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Storage card questions


Deliberate1

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Friends, all the SD cards I use (16gb and 8gb) are several years old. I want to replace them with 32gb cards before my trip to Thailand next month. And as I will not bring a computer with me, I am considering using the CF slot with a much bigger card as a back up.

What are the fastest SD/CF cards that can be used with the S (006)? Favored brands?

I shoot only RAW. Will the camera write in that format to both cards simultaneously?

Is there any change in the operation speed of the camera (start up/write speed) using two cards in this way?

Any other considerations?

And, for those of you who do not travel with a computer, do you carry some other device to back up files? Typically I have just carried enough cards for a trip without an electronic back-up. But I would not mind the added insurance of a box.

Obliged.

David

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Any other considerations?

And, for those of you who do not travel with a computer, do you carry some other device to back up files? Typically I have just carried enough cards for a trip without an electronic back-up. But I would not mind the added insurance of a box.

You can get a backup drive with an SD slot. The Western Digital (WD) "My Passport Wireless Pro" is the most common, but several brands offer the functionality.

 

I use the same Sandisk 64GB SD cards as Matt. The S does not benefit from UHS-II SD cards (unlike the SL). Any name-brand card purchased from a reputable source should be OK.

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On the S 006, you cannot write the same files to both CF and SD cards. I had hoped to do that, however, the Parallel function writes a jpg to the SD and dng to CF, if you have jpg already enabled.

 

I use the WD MyPassport Wireless Pro. It works very well for SD card backup.

 

Jesse

Jesse, thank for yours.

So I get that the CF takes the DNG and SD gets the jpg. But the manual says that is the case "if parallel and both file formats are selected." But if only DNG is selected in the menu, wouldn't the camera write DNG to both? I would test the theory but do not have a CF card yet.

Your thoughts?

Cheers.

D

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You can get a backup drive with an SD slot. The Western Digital (WD) "My Passport Wireless Pro" is the most common, but several brands offer the functionality.

 

I use the same Sandisk 64GB SD cards as Matt. The S does not benefit from UHS-II SD cards (unlike the SL). Any name-brand card purchased from a reputable source should be OK.

 Bernard, obliged. Seems like there are at least a few of you who are using the 64gb cards. That is interesting. My Leica dealer strongly recommended against anything bigger than a 32 gb card, presumably because of start-up or write times. No issues for you?

Best,

D

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Jesse, thank for yours.

So I get that the CF takes the DNG and SD gets the jpg. But the manual says that is the case "if parallel and both file formats are selected." But if only DNG is selected in the menu, wouldn't the camera write DNG to both? I would test the theory but do not have a CF card yet.

Your thoughts?

Cheers.

D

 

It did not work that way for me. I will try again.

Jesse

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 Bernard, obliged. Seems like there are at least a few of you who are using the 64gb cards. That is interesting. My Leica dealer strongly recommended against anything bigger than a 32 gb card, presumably because of start-up or write times. No issues for you?

Best,

D

I use the 128 GB and there is no issue with start up and lag.. that was an S2 and 006 problem that was obviated by faster Maestro..

Albert  ;)  ;)  ;)

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 Bernard, obliged. Seems like there are at least a few of you who are using the 64gb cards. That is interesting. My Leica dealer strongly recommended against anything bigger than a 32 gb card, presumably because of start-up or write times. No issues for you?

 

No issues. The S (typ 006) isn't the fastest camera to start-up, but I hardly ever turn it off.

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It did not work that way for me. I will try again.

Jesse

 

 

My S2 behaves as described in the user manual ;) . If one card is inserted, the action is somewhat obvious. If two cards are inserted, you can chose sequential or parallel mode. Sequential writes to the CF first, then SD. Parallel mode always writes DNG to the CF and JPG to the SD card. Just as Jesse said. I bet the S006 is the same.

 

I do use 64 GB CF cards successfully in my S2  (just because I happen to have them).

Edited by Photon42
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  • 2 weeks later...

Albert,

Obliged for yours. Regrettably, I do not have the Maestro  in my 006. It is the Understudy processor.

D

Then consider the 32GB as I had issues with the 64GB on my 006s...

If you use a 64GB, you can obviate the lag time by keeping the camera on all the time...

However, bring extra batteries for that!! Simpler to use 32GB cards...

Albert  :D  :lol:  :D

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Then consider the 32GB as I had issues with the 64GB on my 006s...

 

Albert  :D  :lol:  :D

Albert, exactly my plan. Will still get somewhere north of 400 RAW only images on a 32gb card - the equivalent of approximately 11 rolls of 35mm film and 42 rolls of 120. Of all the aspects of shooting digital, that is the one thing that still blows my mind.

Best regards,

D

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  • 4 weeks later...

