Maxing out the Max’s SD transfer speed?

[TJ82]

I really want to get my video and image transfer speeds up on the Max Studio. At the moment I’m using this card: 256GB Samsung PRO Plus MicroSDXC 120MB/s +Adapter https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09D3N8..._dl_59Y47KCB0J5R8SMDKXCN?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Transfer speed is okay, but it does feel like there is room for improvement. Anyone has experience with real world speed of these cards and know if it’s the card or Studio Max that’s the bottleneck?

I usually transfer images from card into Lightroom with each file size being 85MB.

 

[BanditoB]

Once the SD card is mounted to the Mac Studio, you should be able to select it in the BlackMagic disk spreed test application and you can see what kind of throughput you are actually getting. If it’s not reasonably close to the card’s maximum transfer rate, then the Studio’s card reader is likely the bottleneck.

 

[thoang77]

The card is the bottleneck. Newer card readers in Mac machines support UHS-II cards. Those cards are identified by the additional row of pins below the usual row found on all full size SD cards. UHS-II cards that can reach the ~300MB/s read and write at 200+ MB/s are significantly more expensive than standard SD cards. Slower UHS-II cards that can read ~250MB/s but write at only around 100-140MB/s are pretty affordable though.

 

[TJ82]

My card says class 10, how does that compare to UHS-II? Find the speed classes really confusing..

 

[thoang77]

There's like 4 different numbering systems, but they all have their purpose:

• Class 2/4/6/10, really antiquated (from the late 2000s). Basically everything is class 10 now. Only requires ~30MB/s. Meaningless.
• V10/30/60/90 - refers to write speed minimums, helpful for video recording and determining the write speed. Unfortunately anything above V90 is all labeled the same, even if it's a 300MB/s card. V90 is generally a good label for a very fast card.
• U1/U3 - Kind of vague, U1 is fast, U3 is faster.
• UHS-I and UHS-II are physically different. As I mentioned, UHS-II has more pins. Not all cameras or card readers utilize both pins (newer ones do). It's like USB2 vs 3. Backwards compatible, but requires hardware to take full advantage of it.

Basically look at the Sandisk Extreme Pro line of SD cards. Generally regarded as the gold standard for high performing SD cards.
UHS-I 128gb SD - $27.99
UHS-II 128gb SD - $169.69

The UHS-I cards will get ~95/90 r/w while the UHS-II will get ~300/250 r/w. 5x the cost for ~3x the performance (disregard the 170mb claims on the sandisk card, as it requires their SD card reader to reach those read speeds).

I'm a professional wedding photographer so I go through a ton of cards and a ton of volume and I haven't found the need to get the high end UHS-II cards. I do like the cheap 1667x Lexar UHS-II cards though, as it gives a solid bump to r/w speeds, mainly read, on most of my camera bodies for a marginal cost increase

 

[TJ82]

There's like 4 different numbering systems, but they all have their purpose:

• Class 2/4/6/10, really antiquated (from the late 2000s). Basically everything is class 10 now. Only requires ~30MB/s. Meaningless.
• V10/30/60/90 - refers to write speed minimums, helpful for video recording and determining the write speed. Unfortunately anything above V90 is all labeled the same, even if it's a 300MB/s card. V90 is generally a good label for a very fast card.
• U1/U3 - Kind of vague, U1 is fast, U3 is faster.
• UHS-I and UHS-II are physically different. As I mentioned, UHS-II has more pins. Not all cameras or card readers utilize both pins (newer ones do). It's like USB2 vs 3. Backwards compatible, but requires hardware to take full advantage of it.

Basically look at the Sandisk Extreme Pro line of SD cards. Generally regarded as the gold standard for high performing SD cards.
UHS-I 128gb SD - $27.99
UHS-II 128gb SD - $169.69

The UHS-I cards will get ~95/90 r/w while the UHS-II will get ~300/250 r/w. 5x the cost for ~3x the performance (disregard the 170mb claims on the sandisk card, as it requires their SD card reader to reach those read speeds).

I'm a professional wedding photographer so I go through a ton of cards and a ton of volume and I haven't found the need to get the high end UHS-II cards. I do like the cheap 1667x Lexar UHS-II cards though, as it gives a solid bump to r/w speeds, mainly read, on most of my camera bodies for a marginal cost increase

That is amazing thank you! I’ll use this as my guide from now on when I lose track again!

Not sure I can justify the cost now either. My images and video are large (48mp camera) but there’s no real need here. I have a lot of other things I’d rather spend money on that these cards. Will keep an eye out for any deep discounts though.

£144 in the UK on sale for a 128GB

SanDisk Extreme Pro 128GB SDXC UHS-II

SanDisk 128 GB SDXC ExtremePro 300 MB/s V90 UHS-II is lightning fast and suitable for high-speed continuous recording. Full HD, 3D and 4K cinema quality are supported by the memory card and ensure fast data transfer.

www.photospecialist.co.uk

 

[OldMike]

I do like the cheap 1667x Lexar UHS-II cards though, as it gives a solid bump to r/w speeds, mainly read, on most of my camera bodies for a marginal cost increase

I second the recommendation for the Lexar cards. I have experienced fast and consistent performance from them and can find them for very good prices from B&H or Amazon from time to time.