I’ve been testing a lot of different SD cards with the Sony FX6. I have been a long time user of Integral, Lexar and SanDisk cards and generally found them to perform well and to be reliable. But in my search for affordable v90 SD cards I came across a good deal on the ProGrade v90 64Gb SD cards.
I hadn’t ever used the ProGrade brand before and their pricing almost seems too low. But I decided to purchase one to test. Well I have not been disappointed. The card performs very well and has no problems at all with all of the XAVC-I frame rates up to and including 60fps.
If you try to use it to record UHD at 100 or 120fps you will get an “unsupported media” warning but the camera will try to record to the card. Most of the time the recording will be OK provided you keep the duration short and don’t try to stop and then restart recording too quickly. Of all the SD cards I have tried this seems to be one of the best.
However you will still see recording failures with this card at 100 and 120fps. Often resulting in the card suddenly becoming completely full. So I still would not recommend relying on any SD card for 100/120fps UHD. But, as I have said this is one of the better cards that I have come across and given the low price it seems like a winner.
Other cards I have been using successfully with the FX6 are:
Integral Ultima ProX v90 for all codecs including XAVC-I up to 60fps.
Lexar 1667x Professional v60 for all codecs including XAVC-I upto to 30fps.
Sony Tough CFExpress Type A 80GB for all recording modes and formats including UHD 100/120fps.
Thanks Alister, I have had the same experience with the same card but in the 128GB size.
I’m hoping Prograde will do a CFExpress Type A soon.
why isn’t there any third party cfexpress A card? some sony patent issues?
Not a patent issue, probably simply because at the moment not many people are using them.
I only use Sony cards recommended as far as cost goes that is passed on to the customer. At the end of the production, the customer owns the content which is delivered on the card.
Got a question related to these cards and recording formats… I purchased 3 of the 128GB versions for my a7SIII, which I assume records the exact frame rates and codecs as the FX6. I can record 60p XAVC S-I in the standard (non S&Q) mode. However, in my a7SIII I’m having trouble getting these cards to record the S&Q mode at 60p in XAVC S-I codec. I assume that’s by design? I guess I assumed that 60p was 60p, regardless of whether it was S&Q or standard mode. Is the data rate higher for S&Q mode in these cameras vs standard 60p mode? Thanks,
The A7SIII and the FX6 do not use the same codecs, although XAVC-SI and XAVC-I are very similar. Normally the data rate is broadly similar for S&Q and normal frame rates, so I don’t know why you are unable to record with the A7SIII.
Lots of confusion in th3e net, even from my local dealer in NOway which from I now ordered the SONY fx 6 . Theres som compalins in the revews in B&H, on the Lexar cards ( most on SONY a7s III ) but ….. Even my local dealer tolk me they had some issues with some of the bands, but they said to me that SONY can recomend the Delkin Devices POWER UHS-II SDXC Memory Card. This Photo store I bought camera in, said they spoke to SONY , can I trust that. Anyone had any bad experiance, with that, or other brands .Should I just trust only the SONY cards? They are out of stock in Norway 🙁 . Dont know who to trust now .
I’m using these on the FX6 and FX3 and at a shoot last week, got glitches on both cameras – you know a literal digital glitch. Luckily they weren’t crucial moments or there were other takes but disconcerting. Anyone else having any read/write issues with these cards? I’ve contacted ProGrade but have not heard back
this was UHD XAVC-I 25p on the FX6 and 50p XAVC S 4K 4:2:2 on the FX3
Could be the card reader. I also recommend filling cards completely before using them in anger to get the wear levelling working and to allow the card to learn where any bad sectors are.
The card Lexar Professional 2000x 128GB SDXC UHS-II is used for the sony fx6?
Yes, it can be used. It is a V90 card.