C300: Anyone successfully shooting 4K C300 MKII with these Delkin CFast Cards?

puredrifting

puredrifting

Major Contributor
Yes, I know, only use the certified Lexars and Sandisks but at this this price, it looks tempting to pick one up and try it. Spec-wise, these are superior to the Sandisks and Lexars at a 495 MB/S write speed but I know, not certified.
https://www.amazon.com/Delkin-256GB...96815&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=VPG130+CFast+card

At the very least, it would be interesting to pick one up and shoot against the Sandisk and Lexar, see how it does as the card fills up, run repeated torture cycles with them, etc. $300.00 for 256GB is a good price, where all of the CFast really should be anyway by now.

Delkin.jpg
 
Eric Coughlin said:
Run torture tests? More like, use the cards for 2-3 years and then report back how they perform.
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I was thinking more like setup the C300 MKII to AC power and repeatedly fill them up, making note of any dropouts, digital noise/blocking/audio issues, take them out and shoot with them in high heat, vibration/movement scenarios, etc.? I know, tough choice to stake your work and livelihood on cheap CFast cards but Delkin is not no name Chinese, they are legit and I have used them for other cards with good results. Of course, I would always shoot proxies or with my Blade while using these so you have a safety net.
 
It would be good to find some reliable and dependable brands other than Sandisk and Lexar.

I have used Pro Spec, which are Calumets own brand, Compact Flash for still photography.
 
I've now used several 256gb Transcend CFX600 cards on quite a few shoots over 6-8 hour periods, at all resolutions including 4k and haven't had a single issue so far.
 
Sandisk now has 256 GB CFast available which are compatible with Arri, Canon, and Blackmagic. If you ever shoot with either of those cameras as well, the rental costs of not needing to rent CFast could be worth the extra money.
 
I've used Delkin for CF in the past with no issues. I'd expect the same from CFast 2.0. However, as was noted for Lexar, certain CFast 2.0 cards have issues with certain cameras...
 
I bet there are some C300 MKII owners who have tried these, just have to track them down or hope they see this. If these would work on the C300 MKII, they would be a great way to contain costs when you need a lot of media to shoot on as I often do.
 
The reviews on B&H were iffy. I've been using the Transcend 128gb CXF650 cards without issue. Cheaper than Sandisk and Lexar.
 
klk said:
The reviews on B&H were iffy. I've been using the Transcend 128gb CXF650 cards without issue. Cheaper than Sandisk and Lexar.
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Just took a look at the B&H reviews. Yes, not really confidence inspiring with the C300 MKII. Oh well, guess it has to be Lexars, just wish they were cheaper. You've been using the Transcends on the C300 MKII shooting 4K?
 
puredrifting said:
You've been using the Transcends on the C300 MKII shooting 4K?
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Yes, no issue so far. When I spoke with the B&H sales rep he said if a product is listed under "accessories" it's known (by them) to work. Makes sense- what retailer wants to recommend a cFast card if it doesn't work?
 
klk said:
Yes, no issue so far. When I spoke with the B&H sales rep he said if a product is listed under "accessories" it's known (by them) to work. Makes sense- what retailer wants to recommend a cFast card if it doesn't work?
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Hmm...when I look at the specs, it says that the Transcend only writes at 370 MB/S? Is that fast enough for 4k on the C300 MKII? The Lexar 3500X lists the write speed as 445 MB/S? I guess the Transcend must be if it's working for you? At least the Transcend is over $100.00 cheaper for the 256 GB card.
 
puredrifting said:
I bet there are some C300 MKII owners who have tried these, just have to track them down or hope they see this. If these would work on the C300 MKII, they would be a great way to contain costs when you need a lot of media to shoot on as I often do.
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I just picked one up, fingers crossed! I have tried the 128GB version and it seemed absolutely fine. Need to do more tests I guess. Might leave the 256GB in its packaging just incase.
 
puredrifting said:
Hmm...when I look at the specs, it says that the Transcend only writes at 370 MB/S? Is that fast enough for 4k on the C300 MKII? The Lexar 3500X lists the write speed as 445 MB/S? I guess the Transcend must be if it's working for you? At least the Transcend is over $100.00 cheaper for the 256 GB card.
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4K on the C300 Mark II is 405Mb/s... that's only 50.625MB/s... a 370MB/s card is going to be fine as long as it can sustain 60-80MB/s for some headroom.
 
So how much can you "save" by buying non-certified cards? 200-300$?
I'm always up for a bargain and I use my fare share of low-budget gear (e.g. LEDs).
BUT with recording media, it's just sth I see as an initial must-do-can't-skip investment.
(Having bought into P2 when the HVX came out, I have been down that road before...).
So yes, let's say 600$ more for two certified cards, is a full day of work (600$ being net gain).
But from then on it's smooth sailing, without giving another thought to "will my cards f*** up my project?".
Getting older, having peace of mind probably has become my number one luxury item:)
 
IIRC, on BMD URSA tests, Delkin CFast 2.0 cards did ProRes Standard fine (500 Mbps) but that was pretty much it. They pooped out with even Prores HQ, which is ~ 770 Mbps, and certainly with any Raw format. But, at 405 Mbps, XF-AVC should work.

But test and retest yourself.
 
There's something up with those Delkins though... Cheesycam did a video comparing format times and the Delkins took like a minute and a half to FORMAT... vs. less than 20 seconds for the Transcends he compared them to... if I remember right.

That's a very odd result that makes me give the Delkins a bit of side-eye.
 
jbregar said:
There's something up with those Delkins though... Cheesycam did a video comparing format times and the Delkins took like a minute and a half to FORMAT... vs. less than 20 seconds for the Transcends he compared them to... if I remember right.

That's a very odd result that makes me give the Delkins a bit of side-eye.
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That's strange. Mine formatted today in same time as a Sandisk Extreme Pro..
 
He was formatting them in an Ursa Mini, so maybe it's some incompatibility between them and the Ursa.

Yours is working fine in the C300mII?
 
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