X-H2S - any issue with using just SD cards (256GB)

I have had great luck using a couple of brands of medium quality 256GB SD cards, 70MB/sec read/write speed in my X-H1 and X-T2.

If I upgrade to an X-H2S, will I have any issues with continuing to use these until the CF Express cards come down in price?

I am just a stills photographer.  No video usage.

The only issue I've had with the SD cards is that occasionally, I will run out of buffer space on the X-H1 or X-T2 and so shooting speeds slow to a crawl.

My understanding is that there is now a huge buffer with the X-H2S and so this should not be a problem.  Is this right?

Are there over 100 shots of JPG+RAW that I can shoot before I fill the buffer on an X-H2S?  If that's the case, I won't run out.

canonbcguy wrote:

I have had great luck using a couple of brands of medium quality 256GB SD cards, 70MB/sec read/write speed in my X-H1 and X-T2.

If I upgrade to an X-H2S, will I have any issues with continuing to use these until the CF Express cards come down in price?

I am just a stills photographer. No video usage.

The only issue I've had with the SD cards is that occasionally, I will run out of buffer space on the X-H1 or X-T2 and so shooting speeds slow to a crawl.

My understanding is that there is now a huge buffer with the X-H2S and so this should not be a problem. Is this right?

Are there over 100 shots of JPG+RAW that I can shoot before I fill the buffer on an X-H2S? If that's the case, I won't run out.

You are right - if you don’t shoot long bursts and are happy to maybe wait a while between bursts (and don’t need the extra read speed when transferring images to the computer) this will work.

But - a big advantage of the X-H2S is the speed and when you start shooting at 30-40 frames a second you will be surprised how many images you generate.

70MB/sec sounds like average performance UHS-I cards - they certainly won’t be on the compatible list.

Maybe start with those cards and see how quickly you get frustrated by their performance

Greybeard2017 wrote:

canonbcguy wrote:

I have had great luck using a couple of brands of medium quality 256GB SD cards, 70MB/sec read/write speed in my X-H1 and X-T2.

If I upgrade to an X-H2S, will I have any issues with continuing to use these until the CF Express cards come down in price?

I am just a stills photographer. No video usage.

The only issue I've had with the SD cards is that occasionally, I will run out of buffer space on the X-H1 or X-T2 and so shooting speeds slow to a crawl.

My understanding is that there is now a huge buffer with the X-H2S and so this should not be a problem. Is this right?

Are there over 100 shots of JPG+RAW that I can shoot before I fill the buffer on an X-H2S? If that's the case, I won't run out.

You are right - if you don’t shoot long bursts and are happy to maybe wait a while between bursts (and don’t need the extra read speed when transferring images to the computer) this will work.

But - a big advantage of the X-H2S is the speed and when you start shooting at 30-40 frames a second you will be surprised how many images you generate.

70MB/sec sounds like average performance UHS-I cards - they certainly won’t be on the compatible list.

Maybe start with those cards and see how quickly you get frustrated by their performance

Not being a birder or into sports or auto racing, I won't be shooting 30-40 fps bursts. What I do shoot is impromptu portraits and I'm used to shooting at Continuous Low at 4fps. With (I think) only about 25 shots on an X-T2 before the buffer filled, I did fill it often enough to find it annoying.

With the X-H2S and its much bigger buffer, I'm thinking I'd be fine.

The only worry I have is with weird lockups or other issues. I might even increase the FPS a bit to 6 (if that is possible) to ensure I capture the perfect expression.

Greybeard2017 wrote:

canonbcguy wrote:

I have had great luck using a couple of brands of medium quality 256GB SD cards, 70MB/sec read/write speed in my X-H1 and X-T2.

If I upgrade to an X-H2S, will I have any issues with continuing to use these until the CF Express cards come down in price?

I am just a stills photographer. No video usage.

The only issue I've had with the SD cards is that occasionally, I will run out of buffer space on the X-H1 or X-T2 and so shooting speeds slow to a crawl.

My understanding is that there is now a huge buffer with the X-H2S and so this should not be a problem. Is this right?

Are there over 100 shots of JPG+RAW that I can shoot before I fill the buffer on an X-H2S? If that's the case, I won't run out.

You are right - if you don’t shoot long bursts and are happy to maybe wait a while between bursts (and don’t need the extra read speed when transferring images to the computer) this will work.

But - a big advantage of the X-H2S is the speed and when you start shooting at 30-40 frames a second you will be surprised how many images you generate.

70MB/sec sounds like average performance UHS-I cards - they certainly won’t be on the compatible list.

Maybe start with those cards and see how quickly you get frustrated by their performance

I agree with this though when you put a bunch of frames in the buffer it's going to take a long time to clear the buffer and this is when it could be an issue.

