Some info on CF express cards for X-2HS

Thought it would be useful to share this information for anyone considering the X-H2S, many of whom I would guess, like me, might not have used CF Express cards up until now.

You'll want to get a decent CF Express card for the new camera, and I have discovered three things about CFe cards:

1. They can be very finicky about working fully in particular camera models
2. They have their own firmware that the vendors can use to address point 1
3. The way different vendors address point 2 varies.... a lot

I initially started looking at Prograde Digital Cobalt cards, which are certified by Fujifilm for the X-H2S. Since I shoot almost exclusively stills though, I don't really need the 325GB per card that is the minimum capacity PG offer, and I would rather have more smaller, cheaper cards.

That lead me to Angelbird, specifically their AV Pro SX card, which is only available in 160GB but offers high sustained write speeds and is targeted at users who shoot high FPS stills and video clips, but don't need massive capacity. They are also roughly half the price of the PG cards (so about the same per GB).

Angelbird cards are not currently certified by Fujifilm, but have a solid reputation in the pro AV market, and from what I have read, offer regular firmware updates to support new cameras and address issues. The caveat is, you must use Angelbirds' own card reader in order to apply the firmware updates.

The weird thing is, Prograde don't currently allow users to apply firmware updates themselves, you have to send the card back to them:

There's more information on CFe card compatibility (in the Nikon Z forum, but gives you an idea of some of the issues people have faced):

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65926666

I didn't investigate any further with other vendors, I am going to take the chance on the Angelbird cards.

I'm not going to try Angelbird until I hear from someone that can confirm it works with the X-H2S.

I just hope the X-H2(R?) comes with dual UHS-ii slots

https://www.fujirumors.com/do-not-use-these-angelbird-cfexpress-cards-on-fujifilm-x-h2s/

May be not then 🤣

Mind you, a lot could change by the time the cameras ship...

...seems like the obvious choice for me then. Have sent Angelbird an email anyway.

https://camnostic.com/cfexpress-cards-comparison/

Just quietly launched, not on the compatibility list yet, £131 each if bought in a twin pack, which makes them about a third cheaper then Angelbird SX 160GB or Delkin Black 150GB.

Snap Happy wrote:

Just quietly launched, not on the compatibility list yet, £131 each if bought in a twin pack, which makes them about a third cheaper then Angelbird SX 160GB or Delkin Black 150GB.

Correction - more like £158 each with shipping and taxes, if you buy 4.

I used (not very) Compact Flash cards in my first digital camera about 20 years years ago. Is the new form factor really that bad? All sounds rather retrograde. Luckily the new camera also has an SD card slot as well, nice one Fuji.

21William wrote:

I used (not very) Compact Flash cards in my first digital camera about 20 years years ago. Is the new form factor really that bad? All sounds rather retrograde. Luckily the new camera also has an SD card slot as well, nice one Fuji.

Remember those CF IBM Microdrives ? 1GB for £300 IIRC

I don't think the CFe form factor is inherently bad, it's just the whole ecosystem has got more complex. I think, from what I've read, mostly the issues with CFe centre around video and the various different formats/codecs.  My impression is for stills there are far less issues.

CFe cards are not just dumb memory, there's an onboard storage controller which is proprietory to the vendor (hence the firmware updates) and I am guessing that the multiple permutations of camera hardware, camera settings, camera firmware, codec and storage controller makes it practically impossible for vendors to have everything fully tested all the time.

Snap Happy wrote:

21William wrote:

I used (not very) Compact Flash cards in my first digital camera about 20 years years ago. Is the new form factor really that bad? All sounds rather retrograde. Luckily the new camera also has an SD card slot as well, nice one Fuji.

Remember those CF IBM Microdrives ? 1GB for £300 IIRC

I don't think the CFe form factor is inherently bad, it's just the whole ecosystem has got more complex. I think, from what I've read, mostly the issues with CFe centre around video and the various different formats/codecs. My impression is for stills there are far less issues.

