a7s - SD cards

[Samuel H]

The manual says that the a7s won't record XAVC-S on cards smaller than 64GB, no matter how fast they are. Can anybody confirm this?

 

[nyvz]

Seems like it might have something to do with XAVC requiring exFAT instead of FAT32. Makes sense that they might have written into the XAVC spec that exFAT is required since XAVC supports things like 4K at up to 960Mbps, so being forced to split files every 2GB just to work with an 18 year old file system (FAT32) might be a bit ridiculous even though most <64GB flash memory still uses it.

If this is the case, probably just about any SDXC card should work since I don't think they even make < class-10 SDXC so the limitation is really just exFAT. I wonder if we could even just format 32GB SDHC cards as exFAT too. Then again 64GB SDXC cards are only $30 so it's really not such a huge limitation...

 

[Samuel H]

The card that didn't work for Erik Naso was a 16GB Sandisk Extreme U1 class10 45 MB/s. He replaced it with a 64 GB Kingston U3 SDXC, which worked.
Unless somebody can tell us of a <64GB card that worked, I guess the manual has to be right, probably for the exFAT reason that nyvz mentioned.


A 64 GB card will hold around two-and-a-half ours of 50Mbps footage, which is a bit more than what the a7s can record with two batteries (according to the manual). I've never shot that much in a day, but cards are cheap...

 

[jcs]

I tried formatting the SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB/s 32GB with exFat- still didn't work for XAVC. Should have two of these later today to test: http://www.amazon.com/PNY-64GB-Elite-Performance-UHS-1/dp/B00HIKBW1G/ (apparently made in Japan by Sony- if true and reliable, will be a good deal).

 

[Mestizo Devon]

Anyone know the card requirements?

 

[jcs]

Anyone know the card requirements?

>= 64GB UHS-1 Class 10 for XAVC. Other cards will work with AVCHD and MP4.

 

[Mestizo Devon]

Dig it

Thanks

 

[ReelWorksMedia]

Anyone see any reason why this card would not work perfectly with the A7s?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...dsdxs_128g_a46_extreme_sdxc_uhs_1_80mb_s.html

 

[photochris]

I'm using a couple $35 SDXC (from B&H) PNY 90MB/s cards and they work fine recording XVAC. I did stick a 16gb card in to see what would happen and the camera said it wasn't supported for video.

 

[Samuel H]

I'm getting either this PNY or this Transcend

 

[photochris]

I'm getting either this PNY or this Transcend

The PNY is the one I'm using. Great bang for the buck.

 

[Samuel H]

Cool. That's cheap and easy then

 

[jcs]

The 64GB PNYs I ordered work great so far.

 

[Samuel H]

sold!

 

[blafarm]

I know this thread is a bit dated, but is there a known lack of compatibility between the A7s and SDXC cards that are larger in size than 64GB?

For example, I've been thinking about these two >64GB cards:


SanDisk Extreme Plus 128GB SDXC UHS-1 Flash Memory Card Speed Up To 80MB/s
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DN43RGY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

PNY 256GB Elite Performance SDXC 90MB/s Flash Card
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FF90EZM/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2ZMWBP05360R6


Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Mo.]

I tried sandisk 64GB SDXC class 6 and didn't work..

 

[Samuel H]

The pny is working great for me so far. Thanks for the tip, guys

 

[aly324]

Pny 256gb works for xavc. I have it.

 

[benjaminreece]

PNY is fantastic! I have x3 128 (although it takes days of shooting to fill up one) + 1x 64GB- awesome value

 

[TheDingo]

SDXC UHS cards have a more sophisticated memory controller compared to SDHC cards, and will reliably handle higher bit-rates because of this.