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Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

Douglas L
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

Folks, I am getting a Nikon Z9 so I need two Type B cards. I am looking at 325 GB Delkin Black cards for continuous burst shoots. On B&H website I saw two different ones for very different price:

1. $424.99, MFR #DCFXBBLK325,

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1702403-REG/delkin_devices_dcfxbblk325_325gb_black_cfexpress_type.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A6879&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwysipBhBXEiwApJOcu_j64Ea38vvTn4RWjf1K1uJVwOmSaqdVsyChGQlkoQDOdFicmM474hoC4H8QAvD_BwE

2. $279.99, MFR #DCFXBB325,

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1785070-REG/delkin_devices_dcfxbb325_325gb_black_g4_cfexpress.html

I chatted with B&H this morning and was told the more expensive card is "faster and can withstand temperature extremes". I don't even see the more expensive one (MFR #DCFXBBLK325) on Delkin's website anymore.

I emailed Delkin to ask but no response yet. Can anyone clarify?

Thanks.

Oct 20, 2023 at 02:04 PM

RoamingScott
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

Do NOT buy Delkin Black at retail. The 325gb card goes on sale at B&H every 2 months for under $200.

The G4 is a newer version of the firmware on the card. By all accounts the G4 is as fast as the twice as expensive older version with the exception of sustained write speed (100 slower or so). I've been curious when the older one would get firesold off...

Oct 20, 2023 at 02:27 PM

sjms
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

in addition, shooting continuous burst using RAW HE* gives you quite a bit of space. i use 150GB cards and get ~4.1K shots per card x 2 cards (over ~8K on the 2 150GB cards). they give you visually the same image quality and also quite a bit more space on your drives for saved files overall. haven't needed to use reg compressed raw for a few years now.

325GB cards + using HE* RAW will allow you to shoot to the point where you will never get enough time off from editing.

Oct 20, 2023 at 03:15 PM

Douglas L
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

Thank you gentlemen!

I did a bit more research, the 650 GB Power card has about the same write speed, including the sustained write speed as the 325 GB G4 Black card, I ordered one for now and will wait for Black Friday sale to get another card.

Oct 20, 2023 at 08:28 PM

Abbott Schindl
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

Douglas L wrote:
Thank you gentlemen!

I did a bit more research, the 650 GB Power card has about the same write speed, including the sustained write speed as the 325 GB G4 Black card, I ordered one for now and will wait for Black Friday sale to get another card.

I think that if you look closely you’ll find that Black cards have a minimum specified Write speck, whereas Green cards have only “up to” specs. Probably not a biggie for most applications, but a difference nonetheless.

Oct 20, 2023 at 09:19 PM

sjms
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

The particular card (650 MB and above G4 rev) he has chosen has a claimed sustained speed of 1490MB/s

Oct 20, 2023 at 09:34 PM

Douglas L
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

sjms wrote:
The particular card (650 MB and above G4 rev) he has chosen has a claimed sustained speed of 1490MB/s

Yes, it's confusing. For G4 Power cards, the sustained write speeds differ depending on the capacity of the cards.

From Delkin's website:

Sustained Write Speeds
128GB – 512GB: 805 MB/s
650GB – 2TB: 1490 MB/s

Someone said basically the 650 GB G4 Power card has about the same speed as the G4 Black card, but without the 48 hours replacement benefit. The 650 GB G4 Power card and the 325 GB G4 Black card are about the same price. So I went with the Power card. I need to have one in about a week so I can't wait for it to be on sale. I may pick up another one next month.

Oct 20, 2023 at 09:48 PM

Parfumeur
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

Formating is a crude way to compare how fast a drive performs, or so I understand.

Odd, at B&H the 325GB Black is $424 (DCFXBBLK325) and the 'so called better' 325GB Black G4 is $280 (DCFXBB325) as of Oct 31, 2023. So the better G4 is 34% cheaper ! ?

Interestingly, a full format in a Z9 of the Black G4, takes more than twice the time of a ProGrade Cobalt 325GB? Ummm something to think about. Is marketing being creative as usual.

I did not have a true Black to format.

Reads just like the WD Red NAS drives that went from CMR to SMR without telling or advertising the fact to buyers.