Morris

canonbcguy wrote:

The only worry I have is with weird lockups or other issues. I might even increase the FPS a bit to 6 (if that is possible) to ensure I capture the perfect expression.

I've tried testing with really old slow cards out of curiosity and have seen glitches where  files gets corrupted during a long fast burst. These are slower cards than you have but I'd recommend thorough testing before you risk the cards on an important shoot.

canonbcguy wrote:

I have had great luck using a couple of brands of medium quality 256GB SD cards, 70MB/sec read/write speed in my X-H1 and X-T2.

If I upgrade to an X-H2S, will I have any issues with continuing to use these until the CF Express cards come down in price?

I am just a stills photographer. No video usage.

The only issue I've had with the SD cards is that occasionally, I will run out of buffer space on the X-H1 or X-T2 and so shooting speeds slow to a crawl.

My understanding is that there is now a huge buffer with the X-H2S and so this should not be a problem. Is this right?

Are there over 100 shots of JPG+RAW that I can shoot before I fill the buffer on an X-H2S? If that's the case, I won't run out.

You are planning on buying a top-flight camera with a significant price tag and are seemingly unwilling to invest in either CF Express cards or the highest speed SD cards which are best suited to its capability. Interesting choice.

I only use SD cards for stills and I've never had an issue when using burst mode and pre-shot etc. That said, I rarely use burst mode for more than a second or so anyway.

Alan Hewitt Photo wrote:

I only use SD cards for stills and I've never had an issue when using burst mode and pre-shot etc. That said, I rarely use burst mode for more than a second or so anyway.

What speed of card do you use Alan?

I'm not very technical with it so I couldn't really tell you what all of the numbers mean. I do know it is a pretty fast card though (that's as technical as I often get!), a lot quicker than the OP's anyway.

I have these in 64gb and 128gb....

I just tested one and it took 186 lossless compressed raws at 40 fps before it began to slow on the shutter.

I use the Angelbird 512GB AV PRO CFexpress 2.0 Type B SE Memory Card with my XH2s...great for the price!

You would probably benefit from a quicker card but I don't think you need to spend a great amount of money based upon how you describe your photography.

There is no a priori any obstacle to use only a Sd card with the XH2 family. Their buffer is huge for photography, and with a  633x card photo at 40fps is ok

In video you will be imited to some formats and to some settings due to th slow speed of the card, but for simple footages it does work ok

Tha said I would strongly recommend you spare some $$$, watch prices and find aCF E type card at a reasonable price which is now possible

Bob

I agree with baobab.  I had slower sd cards when I upgraded to the x-h2s.  CFExpress card prices seemed too high, but I chose one with less capacity from a brand I had heard of.  Now I don’t have to think about it.

Hi going back to your original post question

There is no issue with just using sd card

The x-h2 cameras have huge buffers - 5Gb

So for the shooting you described the buffer in combination with your existing sd cards will be just fine

And as noted in your original post you can upgrade to cfx when the prices reduce further

Your thinking was 100% correct

Lentille wrote:

Hi going back to your original post question

There is no issue with just using sd card

The x-h2 cameras have huge buffers - 5Gb

So for the shooting you described the buffer in combination with your existing sd cards will be just fine

And as noted in your original post you can upgrade to cfx when the prices reduce further

Your thinking was 100% correct

Perfect.  You have removed another obstacle from going forward with the X-H2S.

baobob wrote:

There is no a priori any obstacle to use only a Sd card with the XH2 family. Their buffer is huge for photography, and with a 633x card photo at 40fps is ok

Tha said I would strongly recommend you spare some $$$, watch prices and find aCF E type card at a reasonable price which is now possible

Bob

I suspect that sooner than I think, I'd upgrade if the prices do come down or a decent card is available at a good price now.

The only hangup I currently have with SD cards is that if I shoot a burst and then turn off the camera (currently an X-H1), the camera will dutifully write out the buffer to the SD card before fully turning itself off.  This is normally fine.

There have been times though when, immediately after turning off the camera, another opportunity comes up.  If I then turn on the camera, nothing will happen until the buffer is completely written out to the SD card at which time the camera will then turn off.   I then have to fire it back up before being able to take photos again. This could take a while.

It's annoying because if I had NOT turned off the camera after the initial burst, the X-H1 would be able to continue to take shots, even in burst mode, using any free buffer space that was available.

With a bigger buffer comes the potential for a greater amount of annoyance.

With a near-full buffer, 5GB for the X-H2S someone said here, then simple math has it taking as much as 72 seconds to write it all out to a 70MB/sec SD card, likely a bit longer.

Having the X-H2S be stalled for a minute and half could cause me to grit my teeth...

...maybe with it's much better battery life, I won't be reflexively turning it off so much.