C300: C300 Mark II Memory Cards

Eric Coughlin

Eric Coughlin

Veteran
What memory cards are you getting for your C300 Mark II?

Anyone notice the new Lexar Pro cards recently listed on B&H as "NEW RELEASE!"?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1186716-REG/lexar_lc256crbna3600_pro_3600x_cfast_memory.html

About the same price as the other Lexar Professional cards, with very slightly faster speeds.

I'd really like 256 GB cards which SandDisk doesn't offer. That gives 1 hr 20 minutes of record time in 4K which isn't bad. I'll probably start with two of those and get two more later on. Dan Chung on NewShooter said, "The Lexar CFast 2.0 card worked well in the pre-production camera."
 
I've got two of the SanDisk 128gbs and will be sticking with those. Arri's been testing the Lexar's, but haven't approved them for the amira due to unstable data rates for the higher fps. That doesn't give me a lot of condifence in those cards.
 
I wouldn't exactly call Lexars cheap, and they've had a good reputation for quite awhile. It's not fully a matter of skimping, it's also a matter of not missing shots because my memory card ran out and stopped recording due to its small size. I know I've lost way more shots due to a camera's memory running out than I have to card failure (which has never happened to me).

If SandDisk had a 256 GB card and I had reason to believe it more reliable, perhaps I'd consider it, but a 128 GB card with 40 minutes of recording just isn't enough enough record time for my needs unless I had no other choice. Plus, the higher the cost of the cards, the lower the chance I'll use dual record, and I find dual record to be a much more reliable method of ensuring media is safe than buying a slightly more reliable memory card and not using dual record because it's too expensive. Just because it's a $16k camera doesn't mean the average buyer (such as myself) doesn't consider saving $2-4k on memory cards to be a good amount of money.

The Lexar cards have a listed write speed of 450 Megabytes per second, which is 3600 megabits per second. The C300 in 4K shoots at 410 megabits per second, which is just 11.4% of the write speed that the Lexar is capable of. The SandDisk's write speed is around the same at 440 Megabytes per second.

Both the Lexar and SandDisk cards have already been handling the 1320 Megabits per second Apple ProRes 444 at 3840 x 2160 on the Black Magic Ursa, and I'm not sure what the Ursa's 4k RAW data rates are, but the Lexars can handle that as well. Here is a link to a list of what cards are approved for use with the Ursa, which includes the Lexar cards; I believe that list originally started with just the SandDisk card of which the other manufacturers' cards were later added to the list once Black Magic had tested them out.

As one person on the Black Magic forums mentioned...

Ian Cresswell said:
Also, apparently the CFast card being certified for the camera has to do with more than just manufacturer's specs. It has to do with how the memory controller works with the Ursa hardware or something. People have similar complaints about SSDs in the BMPC4K. There are SSDs that should work, but don't because of controller issues or something.
Click to expand...

So essentially, despite specs, a card may or may not work with a given camera and different record settings. This isn't an Amira shooting in high speed, so I wouldn't think a separate test Amira did has much relevance here, and since as I just stated, the Lexars can handle much higher data rates, that doesn't seem to be the issue that the Amira was having.

At the end of the day, we'll have to see what works and what doesn't. As mentioned, Dan Chung said the Lexar works with the C300 Mark II, so I don't have reason to believe it will be an issue, unless perhaps he didn't test out 120 fps, which I'd think he would have.
 
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I'm not arguing your methods.

All I know for sure is that Arri hasn't approved the cards for use in their cameras, due to performance. That's enough for me not to use them.
 
I don't shoot anything other than SanDisk. Never had a single failure in my lifetime.

Sad part is $4k in cards gives only 168 minutes in 4K if I am dual recording.

IMG_6328.jpg
 
Ughh, I have already gone through this with so many forms of media, P2 cards, Compact Flash, SDHC/SDCX/SSDs, it gets old, having to tie up thousands on stupid cards that will probably be 1/4 of the price in a year. I just sold the last of my original P2 cards, they were already useless for the newest forms of AVCIntraUltraWoweeZowee 200 Mbps codec, they could only handle the older codecs. Guess you gotta pay if you want to play. I think Nedcam has it right, screw buying new cameras, just rent it all, all of the time or just produce. The gear fetish treadmill just keeps moving faster and costing more.
 
So now that some members here have the cameras in their hands, what memory cards are you using? Any experience with the Lexar cards?

Lexar has announced the 3500x which is stated as compatible with the C300 Mark II, not compatible with Arri, and the 3600x, which is compatible with Arri, but not the C300 Mark II. I thought the 3400x was compatible with both cameras, which would actually make it preferable over the newer cards. Also, since the 3500x and 3600x aren't out yet, they're a bit irrelevant to users who need cards now for their new C300 Mark II camera.
 
I bought 2 x 256GB Lexar 3400 cards.

I called Canon and they said they had tested and approved the Lexar 3300 (or some slightly lower number... cant remember which) but they said the 3400 Lexars were approved.
 
Do you recall who did spoke to at Canon that said the Lexar's are approved?

My Canon rep is still saying that the Sandisk CFast cards are the only approved cards.



pilkiwilky said:
I bought 2 x 256GB Lexar 3400 cards.

I called Canon and they said they had tested and approved the Lexar 3300 (or some slightly lower number... cant remember which) but they said the 3400 Lexars were approved.
Click to expand...
 
I am also curious about that Canon spokesman, I had a chat yesterday with a Dutch rental and they stated that the Lexar 256 3400x didn't pass the test, which is a bummer cause I just bought the 256 GB Lexar (which I will sell now).
 
Didn't pass what test?

I just bought four Lexar 256 GB 3400x from B&H.

Why would you sell yours? Can't you just return it if it doesn't work?
 
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