F55: XQD card alternatives to SXS Pro Plus cards for 1/3rd the cost

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On the October version 2.0 firmware release Sony added XQD media card support to the F5 and F55 cameras, and recently Sony released a newer S-Series XQD card with a speed of up to 180MB/s (1440mbps).

I had a chance to test both the 168MB/s and 180MB/s S-Series cards using the highest bitrate possible on the F55 (600mbps) and can report it worked flawlessly.

For a 64GB card the XQD cards are about 1/3 the cost of the SXS Pro Plus card of the same size. Not to mention a USB reader for XQD cards costs around $29.

There are three different series of XQD cards so for the full scoop I wrote more about it here: http://cinetiny.com/m7pz2o2h
 
I've now sold all my 32gb and 64gb SxS-1A cards and now have 2 x Pro+ cards and 2 x XQD 180mbs 64gb cards with individual SxS adaptors. 64gb S-series 180mbs cards are now US$305 with free shipping on a few sites. I think they are good value, but if I see a cheapish Pro+ 128gb, I will probably pick up another one of those. I also have one AXS 512gb and would love another, but until the price drops closer to a grand, I'll be leaving that one alone.
 
Thanks for the write up Dennis, very helpful, what do you know about Sony's file rescue software? does it wok with all F55/F5 formats? I purchased 2 S series 64GB XQD cards and currently waiting on the card adapters to arrive. The SxS 1 cards only work with the MPEG 50Mb/S format on my F5, I tested them with the XAVC format and found sometimes only a partial file was recorded.
 
I followed your advice and ordered the XQD cards and adaptors - I just wanted to let everyone know that Amazon has the Sony XQD adaptors for 7 dollars each (brand-new in box, never used) - normally they are 33 dollars, so if you use three (two in the F55 and one for loading into computer) - the total cost is 21 dollars vs 99 bucks. It's not a lot of money but it's money nonetheless. If you want to pick them up, you might as well get them at the discounted price!
 
Hi Stephen, sorry I have never had to play with Sony's file rescue software but I did recover a corrupted clip from the F55 that was shot to SXS 1 cards by using the Windows scandisk utility - but I think in my case the file was corrupted in the transfer process not the camera, but I may never really know.

Jman- that sounds like a great deal. I bought a dedicated adapter for each XQD card which seems to make the most sense. Especially for the cheap price.
 
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