XQD card prices

Pistnbroke

Although I have no intention of buying a D5 or D500 the talk of card prices sent me to ebay ..

Lexar 32GB 1333x was only £34 about $50 though another advertiser had the same item at £143 ($225).
a Sony 64 GB 400mb/s was £285 ($500)

So if I did my normal system and put a card (xqd) in the no1 slot and never removed it it would not be expensive at $50

starralazn

tbh, when i got the D800, i couldnt really see the value in using CF cards, when SD cards were more cost effect(although maybe a tad slower on average).
so i still have the one CF card in my camera that i purchased at the time, and have a multitude of SD cards...

over here on the other side of the ocean, 32GB of XQD from sony (~800x) is 55$ from adorama/b&h.

haroldp

The chance of a Lexar 32GB 1333x XQD at £34 on ebay not being counterfeit is 0.

Pistnbroke

well its no risk ..its ebay ..UK address so if its wrong get a refund..

autofocus

Rumors over in the Canon camp are the 1dxii will have a CF and CFast card slot. Seems a few think the XQD should have been considered. Most agree that Nikon got it right by putting two of the same type cards in camera. That said, I've been a fan of XQD since I got my D4. I think you'll see the prices come down in the next year or so.

haroldp

I think what Nikon got wrong is mixing types (one XQD, SD) in the D500.
Since I use both cards in backup mode, I am gated by the slowest card and in a D500 would get no benefit from the fastest XQD cards.

pictureted

I think what Nikon got wrong is mixing types (one XQD, SD) in the D500.
Since I use both cards in backup mode, I am gated by the slowest card and in a D500 would get no benefit from the fastest XQD cards.

I would imagine the Nikon s/w would allow maximum level shooting to the faster XQD card and write the back-up to the slower card later.

haroldp

I would imagine the Nikon s/w would allow maximum level shooting to the faster XQD card and write the back-up to the slower card later.

They could write asynchronously to the secondary card, but they don't.

I have not studied the specs on the D5 or D500, but on the D3's (D3,D3x,D3s) D4's, and D800 / D810, they write synchronously to both cards meaning that the buffer is not freed until all writes are complete. In other modes like overflow, or Raw to 1 card and jpeg to the other it might not matter much, but in backup mode what you have is effectively the slowest card.

I believe they would have mentioned a change like this in The D5/500 announcements.

NSXTypeR

I'm totally a fan of using the latest and greatest, but Sony has a long history of using proprietary weird storage formats and making people pay through the nose for it- look at their PSP memory cards (and the Vita), Betamax, and Memory Stick. I refused to buy Memory Stick storage for my dad's Sony T9 point and shoot. It's a great tiny 6 mp shooter, but there's no point in buying into an outdated storage format.

It's strange that Sony has no intention of adopting XQD cards in their own products but it's mostly Nikon that exclusively uses this format.

I also thought it was weird to make the D500 half and half. That means you'd have to have a SD card reader and an XQD card reader. Either make it fully one or the other, it cuts the number of accessories and cables required in half.

retread

I also thought it was weird to make the D500 half and half. That means you'd have to have a SD card reader and an XQD card reader. Either make it fully one or the other, it cuts the number of accessories and cables required in half.

I posted in the D500 thread that the photo of the card slots in the D500 PDF looks to me like there is room for a second XQD card in place of the SD card. Can't tell what is on the inside from looking at the outside. Do you think Nikon may have planed ahead for an upgrade? Isn't the D4s half and half?

I also think it would be better to use two of the same cards.

haroldp

Has anyone tried in backup mode writing lossless compressed raw to the faster card and fine jpg to the slower, does it improve the burst rate vs raw to both ?. I am using the fastest cards of either type available in my D810. Lexar 1066 CF and Sandisk 95mbs SDXC.

NSXTypeR

I also thought it was weird to make the D500 half and half. That means you'd have to have a SD card reader and an XQD card reader. Either make it fully one or the other, it cuts the number of accessories and cables required in half.

