Best compact flash cards for Sony Z5 with MRC1K unit
 

I would be glad if anyone can recommend from experience the best make and type of compact flash card for use with a HVR-MRC1K fitted to my Sony Z5 camera. I bought a Kingston 16GB 133X card but it doesn't seem to be able to write data quickly enough (PAL 25fps). Any images containing the slightest movement appear jerky and I can only assume that frames are being dropped. Shots of the subject taken at the same time on tape are ok.

You should do some recordings simultaneously on the card and the tape and then compare them to see if the cards are the problem.

i use the sandisk extremeIII 16gig cards never had a problem

I also use sandisk extremeIII but the 32gig cards and so far I never had a problem.

Stelios

Thanks for the advice
 

Thanks for the info fellas. The footage was taken simultaneously on card and tape and it is definately the Kingston's slow write speed that is at fault. I will try a Sandisk high speed compact flash card as you suggested.

Sandisk
 

I use Sandisk everywhere - video, stills & audio and I've never had one fail on me yet - touch wood! (touches head ;-))

For the MRC1, I would recommend the 30Mbs ones (they have 30Mbs printed on them) as i have seen the Extreme III without that 30Mbs on them.

32gig cards are not recommended by sony Stelios make sure you record to card and tape

Really? Where does Sony say not to use 32GB cards?

Sony makes no mention of 32GB cards at all that I can find. The bigger cards aren't mentioned in their MRC1k Operating Guide because they didn't exist when the Guide was written. It makes no mention of the Z5, either.

This might explain what happened when I bought my Z5. The Sony dealer quoted me on 32G cards, and just before shipping told me that the Z5 "didn't work" with 32G cards and supplied 2 X 16G cards instead (at a reduced price of course!). They are Pretec 333X cards. I am glad to see that others are using 32G cards, because I need the extra length for conference work. I haven't had a problem with them.

There are already a few threads on this, but FWIW I've had five of seven Kingston 32GB Elite Pro 133xes go total failure on me, just as has been described by others. They've been RMA'ed and I just ordered nine Sandisk Extreme IIIs -- they've got a huge rebate deal going which brings their price down to about the same as the Kingstons ($82 each). We'll see how they work.

cf cards
 

Adam,

where are you purchasing your extreme III's ?

It's not a sponsor here, so email me and I'll send you a link...

But if you go to Bing Shopping and search for "32GB Compact Flash sandisk" you should end up with a (reasonably reputable) vendor selling a 3-pack for $446 after the Bing 3% cash back. Then there's a $200 rebate from Sandisk, which brings the price down to $82 each.

I hate to sound stupid but what is the conversion for the 30MB/s in relation to the cards that go by speed? In other words, my Lexar is 300x, does the 30MB/s convert to a number like that?

I believe it's the equivalent of 200x.

They don't make it easy for you to figure out, do they?

sorry to re-visit this thread, but i'm getting my z5 sometime this month....

i gather from the above that san disk extreme lll are compatible and widely recommended here.

a. any there any other brands of note?

b. what exactly am i looking for in a cf card? as adam pointed out - it's not easy correlating the card speed to the mb/s of hdv.

c. are 2 x 16 better than 1 x 32gig? in regards to potential failure, etc.,

tia

leslie