500x CompactFlash stands out from other players with a truly phenomenal data exchange rate: in file reading mode, the speed reaches 525 Mbps, and when writing — 445 Mbps. Such developed high-speed characteristics open all doors for operators to the possibility of recording 4K videos with high bitrate. However, a 32 GB drive is more suitable not for video shooting, but for "shooting bursts" of photos, since the volume of its memory does not have a long video recording.

Together with the flash drive, access is provided to download the Image Rescue data recovery utility. And the manufacturer gives a limited lifetime warranty for the product itself. The model is available in versions with a memory capacity from 32 GB to an impressive 512 GB. And if the younger representative of the series costs a lot of money, then the eyes involuntarily round from the price tag of the older modification. Nevertheless, you will still have to pay, because there are practically no alternatives to the memory card.