Oct 31, 2023 at 08:22 PM

CanadaMark
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

The Delkin Power G4 (latest gen) cards at 650GB and larger capacities have essentially the same minimum sustained write speeds as the Black cards. Below 650GB, they are considerably slower at 805 MB/s, so as long as you get the 650GB version (or larger) you aren't really giving up anything to the Black cards speed-wise.

If you want the highest minimum sustained write speeds in smaller capacities, you need to go with the Black Cards.

Temperature-wise, I have not seen any specific testing on the Delkin Power G4 cards, but the Delkin Blacks run extremely cool, more than 20C cooler than some of the competition. That could very well be a differentiating factor between the two, but in most scenarios likely would not make a difference to the average user.

One comment Delkin made to me was "Note that Sustained Write Speed is averaged across multiple standardized performance benchmark tools." So it's possible they use different weights when determining the advertised minimum sustained write speed for the Black and Power G4 cards, but that is speculation.

As mentioned above, wait for sales if you aren't in hurry - the 325GB Blacks as well as the 1TB G4 cards seem to be heavily discounted on a semi-regular basis. Black Friday is just around the corner, so hopefully they run the sales again. I am pretty sure the 1TB G4 cards were previously on sale for $100 USD.

The above cards will let you shoot indefinitely (Over 1,000 frames) in HE*, and unlike others, Nikon bodies do not stop shooting when the buffer is completely full, they simply slow down to the speed a which they can write files which seems to be around 15 FPS. Alternatively if you lift your finger for a second and then resume shooting, the buffer will clear.

Nov 01, 2023 at 03:20 PM

RoamingScott
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

CanadaMark wrote:
The Delkin Power G4 (latest gen) cards at 650GB and larger capacities have essentially the same minimum sustained write speeds as the Black cards. Below 650GB, they are considerably slower at 805 MB/s, so as long as you get the 650GB version (or larger) you aren't really giving up anything to the Black cards speed-wise.

If you want the highest minimum sustained write speeds in smaller capacities, you need to go with the Black Cards.

Temperature-wise, I have not seen any specific testing on the Delkin Power G4 cards, but the Delkin Blacks run extremely cool, more than 20C cooler than...Show more →

To be clear, this thread is about 2 different skus of Black cards, not Power.

And I still have yet to see proof on my Z8 or Z9 that the burst speed drops to 15fps even up to 1500 shots in a row.

Nov 01, 2023 at 03:32 PM

CanadaMark
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

RoamingScott wrote:
To be clear, this thread is about 2 different skus of Black cards, not Power.

And I still have yet to see proof on my Z8 or Z9 that the burst speed drops to 15fps even up to 1500 shots in a row.

The OP's second post was about the Power G4 cards, and unless I misunderstood his post, that is actually what he ended up ordering.

The 15fps slow down is in lossless compressed and if I am remembering correctly, has been the cause of some confusion with people thinking the lossless compressed buffer is also unlimited because it's difficult to tell 15fps from 20fps without looking at time stamps. Reading my post again though I did not make that very clear.

Nov 01, 2023 at 03:40 PM

RoamingScott
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

CanadaMark wrote:
The OP's second post was about the Power G4 cards, and unless I misunderstood his post, that is actually what he ended up ordering.

The 15fps slow down is in lossless compressed and if I am remembering correctly, has been the cause of some confusion with people thinking the lossless compressed buffer is also unlimited because it's difficult to tell 15fps from 20fps without looking at time stamps. Reading my post again though I did not make that very clear.

No worries. Delkin hasn't made this exactly easy to talk about clearly.

I think it was the 2TB Power (green) card that had the bonkers sale last time. In my research back then, I think the only thing that card couldn't do was 8K RAW at certain bitrates. The Power cards should be more than sufficient for most Z8/Z9 tasks.

Nov 01, 2023 at 03:46 PM

Douglas L
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Delkin Black Type B Cards Difference

CanadaMark wrote:
The OP's second post was about the Power G4 cards, and unless I misunderstood his post, that is actually what he ended up ordering.

The 15fps slow down is in lossless compressed and if I am remembering correctly, has been the cause of some confusion with people thinking the lossless compressed buffer is also unlimited because it's difficult to tell 15fps from 20fps without looking at time stamps. Reading my post again though I did not make that very clear.

Yes, initially I wa looking at two different Black cards but ended up buying a 625GB G4 Power cards, which has basically the same write speed as the black cards I was looking at, but for a lot less money.

Nov 05, 2023 at 05:11 AM


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