This week Sony announced they will be launching a range of high-performance CFast 2.0 memory cards. CFast 2.0 memory cards have become popular for videographers shooting with data hunger 4K cameras. Think Arri Alexa Mini, Canon C300 Mark II, and Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro to name a few CFast 2.0 memory card using cameras. Sony is calling these memory cards “G Series.” The G Series CFast 2.0 memory cards will be available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB (to be honest I wish they would make larger sizes like 128GB or 256GB). Sony decided to move in this direction because of the ever-increasing capabilities of high-end DSLR and 4K cinema-grade broadcast cameras. These G Series cards will offer lightning-fast write speeds of up to 510MB/s and read speeds of up to 530MB/s and join an established range of media that includes Professional internal SSDs, XQD and SxS cards, as well as the world’s fastest SD card.
If you are reading anything on this website then you already know Photographers, Videographers, and anyone else shooting professional images needs smart and fast media. We just want it to work. Thinking about media and whether or not it will handle a certain codec or raw 4K footage is right there at the bottom of the list of things I want to be thinking about while shooting on a project. Sony’s new G Series CFast 2.0 cards have a write speed up to 510MB/s write speed. The read speed on these cards is fast too. It’s clocked in at 530MB/s.
As well as ultra-fast read and write speeds, the new CFast cards support VPG130 for reliable recording of Cinema-grade or high-bitrate 4K video. A minimum sustained write speed of 130MB/s is guaranteed, making the new media ideal for stable recording of professional grade 4K video, such as Cinema RAW light mode with Canon C200 video cameras.
Sony has passed their new G Seris CFast 2.0 cards to a variety of stringent drop, vibration, shock and rigidity tests, making them perfect for shooting in many different locations. Sony also says these new cards will work reliably across a wide range of temperatures and are highly resistant to static. With a hard case and Sony File Rescue software, which is available when used with a card reader in a Removable Disk configuration, the cards can recover accidentally deleted photos such as RAW images and videos, allowing professionals to shoot with confidence in the toughest conditions.
Sony’s G Series CFast cards are planned to be available in early 2018 for a suggested retail price of $119.99 for 32GB, $199.99 for 64GB and $349.99 for 128GB.