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Archive 2016 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

Hrow
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

If you have or are thinking of buying a D500 or other camera that uses XQD cards but have some existing good quality (ie. used to be fast) SD cards lying around that you figure you'll use as instead of putting out the cash for the new memory you might want to rethink that plan. Spent the weekend shooting IMSA racing and the performance difference between my formerly top-of-the-line SD card was pitiful compared to the QXD. With the QXD you can basically shoot forever and the camera never burps. The SanDisk Ultra seemed like it died after 15 frames as the buffer tried to push data out to the card.

Obviously newer SD cards will be faster so the difference may not be as apparent but I am sure that there are folks out there who are wondering if they will be fine with the SD cards they bought two or three years ago. Well, probably not!

Jul 06, 2016 at 09:58 AM

Steve Perry
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

I started using XDQ with the D4 and was instantly impressed. SD cards have nothing on them and frankly I hope every new Nikon camera (at least the higher end ones) all feature at least on XQD slot. Definitely the way to go.

Jul 06, 2016 at 10:14 AM

sjms
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

really

yes there is still quite a difference between top end UHS-II SD cards and top end XQD one like the Lexar 2933x. the 2000x SD. the SD cards fizzle a bit early vs the XQD but for many that may be all that needed. if one is purchasing though SD are still backwards compatible where XQD is future compatible. there will most likely be no new Nikon products supporting CF at all. that next gen D8xx or whatever ain't going to have CF in it.

as Steve and I found out early in the game and the card collectors fought a tooth and claw battle against it.

the affordable D500 and the cost of XQD cards today essentially ended the conversation.

CF has had a very long and noble run. but it is tired.

Jul 06, 2016 at 10:16 AM

rico
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

I baptized my D500 with a low-end SanDisk 2GB SD that I bought in the 14th Century. Yes, it worked, but reviewing a sequence of pics was sluggish. It also revealed the less-efficient memory caching of the D500 versus a single-digit body. With a faster SDHC Extreme Pro 16GB, image review was more responsive. I just ordered a high-end Lexar XQD (400+ MB/s), and expect to be impressed. Nonetheless, mid-tier SDHC is cheap as dirt, and quite tempting for lower-bandwidth situations. If you shoot sporadically, the D500 has that huge buffer to avoid any bottleneck.

Jul 06, 2016 at 11:05 AM

Hrow
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

The buffer is only huge when using a XQD card. It shut me down after 15 frames with an SD card and took a noticeable while to clear.

Jul 06, 2016 at 08:18 PM

rico
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

Interesting. What were your image settings?

Jul 06, 2016 at 08:26 PM

Hrow
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

Shooting RAW 14 bit Compressed. Tested Large Fine JPGs and things clog up quickly as well on a SD card. Take into consideration that I was shooting high performance race cars and one is not likely to run into a problem in the studio or other non-action environments. That said, the D500 and XQD combo is a photographer's fantasy come to life.

Jul 06, 2016 at 09:42 PM

sjms
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

Hrow wrote:
The buffer is only huge when using a XQD card. It shut me down after 15 frames with an SD card and took a noticeable while to clear.

with a UHS-II 2000x SD card you'll get around 45 when it will start to slow.

Jul 06, 2016 at 10:17 PM

Hrow
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

My SD cards are older so I ended up much slower than you. They were originally used in an Olympus 4/3rds so this was the first time they saw any use in a Nikon.

Jul 06, 2016 at 10:42 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

Well all in all SD still has an edge, getting old though!

Jul 06, 2016 at 10:49 PM

Pixphatic
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

Hrow wrote:
The buffer is only huge when using a XQD card. It shut me down after 15 frames with an SD card and took a noticeable while to clear.
...that because you are shooting with SanDisk Ultra, which has around 11-17 mbps writing speed.With a faster one like the SanDisk extreme pro which has abt 85-90 mbps writing speed,it is expected that you'll have a better experience.There are much faster ones as well.

Happy clicking.

Edited on Jul 07, 2016 at 07:59 AM · View previous versions

Jul 06, 2016 at 11:18 PM

rico
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

Hrow wrote:
Shooting RAW 14 bit Compressed. Tested Large Fine JPGs and things clog up quickly as well on a SD card. ...

My ancient SanDisk 2GB SD card is basic stuff, reading just 10 MB/sec on my host PC. I formatted this card in the D500, and set camera params: burst limit 30, continuous high speed, compressed 14-bit NEF, 1/1000 sec, lens wide open. Aimed at my messy table, I got 30 frames in 3 secs, followed by a flush of 130 sec. The D500 write rate was about 4 MB/sec.

Jul 07, 2016 at 02:00 AM

sjms
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

nugeny wrote:
Well all in all SD still has an edge, getting old though!

The edge on what?

Jul 07, 2016 at 05:25 AM

nugeny
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

sjms wrote:
The edge on what?

Quite cheap

Jul 07, 2016 at 09:35 AM

sjms
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

nugeny wrote:
Quite cheap

I balance performance with price. and I do like performance.

Jul 07, 2016 at 09:37 AM

nugeny
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

sjms wrote:
I balance performance with price. and I do like performance.

For you, Nikon should do dual XQD card slots

Jul 07, 2016 at 10:09 AM

sjms
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

oh yes i agree whole heartedly

Jul 07, 2016 at 12:05 PM

runamuck
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

I just bought a 128GB SD mini card for my tablet. $30 with free 2 day shipping. SD works for me in cameras since landscapes don't move very fast. XQD costs 3 times as much.

Jul 07, 2016 at 12:56 PM

sjms
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

but then you wouldn't be looking at a camera like this for landscapes to begin with. if shooting DX the D7200 would be more appropriate and has exactly what you want for memory.

Jul 07, 2016 at 03:54 PM

runamuck
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · D500 and XQD vs Existing SD Cards

I got it for my grandson and friends. Landscapes are secondary/tertiary.

Jul 07, 2016 at 04:53 PM

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