Nikon announces 64GB and 120GB XQD memory cards

Perhaps a different controller. One is reserving 8GB for replenishing "bad sectors" (over time). The other one doesn't.

That 8GB space will be a reserve for both fast write and bad sector replenishment. Controller prepares that part for write, burst is written to that part. Equal amount of space will be rotated out and prepared for write again.

If a sector goes bad, it’s permanently rotated out, and burst and repair reserve is shrunk, not affecting the capacity.

All is done at controller level, hence neither camera nor user feels anything.

I think they include XQD card because of speed of SD cards has limitation. All manufacturers getting ready for more and more resolution video and SD cards can't be used for it...

In one year Nikon UK has seen one single failure of an XQD card. One single card! What other format comes even close?

Rolleix - right. Who really want a speed of XQD he will understand how nice they are for speedy works, for fast transfer a lot of files to HDD, etc. Also as many reviewers say XQD cards are much more secured and stable then SD.

@Rolleix
sure , but this XQD was the primary , not the "only" one :)

This only matters if the camera can write as fast as the card. First thing is to wait for some write speed benchmarks of the Z6 an Z7.

The A7 III has a buffer for 89 RAWs making it unnecessary to use UHS-II cards for anything other than 4K, 100Mbps recordings (firmware lock).

The use of only the UHS-II SD cards already slow down how fast my D850/D500 empty their buffers vs when I only use the XQD slot. I'm pretty sure the Z7 is going to be writing to the XQD as fast as it can. Even with the D850/D500 awesome buffers, I still will shoot with only the XQD card and leave the SD slot empty as I don't like to wait

Here is a PAIR of Sony 128 GB UHS-II SDXC cards (800 Mb/s write, 2080 Mb/s read) for $183.90.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1372394-REG/sony_256gb_m_series_uhs_ii.html

A single one is $91.95.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1238782-REG/sony_sf_m128_t_sony.html

Most pcs have card reader, are you talking old ones? USB-C is the best interface since computer was invented. Its simple, cheap and universal. With one cable, you can copy to pc, mac, android phone and back up device. Also it is for charging too. Carrying a Usb-c cable is almost no burden.

Right! Memory Card Made-in-Somewhere. Slap that Nikon sticker. Voila! People buy in droves for the Nikon of it.

No, I don't think it's about diversity in the product line. It's about providing assurance that XQD cards will be available, especially for the bodies that only use XQD. There was a lot of concern about that when Lexar dropped out and Sony cards were out of stock.

what fails first the camera or the memory card?

"what fails first the camera or the memory card?"

I do not know others, but I have one camera fails twice, and one TOSHIBA WiFi SD card fails once. I did not shoot video, so that why my cards only fails once in my life.

But one thing keeps in mind, when my TOSHIBA WiFi SD card fails. all the photos were gone (can not read from the card). That was BAD as the very last thing you wanted is to lose photos from a trip.

of course, I just find it to be something that happens rare and if one is doing professional work then you'll have redundancy for everything you're using for the job. Two cameras, more than one card, batteries, flash..etc I've had a card fail on me and i blame it on poor management of it, like not properly unmounting it from my computer. I think thats a issue many don't speak upon and just blame the card itself rather in how we use and care for them as we should for the rest of our gear. I know things happen but a lot can be prevented with proactive care, then again its still a very small chance a card just like a high end camera would just fail out random occurrence especially today's offerings. The Z6 and 7 only having one slot is definitely a show to that as well being those bodies are not pro cameras. Want 2 slots or 3, then get a pro and they'll happily sell it to you at pro price. Its why i still hold on to my D7200

What if your car's brakes don't fail 99.9% of the time?

It isn't just about card failure. It's also about card loss or misplacement. Once you remove a card from your camera, there are all kinds of things that could potentially happen to it aside from card failure. So many photographers like to have the redundancy of having the same images on two separate cards. It's been years since I've had a card failure, but card loss/misplacement/theft has certainly happened.

mick232; You can ask same question to people who bought Live insurance in early age, 99.9% of them will not dead while insured. Or other insurances that you bought, but never used. Dual memory card is an insurance.

