C200: Angelbird Cfast 512GB compatibility with C200

Danilo Del Tufo

Danilo Del Tufo

Well-known member
Hello there!
I'd like to know if you C200 users are using the Angelbird Cfast Card 512GB :
I've an Angelbird 512 Cfast card and sometimes the camera doesn't detect the card (alert red dot on the camera's display) and it can't be mounted via Atomos Cfast Card Reader on the iMac Pro with High Sierra or my my old iMac with Sierra. I dunno what to do! I really like to have a 512GB card to have 1 hour of recording time so I dunno what other brand to choice or wait for a fix with C200 firmware update coming first quarter of this year.
Any Advice? Thanks!
 
I asked a similar question on the C200 Facebook group. The consensus was that the Wise 512 GB card works reliably.
 
1) this is a known issue with any 512GB card on the C200. They don’t reliably mount in camera.

2) strongly suggest trying the Sandisk Cfast Card reader. It’s one of the only reliable readers on USB 3.0 (besides the ARRI / Codex reader that costs 6 times as much)
 
Dustin Svehlak said:
1) this is a known issue with any 512GB card on the C200. They don’t reliably mount in camera.
Click to expand...

Which card were you using? I ask because no one using the Wise 512 GB card mentioned having any problems with it. I don't have one but I'm curious about the experience of other people.
 
I can't speak to the Wise cards but I've read multiple reports regarding the Sandisk 512GB cards and there's a review thread here that describes the issue with the 512GB Angelbird cards.

...the cards worked without fail with one small exception, the 512GB card would sometimes not get recognized by the camera??
power-cycling the camera would fix this and then the card functions normally even when removed and reinserted again.
Others have reported this same issue with the Egodisk 512GB card which leads Angelbird to conclude that it's more a camera/ex-fat problem than card problem since this card doesn't exhibit this issue in other camera's which often utilize a different format method be it ntfs or hfs+
Hopefully its a bug that can be rectified with a firmware update from Canon.
Click to expand...
 
fhammond said:
Which card were you using? I ask because no one using the Wise 512 GB card mentioned having any problems with it. I don't have one but I'm curious about the experience of other people.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure someone had problems with those as well. I believe it was on the facebook group by someone who had it. Maybe minor problem, like a buffer alert showing. Enough for me. If I'd buy a C200, I'd buy the 256 Egodisk. Aren't those the one with the higher positive feedback as of today?
 
Just wanted to let everyone know who stumbles about this thread that this issue never has been resolved. Angelbird still recommends using the 256GB cards.
 
I'm still using the EgoDisk 256s without any issues. I never tried the Egodisk that Chris mentions but I bet it would work fine.
The Egodisk cards, in general, with our C200 and the 300 MKII, have been rock solid reliable winners.
 
Found that Angel Bird CFST2.0 512GB card did not work in the Alexa mini.

(sorry, I know it is only remotely related to this thread.)
 
James0b57 said:
Found that Angel Bird CFST2.0 512GB card did not work in the Alexa mini.
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The Alexa Mini will only recognize specific cards. Angelbird makes a specific card that has been ARRI certified - https://www.angelbird.com/prod/av-pro-ar-256gb-2115/?category=240

While I'm here to bump this thread - I have a live event coming up in October that is going to be 60-70 minutes long and I'd like to capture it in Canon Raw Light (because I'm a masochist). At this point, given that the maximum supported method of capturing RAW on the C200 is using the 256GB cards, I plan to just do a quick swap of the cards after 30 or so minutes and keep rolling. I tried using a Solid Pod Lite with a Samsung M.2 SSD and on my very first attempt, it failed around 50 minutes in and the resulting CRM file was corrupt. So that will be going back to the manufacturer.

