New SDHC Express card adaptor on the way

[Craig Seeman]

Ross says they’re on track to start shipping on December 19th.

[Craig Seeman]

They’re taking orders.
https://e-films.com.au/
Seems he’ll have 1000 ready to go on Dec 19th and another 1000 the following week.

I placed my order. My EX1 is at Sony for the firmware upgrade so I’ll test and report when I have everything in hand.

[Michael Palmer]

Just purchased 6, now I need to shop for cards. Any ideas????

[Craig Seeman]

Ross has tested and confirmed Sandisk 16GB Ultra II cards. They’ll work with Extreme but those are more expensive and don’t offer any additional benefit. It seems Sony limited the USB Express card data rate (apparently deliberately) which is the same reason Sony’s 60GB hard drive doesn’t do overcrank. In other words while you’d think the faster cards would give you overcrank they won’t (Grrr Sony!). So the short answer is get the Sandisk 16GB Ultra II SDHC cards.

I see them on Amazon for under $50
https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-16GB-15MB-SDHC/dp/B0012W7HQK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1229103257&sr=8-1
I’ve heard stories of counterfit cards though.

B&H has them at $65
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/541404-REG/SanDisk_SDSDRH_016GR_16GB_Ultra_II_Secure.html

Here’s PriceGrabber comparison but I’m wary given the counterfit stories I’ve heard. Dell has them for $50.
https://computers.pricegrabber.com/flash-memory/m/63670805/st=product_tab/

SanDisk lists a 32 GB card at $180 directly from them which means it’ll be lower when it becomes available “RSN” (real soon now) but you can’t even buy them from SanDisk direct. It says “not in store” if you try.
https://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(2582)-SDSDRH-032G-A11-SanDisk_Ultra_II_SDHC_32GB_High_Performance_Card.aspx

[Michael Palmer]

Is Class 6 the fastest SDHC spec.

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-sdhc-cards.htm

Would this Transcend work?
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208377&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Memory+(Flash+Memory)-_-Transcend-_-20208377

https://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08010806panasonic32gbsdhc.asp

https://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9862842-39.html

Good Luck
Michael Palmer

[Craig Seeman]

He’s also tested with 8GB Class 6 Transcend card. No mention of tests with the 16GB cards.
Class 6 is the fastest but not all class 6 cards will work since, apparently, not all have the same sustained write needed for the EX. I’ve also heard of cases where some 16GB cards were slower than 8GB cards from the same manufacturer. I suspect Ross’s tests matched the results people were getting with the Kennsington adaptor and various cards.

16GB Transcend is worth testing but Sandisk is a sure thing. I’m really hopping Sandisk 32GB works.

Seeing all this I can see why Sony gave up on the certification process. With Kennsington dropping their compatible adaptor and apparently reliability issue with Delkin adaptor, Sony would have needed a willing manufacturer to make an adaptor or a new “all in one.” In addition those adaptors were just a hair too big for the EX1 door to close (EX3 was OK though) so Sony probably wanted a redesign. I think that’s why Juan Martinez saying such fuzzy things about it would take too long and other related issues, as to why Sony gave up.

Ross found a manufacturer (Chris Hurd had apparently found one also but he was still looking at how to design the card) to design a card that would fit in the EX1. He went with a method that would prevent the card from accidently popping out when removing the adaptor but still allow pulling the SDHC card out when needed.

I can see why the Transcend card is attractive. The lower the price the easier it becomes to treat them like tape or even XDCAM discs and just keep them for archival or charge clients for them.

[Craig Seeman]

Ross mentions that both 8GB and 16GB Transcend cards worked.

[Michael Palmer]

Great as I purchased 2- Transcend 16 gig cards yesterday.
https://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=TS16GSDHC6&cat=CAM

Good Luck
Michael Palmer

[Craig Seeman]

Thanks for that Michael. I’d thought I’d post this search I did.
https://computers.pricegrabber.com/flash-memory/m/61166573/search=transcend%2016gb%20sdhc/st=product/sv=title/
MWAVE has it for $31 so shipping may be the all important factor.

Oddly this search shows even lower prices
https://computers.pricegrabber.com/flash-memory/m/65101246/search=transcend%2016gb%20sdhc/st=product/sv=title/
Amazon $31.47 and MWAVE $27.60

Newegg $28.99
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208410

I am cautious of counterfeit cards though.

B&H sells Sony 60 minute DigiBeta tape for $27.49
Sony 60 minute HDCAM $50.99
Sony XDCAM 23GB disc is a bit cheaper at $21.59

So recording to the EX is getting into the price range of professional tape that you can bill and hand to a client.

Given the breakthrough I’m kind of surprised that we’re not getting a bunch of people asking questions about this. Sony promised inexpensive media. Their firmware provides it and 3rd parties are providing media that works. In forums on other boards the posts go on for pages and can number over 1000.

[Kurt Waddington]

I haven’t seen any mention of whether the newest 32GB SDHC cards work in this MxR card reader. Any word on this?

Thanks

AV Action Yukon Ltd.
Whitehorse, Yukon
Canada
(867) 667-6222