PhotoFast 64 GB CompactFlash card
 

Dear Friends,

We have qualified the PhotoFast 64 GB, Model 533x, CompactFlash card is now qualified for use in the Flash XDR and nanoFlash.

At this time, we support up to 160 Mbps bit-rates for this card.

With our next release, we will support up to 220 Mbps. Our next release is expected in approximately two weeks.


Disclaimer: We have not performed adequate testing of this card in CompactFlash card readers attached to a Mac computer using Leopard.

We do not know if the Mac will harm this card, as Mac Leopard has been known to harm other cards.

We do not have enough experience with Snow Leopard to know if CompactFlash cards are safe in this newer Operating System.

I know of no reported patterns of CompactFlash cards being harmed in PC's.


The above disclaimer is not meant to disparage this new CompactFlash card. It is meant to convey that we feel that we do not have enough experience with this card in Leopard or Snow Leopard to give an "all clear" indication.

As always, we feel that the best way to protect your CompactFlash cards from Mac Leopard is to not put the card directly in any card reader attached to a Mac with Leopard.

An intermediate device, such as the Nexto is preferred.

Hi Dan that's great news. The burning question is where can I buy stock. I sent DVnation an email via the “contact us” on the web site a week ago so I could place an order as soon as you approved the card. This card would really help me with my long formwork. To date I have had no reply, It would appear they not very interested supplying small overseas orders.

Dear Lance,

I will work on that for you.

We also have had a hard time getting PhotoFast itself to respond.

We are working on it.

Dear Friends,

I just read a posting where it was reported that these cards have a one-year warranty.

I will try to confirm this information. I have just sent an email to PhotoFast.


Edit: We now know that Photofast offers a Lifetime Warranty on these CompactFlash cards.
Dr. Barry Weckesser found this information and make a post, below.

Dan - it states this on DVNation website: Media Cards from Photofast (Compact Flash, CFAST, SDHC) - Limited lifetime warranty from Photofast. DV Nation will handle your warranty by direct replacement from stock for the first 3 years from your purchase.

Sounds pretty good.

Dear Barry,

Thank you for finding this important piece of information.

CF Cards's Don't Burn in Snow Leopard
 

....HI Dan:
I've been inserting the Sandisk Extreme III and IV into Snow Leopard via the supplied USB reader without any damage to the cards. I use the MAC eject button in the drop down menu before pulling the USB reader out. All is well. I am using a late 2009 vintage iMAC.

Dear Mark,

Thank you for posting your experience.


Even with a card that was susceptible to damage; the damage only occurred infrequently.

Only occasionally did we have instances when one computer, with Leopard, fairly consistently destroyed cards.

So, we hope to build up some history with Snow Leopard. We hope we can close this chapter as soon as possible.

Dear Friends,

We have been in touch with PhotoFast today.

We are making progress so our companies can work together!

I'm quietly watching this one develop from the sidelines.

Critical Note on PhotoFast 64GB CF Cards
 

Just a quick note on the PhotoFast 64GB cards, that I completely forgot to communicate to anyone (please excuse my oversight).

The Photofast 64GB 533X Compact Flash card has incorrect size information in some of the ID headers read on power-up. The header used by the current nanoFlash firmware identified the card as 8GB, while the header used by most file system correctly identifies the card as 64GB.

This has been correccted in the next nano/XDR firmware release, which is now in final test. Until then the "64GB" card is limited to 8GB. The 32GB PhotFast card does not exhibit this issue.

As Dan mentioned, the 32/64 GB PhotoFast cards are currently limited to 160 Mbps, but will be increased to 220 Mbps with this new firmware. In our tests the 32/64 GB cards perform very well and have the fastest read (transfer times) we have ever measured (about 50 MBytes/sec using an Express 34 card).

On the other hand, we can not recommend the Pretec 64GB card, as initial tests were not positive.

We will endeavor to complete checkout of the new nano/XDR firmware ASAP, but release is always predicated on passing all the reliability tests.

Best-

I assume this means you will only be able to record on the 8 GB portion? When will the new firmware be out (I just ordered one of the 64 GB cards to try it out)?

Dear Barry,

With out current release 1.0.112, the card will appear as a 8 GB card and not a 64 GB card.

Our next firmware release is due out in approximately two weeks, depending on testing.


A few weeks ago, Mike Schell discussed the PhotoFast 64 GB card with me in detail.

There are approximately three places, internal to each CompactFlash card where a manufacturer can report the memory size of the card.

We have been looking in one place, one of the three places to determine the card's size.