Has anyone tried using a 512GB card to capture an hour or longer RAW file on the C200? I'm doing a test right now swapping from one 256GB CFast to another but figured I would pose the question here.
 
marktipple said:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1473940-REG/wise_advanced_cfa_10240_1tb_cfast_2_0_memory.html

Works a charm with the C200, and I've read works with the bmpcc 6k and Red Komodo so will be useful for other cameras too
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I wish I could justify the cost but as this is for a single shoot, I think I'll just have to do a card switch in the middle of the event using a couple of my 256GB CFast. I haven't messed with RAW in a couple years and I am kind of shocked that the price hasn't decreased. Sounds like a lot of manufacturers have a ton of CFast sitting in inventory and hoping to get a return on their investment lol.

FWIW, I think the Solid Pod (specifically the Lite version with a Samsung 1TB Evo 860) is a great option for the C200 if you're not firing off very long takes. I did a ton of testing over the last couple days and of the 5 or so attempts I made to shoot a 60+ minute take, I was only ever able to get it to mount on my computer successfully one time. Unlike previous Solid Pod iterations, you don't remove the SSD and "dock it" to your computer for offload. You just use the CFast card end of the Solid Pod and plug it into a card reader and I think something about the "CFast card corded to an M.2 SSD housing" solution throws my Macs off because it wouldn't read properly most of the time.

That said, recording wasn't much of an issue (although I found I had to close the CFast card door on the C200 slowly for it to accept the Solid Pod's connection and I did have one fluke where the camera stopped recording randomly and the footage was corrupt). That said, in all the testing I did with short takes, it worked fine. I just happen to have a very unique shoot coming up and it's not a good pairing for this.
 
Not considering which cards work and don't work, shooting a docu series, I, as a producer feel MUCH more comfortable with smaller cards like the 256GB. Once you are shooting 512 and 1TB cards, numerically and by the laws of probability, you are increasing your chances of losing more footage exponentially when shooting these bigger cards. Cards do go bad. I would much rather lose one 256GB card worth of CRL (34 minutes), than hours and hours (136 minutes on a 1TB card). Spread the risk out.

Over the years too, I have found that the "must keep shooting constinuously come hell or high water" edict a lot of shooters seem to have is largely self-imposed.
Sure, there are boring documentation shoots of live events with a single camera where you MUST keep rolling continuously. But on any multi camera shoot, I can change
out a CFast card in less than 5 seconds. Is it going to cause the project to crash and burn if one camera missed :05 of the event that can usually be covered by a second or third camera? Sure, there are events that are that way where you can't miss a single second. But shooting interviews, it's pretty easy to just change cards and then back up by one sentence or paragraph. Often, it's a welcome little change of energy or a mini break to regroup for :15 and start in again too.
 
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I use a solid pod variant from CCTech, as well as the connector from Marian M, both with a Samsung 1TB Evo 860 M.2 ( about $170/1TB). I bought the Marian M one as a safety in case I ever had a problem with the CCTech. It took me a long time doing personal shooting before I felt comfortable using them on a job, but I have yet to have a problem with either set-up. Zero corrupt files. I still carry both to shoots, but I tend to use the Marian M one more often, as I can mount the cards in an inexpensive Sabrent enclosure and keep rotating them btwn camera and laptop using a SATA connector. I think the Marian M cable looks more rugged and resistant to abuse, too, though the Solid Pod type was easier to mount to camera. But again, I've had no issues with either, despite a lot of trepidation going in. YMMV, but it has saved me some cash.
 
I do still try to keep my clip size down as much as possible (stop/start during interview questions, etc.) "just in case" there should be any problems. Just a good habit that will save me someday.
 
djangosan said:
I do still try to keep my clip size down as much as possible (stop/start during interview questions, etc.) "just in case" there should be any problems. Just a good habit that will save me someday.
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FWIW, all of the times over the years I have had corrupt media cards and or files, it's usually a corrupt header file that makes the whole card not mountable. I've rarely, but not never had just a corrupt file or two with the rest intact. It did happen to me twice in the early days of P2 cards. But not since then and that was a long time ago.

I wave a dead chicken over the media cards, build a little volcano and sacrifice one to the Gods of media performance each shoot ;-)
 
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