C200: Which CFAST Readers are you reliably using? Sandisk Readers on Eternal Backorder

Hey Terry!

I would be very wary of using that brand as I understand it's a company comprised of former Lexar engineers and we had so many issues with their USB 3.0 CFast readers that we pulled them from all of our kits. Their Thunderbolt readers were fine, however.

And the issue wasn't catastrophic, they would just not consistently mount the card. Any time I talked to someone having this issue, my first question was, "is this a Lexar USB 3.0 reader" and 9 times out of 10 it was. If it was one of the readers that had a Thunderbolt option, they would switch cables and that resolved the issue. If not, I would be running a Sandisk or Codex card reader out to the location.

ALL THAT SAID - I would gladly test one of these for you if you'd like! My only problem with the Sandisk reader is how flimsy it feels and the glossy, scratch prone plastic it's made of. But I've heard it has the same internals as the $400 Codex reader and based on its performance, I tend to believe that.
 
Dustin Svehlak said:
Hey Terry!

I would be very wary of using that brand as I understand it's a company comprised of former Lexar engineers and we had so many issues with their USB 3.0 CFast readers that we pulled them from all of our kits. Their Thunderbolt readers were fine, however.

And the issue wasn't catastrophic, they would just not consistently mount the card. Any time I talked to someone having this issue, my first question was, "is this a Lexar USB 3.0 reader" and 9 times out of 10 it was. If it was one of the readers that had a Thunderbolt option, they would switch cables and that resolved the issue. If not, I would be running a Sandisk or Codex card reader out to the location.

ALL THAT SAID - I would gladly test one of these for you if you'd like! My only problem with the Sandisk reader is how flimsy it feels and the glossy, scratch prone plastic it's made of. But I've heard it has the same internals as the $400 Codex reader and based on its performance, I tend to believe that.
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It was probably the USB 3 connector on the body of the reader(very fragile). I had several of their "Pro" CF/SD readers quit on me and it was always after I had put one back in the bag and forgotten to pull the cable. After a couple of times, I made the connection and started to always pull the cable when I packed them up. No problems since.
 
I like the angel bird reader, it has two slots and a switch to put the cards in read only mode. It’s fast and works great with the EGOdisk cards
 
I can vouch for the ProGrade Cfast reader being rock solid reliable. Very well made and it also has an SD card slot and a built in magnet to stick to things. I also have the SanDisk reader and I would say the ProGrade is a higher quality item.
 
Sigh, the fail rate for these Cfast readers is incredible. I've lost multiple cards on the Lexar CR1, the Atomos reader, and now I don't trust even the SanDisk one after reading some reviews (and are they being discontinued?). 3 of the 6 Sonnet reviews on B&H experienced card loss. Angelbird too. Want to believe in ProGrade but don't have experience with the brand. With the C300mkII it's not as worrisome because it has dual slot record, but both C200 and 1DXmkII only record to a single Cfast card. Losing data this often with Cfast card readers makes me terrified to plug in a day's work from one of these cameras into the computer.

// rant over.
 
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slavikb said:
Sigh, the fail rate for these Cfast readers is incredible. I've lost multiple cards on the Lexar CR1, the Atomos reader, and now I don't trust even the SanDisk one after reading some reviews (and are they being discontinued?). 3 of the 6 ProGrade reviews on B&H experienced card loss. Angelbird too. Want to believe in Sonnet but don't have experience with the brand. With the C300mkII it's not as worrisome because it has dual slot record, but both C200 and 1DXmkII only record to a single Cfast card. Losing data this often with Cfast card readers makes me terrified to plug in a day's work from one of these cameras into the computer.

// rant over.
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Not sure where you read bad reviews on the ProGrade reader. All the B&H reviews are positive. Same on Amazon as well.
 
I've downloaded over 150 256GB cards worth of data with the cheap Sandisk reader over the past year with not even a hiccup. Anectodotal, sample group of one, but it's worked like a rock.
 
shorty15 said:
Not sure where you read bad reviews on the ProGrade reader. All the B&H reviews are positive. Same on Amazon as well.
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Ah you're right, I had two windows open and mixed ProGrade up with the Sonnet reader. Fixed my post. ProGrade looks to be a winner. Will get that, since the SanDisk is backordered everywhere. Thanks all, glad to have some relief from the fear of losing more data.
 
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