"what fails first the camera or the memory card?"
I've never had a card failure and only ever had 1 camera fail on me and that was after several years of use. A Canon 40D, after the 3rd repair I got rid of it.

Using one single XQD card is still taking less risk than shooting with a Sony that lacks proper weather sealing and is behind in reliability.

Huh, my Lexar 64GB XQD card says 440MB/s on it, maybe you just have some eyesight troubles?

One question, why is that important to you?

Dean:

Take a good look with your "troublesFREE eyesight", and tell me where is the write speed:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Lexar+64GB+XQD&rlz=1CAHPZX_enUS807&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiz-IXfoYbdAhXPwFkKHdf4A9QQ_AUICygC&biw=1920&bih=1055

For me it is not about redundancy. Sometimes, when I shoot auto racing, I will do high speed bursts of a lot of shots. Not having a second card could result in missing the most important shot of the day.

In practice the XQD cards are much faster than even the best UHS-II cards though. No UHS-II card is anywhere close to the limit in camera even if the cards are capable of faster writes on a PC reader/writer. Also, SD cards suck for durability. I've had quite a few SD cards fail because of that stupid write protection switch and with UHS-II cards the old tape trick doesn't really work anymore because of where the second pin row is located.

You need to see the difference between the way the buffer clears n a D850 when you use the XQD compared to even the fastest UHS II SD cards. In tests the D850/D500 were about as fast as there is in terms of in camera SD writing speed so, in other bodies, it would be even worse. Even the fastest UHSII cards above 128gb are really slow to write compared to the smaller cards. As for your 8K claims those write figures are not the sustained speeds which is more important for video. But it's the bit rate that matters. You can't shoot HD raw to almost any card so high bitrate 8K would choke pretty much anything.

I just wish camera makers could just move to m.2 NVMe SSDs instead. Compared to the cost of an XQD card, something like the Samsung 970 pro is multiple times faster, has far higher endurance (9+ petabyte write endurance), and can write fast enough for 30FPS 50 megapixel 14 bit raw capture without touching the buffer of the camera. All for half the price per GB of a decent XQD card.

They are only larger because they are designed around a disk slot made popular by hard disks. If you open up a 2.5" SSD it is mostly an empty shell.

If they want to be like printer companies, maybe they can put in 4 card slots next time - one for each color.

If you're doing 4k filming, you're likely going to be using an Atomos.

A smart move from Sony. Now if a customer buys a 2000$ Nikon, they don't just get the sensor money, but also 500$ worth of XQD sales.

Makes you wonder why Nikon plays along

Just like the sensor and evf etc., Nikon is just rebranding Sony tech in the z series

Offer a XQD card in some bundles sure, but why include a card that not all customers will want, pushing the price up for those customers (the cards are not free for Nikon, so let us not pretend that bundling a card will not increase the price). Some (in particular owner of high end Nikon DSLRs) will already have the XQD cards they need (and might sensibly wait for CF Express cards and support to arrive before adding more cards); some customers will want a different capacity card that the one included.

Motto of the day: "Included in the price" always increases the price.

steelhead3 you do not seem to realise Nikon was one of the developers of the card format.

sony makes nikon sensors that are contracted to be built to a spec

isn`t Foxconn doing the same for apple? umm exactly

@steelhead3: you look on pretty much any device that has more than one part and you will almost certainly recognize a third party’s name on some of them.

Sony can manufacture Nikon-designed sensors for less money and at higher reliability than Nikon, so it makes a lot of sense to contract the manufacturing to them. The sensor has Sony’s name on it as a result. But as you have read many times here, if you have paid attention, “manufactured by” doesn’t necessarily mean “designed by” the same company.

Where have you been, the QXD has been around since the D4.