This has worked with all of the cards we had tested up until we tested this PhotoFast card.


For the PhotoFast card, it reports 8 GB in two places, and it reports 64 GB in one place.

Obviously, the place where we look reports 8 GB.

So, in our next release, we check for this by checking in multiple places.


I had forgotten this detail, and forgot that we really could not recommend this card until the next release was ready. I am sorry for my error.

With our next release this will all be transparent to the user. It will just work as expected.

Excellent!
I would like to purchase a few 64Gb cards myself as well.

Thanks very much

Are the Photofast cards SLC (Single Layer Cell) or MLC (Multi-Layer Cell)?

PhotoFast

At 1,000,000, these cards may be SLC, but a confirmation would be required. I've read that real SLC is about 100,000 write cycles and MLC is anywhere from 100 to 10,000 write cycles. The cards contain firmware that spread the writes over the card, but MLC leakage can be a scary thing for data.

The fast write speeds of these cards also indicate that they are SLC, probably with an on-board controller to write to two or more parallel memory banks.

Though, the write performance picture at the bottom of the site is scary. What block size must be written to get the high Sequential write speed? From what I understand about flash, if complete "native" blocks are written, write speed is much faster.

Dear Gints,

The PhotoFlash 64 GB card, Model 533x, is a MLC (Multiple Level Cell).

There are no SLC 64 GB cards, as far as I know.

These fast speeds are obtained by using fast memory and parallel architecture.

Thanks for the info, Dan. The data integrity of MLC is scary, though with greater capacity, each cell is used less often in the same application. We're already reading about the high capacity Solid State Drives (SSD) that are wearing out.

Here is a good site for SSD articles that contain comparisons between "consumer grade" MLC and "professional grade" SLC:

Are MLC SSDs Ever Safe in Enterprise Apps? - article on STORAGEsearch.com

Dear Gints,

Solid State Drives are used entirely different than CompactFlash cards for video recording.

The File Allocation Table, as used by a typical operating system is updated almost constantly when any program in a computer is writing to a hard drive or Solid State Drive.

We have designed the nanoFlash to avoid these constant updates.


It is no surprise to me that some Solid State Drives are wearing out when being used in normal computer applications.

We expect our recommended CompactFlash cards to work for years, even if used continuously. The wear that we place on a CompactFlash can is no where near as heavy as everyday usage on a Solid State Drive.

We do recommend purchasing CompactFlash cards with a lifetime warranty.

One always has the option of purchasing SLC CompactFlash cards if desired. The largest that I know of are 16 GB at this time.

Hi Dan:
What's an SLC Compact Flash Card ?

EDIT: And I answer my own question = Single-Level Cell

EDIT 2: OK. I read this http://www.supertalent.com/datasheet...whitepaper.pdf

Dear Mark,

A SLC, Single Level Cell, uses technology which uses only one level of voltage to represent 1 bit. Voltage Present = 1, No Voltage Present = 0, or it could be reversed, but this is simpler and faster than MLC.

MLC is Multiple Level Cell. Different voltages represent the values placed into the cell. Thus, one can store multiple bits in one cell.

The difference is that it takes longer to generate the proper voltages and to read out the exact voltages which respresent the values.

SLC's have more endurance.

However, modern MLC's have been used for years, and good ones are very durable and reliable.

Most CompactFlash cards are MLC. More expensive ones may be SLC.

At any given point in time, so far at least, MLC has higher capacity.

SLC used to be higher in performance, but the very latest high capacity MLC CompactFlash cards have higher capacity than most SLC cards at this time.

The nanoFlash and Flash XDR can work with quality, qualified CompactFlash cards of either SLC or MLC design.

Dan Elaborated
 

Hi Dan:
Thanks for the heads up on this. You learn something new every day.

I just put the 64GB card in a USB reader and plugged it into my computer system - it shows it as being an 8 GB card - I assume this is the same problem as with the Nanoflash? (I am running Windows XP Pro).

Dear Barry,

Yes.

FYI-- DVNation shows no stock of 64gb cards as of Nov 10.

Hi Ned-
Just got a note from the guys at DVNation that more 64GB cards should be available next week. I recommended that they drastically increase their stocking levels on this card, as it will likely be very popular. We have qualified the 64GB card for bit-rates up to 220 Mbps, which means you can use our very highest quality: 180 Mbps Long-GOP.

Personally, I think $299 is a very reasonable price for a 64GB card. It's 1/3 the price of the new "low-cost" 64GB P2 card!

Best-