CFe cards are not just dumb memory, there's an onboard storage controller which is proprietory to the vendor (hence the firmware updates) and I am guessing that the multiple permutations of camera hardware, camera settings, camera firmware, codec and storage controller makes it practically impossible for vendors to have everything fully tested all the time.

Thanks for the info. I’m not in the market for a camera that uses CFe but it’s interesting to know what’s out there. It seems like some future proofing from FujiFilm to add it to their latest camera so probably a good idea. 
I’m wondering if CFe might be better for longer term storage than SD cards. I say this as I’ve used SD cards as compact storage (luckily not in isolation) for one of my iPads and I’ve noticed that some of the images on the card have become corrupted or just unviewable over time.

As someone who has "been there, done that" from a CFE perspective, I thought I'd give my input from experience.

To put things into the real world, even the slowest of CFE cards will massively outperform the best of UHS-II SD cards. Unless you're going big on the video, you're likely never going to touch the sides on the speed/buffer front on CFE cards.

I opted for the Angelbird SE series, because their 512GB cards are excellent value for excellent performance. Even smashing high fps RAW's, I've never once touched the limit of the buffer.

Sure, I probably could if I tried in the name of science - but it's certainly not needed in the real world for me at least.

noggin2k1 wrote:

As someone who has "been there, done that" from a CFE perspective, I thought I'd give my input from experience.

To put things into the real world, even the slowest of CFE cards will massively outperform the best of UHS-II SD cards. Unless you're going big on the video, you're likely never going to touch the sides on the speed/buffer front on CFE cards.

I opted for the Angelbird SE series, because their 512GB cards are excellent value for excellent performance. Even smashing high fps RAW's, I've never once touched the limit of the buffer.

Sure, I probably could if I tried in the name of science - but it's certainly not needed in the real world for me at least.

Good to know, thanks. Must admit I am leaning towards Angelbird as they do seem good value and the most geared-up to deliver firmware updates.

21William wrote:

It seems like some future proofing from FujiFilm to add it to their latest camera so probably a good idea.

I think it's mainly about speed, CFe interface is 4-5 times quicker than the fastest SD card.

noggin2k1 wrote:

As someone who has "been there, done that" from a CFE perspective, I thought I'd give my input from experience.

To put things into the real world, even the slowest of CFE cards will massively outperform the best of UHS-II SD cards. Unless you're going big on the video, you're likely never going to touch the sides on the speed/buffer front on CFE cards.

I opted for the Angelbird SE series, because their 512GB cards are excellent value for excellent performance. Even smashing high fps RAW's, I've never once touched the limit of the buffer.

Sure, I probably could if I tried in the name of science - but it's certainly not needed in the real world for me at least.

While this might not necessarily be THE definitive source for such information, these guys are more often right than wrong on issues like this.  I will likely avoid Angelbird cards for the time being, at least until I hear differently from more than one credible source that their performance with the X-H2S has been professionally tested and will be acceptable:

https://www.fujirumors.com/do-not-use-these-angelbird-cfexpress-cards-on-fujifilm-x-h2s/

There are plenty of choices out there, so I guess I'm a bit on the risk adverse side when it comes to something as critical as these cards.

No response from Angelbird so far and it looks like they have removed the X-H2S from their camera compatibility pages - it was there but IIRC did not have any cards listed at that time. This could just mean they were preparing to list it but testing has taken a while longer.

Anyway, if you're in the UK, the best deal I found on a single card certified at the highest still burst rate by Fuji is a Lexar Gold 256GB at £270 from amazon.co.uk (import from Amazon US). I've ordered one.

Delkin Black 150GB is around £200, only place I have seen in stock though is Grays.

Prograde Cobalt 165GB I got down to about £140 using discount codes, but that's buying 3 to hit the minimum price for free shipping. I'd rather get the single Lexar and see how it goes.

Just curious, but does anyone here have any insight as to why Fujifilm decided to use one of each (cfe-b + sd)? Why not just use two cfe-b cards?