I posted in the D500 thread that the photo of the card slots in the D500 PDF looks to me like there is room for a second XQD card in place of the SD card. Can't tell what is on the inside from looking at the outside. Do you think Nikon may have planed ahead for an upgrade? Isn't the D4s half and half?

I also think it would be better to use two of the same cards.

I'm not sure, but if Nikon can modify the D5 between 2 XQD slots and 1 XQD slot and 1 CF slot, you probably could technically do something similar with the D500 if the motherboard supports it.

Whether Nikon actually has a plan for that is a different story altogether.

Beso

I find the whole discussion regarding memory card prices interesting if not a little baffling. Back in the film days I don't recall anyone trying to find the cheapest film on the planet. Most were interested in getting quality film that would produce quality prints. If one looks at the relationship between film and digital memory it is quick to see that digital memory, even the priciest form, is far cheaper than film over the life of the camera. I know digital memory fails but I have yet to have a memory card fail so the cost per shot gets infinitesimally small. Just keeping things in perspective.

Ironheart

I just bought a new Ferrari, but damn I can't afford that gas, so I put the cheap stuff in..

haroldp

That still leaves the issue that for those of us using backup mode, having one fast XQD card and one slow SD card is useless because the system speed will be gated by the slower card.

heartyfisher

That still leaves the issue that for those of us using backup mode, having one fast XQD card and one slow SD card is useless because the system speed will be gated by the slower card.

Yup, thats what will happen. I think the limit is not the 200 without XQD. Cant remember where I saw it but I think SD is about 60 frames. Maybe more if you use the latest Fast SD

retread

That still leaves the issue that for those of us using backup mode, having one fast XQD card and one slow SD card is useless because the system speed will be gated by the slower card.

Yup, thats what will happen. I think the limit is not the 200 without XQD. Cant remember where I saw it but I think SD is about 60 frames. Maybe more if you use the latest Fast SD

I think it is a bit more but even a 60 that is more than I will need. I may use more if I have it but need it, not really.

haroldp

A burst depth of 60 is also enough for me.
What I do not like s being forced to buy XQD cards from which I derive no benefit if I use the two slots in backup mode, which is how everyone I know, does it.

... H

Ironheart

You can buy a lower speed XQD card to match the speed of SD if it really chaps you

haroldp

Clearly, If I otherwise had a mission for a D500, I would buy one and deal with the flash cards.

My main point is that it would be better for most users to have two card slots of the same type, either XQD or SD.

This is a problem on D800 / 810 as well, my CF cards are 150 mbs and SD cards are 95mbs. In practice I get 95.

On the D800e with shallower buffers I would sometimes miss shots as they filled. So far it has not been a problem on the D810, but the logistics of two card types is a PITA.

DaveyJ

Looks like we will buy the D500. Still looking for data on cards, etc.

spraynpray

Maybe Nikon created an intentional difference point between the D5 and D500 with the XQD/CF thing.

kanuck

Maybe Nikon created an intentional difference point between the D5 and D500 with the XQD/CF thing.

That's exactly my thinking when I read about this announcement too.

haroldp

I cannot read the minds of Nikon marketing, but when companies act against the interest of their customers, for whatever internal reason they think they have, it does not end well.

spraynpray

I agree with you @haroldp in as much as that practise irks me too, but if the only difference between a $2k and a $6k body was the sensor size, I would expect it to adversely affect sales of the D5. Not using the second slot as backup in those rare moments when you want an unusually deep buffer isn't the end of the world.

A short while ago if the D400 was offered with the same spec as the D500 except for the buffer depth being 60 frames in raw, we would have ripped their hand off.

Pistnbroke

When I got my D810 the Kingston card from my D800 would not work in it so I had to buy a sandisk......I also bought a CF to SD adaptor for about $10 and with a sandisk SD it worked fine as a spare.( no speed issues)
So we want some clever Chinese person to build a XQD to SD (or micro SD !!) adaptor for us cheapskate, don't need a buffer types ...