I also use the 32gb CF cards at recommendation of Leica. But I use the 64gb SD cards in second slot. Like the SL, I use dual slots so I always have a backup image, just in case. The 32gb are cheap enough I got 4 and a pelican case to store. The 64gb I have 6 in a pelican case of S and SL. All next to rolls of TriX :).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Friends, i have just returned from three weeks in Thailand, a trip that prompted my inaugural post regarding SD cards. I ended up taking four 32gb San Disk, two 64gb for the Q and a few miscellaneous older 16gb Lexar cards left over from my M9 days. The S gave me a few early heart palpitations. Loaded with the new 32gb cards, the camera balked. Sometimes it would fire, other times not. Sometimes it would fire and not write the image to the card, and claim to store the image to internal memory that I did not know existed. So I switched out each of the 32gb cards, and even the older Lexar cards which I have used with the camera for nearly three years without issue. Same results. figuring it was not a card issue, I did a reboot of the camera, setting everything back to default values. And, thankfully, that did the trick. No more misfires. I did not try the 64gb card in the S - really no reason to given the number of images one can get on the 32gb card when files are compressed. 

Have to say that shooting the S was a real joy. Nothing like living with a camera from dawn to dusk for 21 straight days to figure out how it works - and strengths and limitations. First and foremost, I learned how to use it. I figured out how to maximize the dynamic range and color fidelity by shooting at the lowest ISO possible. But that invariably meant some potential compositional compromises which required shooting as wide open as possible, so as to maximize shutter speed to minimize hand and machine vibration. I even figured out what settings to use shooting from the hip through a vehicle window at 50mph. Got pretty good at that. The auto focus worked very well, and resulted in in images I never would have captured with my M9. To be sure, the camera was utterly brilliant in the strong Thai sun, and magical in muted, but not dark, light - my personal favorite. The depth and breadth of color transition is just extraordinary. All I brought was the 70mm and the Contax 120mm - which I should have just left at home, along with my tripod which did not earn its keep. The real shooting opportunities were  in hand held situations. Trying to shoot moving elephants with a tripod mounted camera (which is why I brought the 120mm/tripod) proved foolhardy. When the sun went down, the Q came out. It is a new camera to me. It is truly brilliant at what it does - a sleek, swift, elegant low light machine. It is just too damn easy to use - the ultimate walk about camera for night markets, shooting up to 3200 auto ISO with stabilization. It went largely unnoticed, unlike the S which, with lens hood deployed, is about as stealthy as a bazooka. Having lived with the M9 before the S, I am no stranger to the limitations of the CCD sensor, which are magnified on the S platform given the weight and vibration the camera generates. I have not put the images up on a screen yet but accept that I will be disappointed that many images were lost due to hand held blur. But better to have shot and lost....Yes, my mind did wander on more than one occasion to thoughts of how an 007 might have extended the shooting envelope. But then I see the color rendition of a well exposed and composed CCD image, and it just takes my breath away. Truly, the Q goes where the S cannot, but the quality of capture is in different leagues.

So, I will be working on the culling process in the next few weeks. And once that is done, I will start working on the images - or more likely, when restraint fails me, that will be done in reverse. If I can figure out how to post images, which I have never done, I will put up some examples.

Cheers.

David

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I have a 256 GB Lexar professional 150/MB/s SD card that I tried using on the 007 when I first purchased the camera. The card failed to capture 4k video which was the reason I bought it. I've used the card in my canon XC10 and it works fine there. Since that episode I only use a CFast card to capture photos and HD and haven't even tried the 4k capabilities of the 007. It's a shame because the HD footage is quite beautiful, if you keep the camera very still that is...

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Friends, i have just returned from three weeks in Thailand, a trip that prompted my inaugural post regarding SD cards. I ended up taking four 32gb San Disk, two 64gb for the Q and a few miscellaneous older 16gb Lexar cards left over from my M9 days. The S gave me a few early heart palpitations. Loaded with the new 32gb cards, the camera balked. Sometimes it would fire, other times not. Sometimes it would fire and not write the image to the card, and claim to store the image to internal memory that I did not know existed. So I switched out each of the 32gb cards, and even the older Lexar cards which I have used with the camera for nearly three years without issue. Same results. figuring it was not a card issue, I did a reboot of the camera, setting everything back to default values. And, thankfully, that did the trick. No more misfires. I did not try the 64gb card in the S - really no reason to given the number of images one can get on the 32gb card when files are compressed. 

Have to say that shooting the S was a real joy. Nothing like living with a camera from dawn to dusk for 21 straight days to figure out how it works - and strengths and limitations. First and foremost, I learned how to use it. I figured out how to maximize the dynamic range and color fidelity by shooting at the lowest ISO possible. But that invariably meant some potential compositional compromises which required shooting as wide open as possible, so as to maximize shutter speed to minimize hand and machine vibration. I even figured out what settings to use shooting from the hip through a vehicle window at 50mph. Got pretty good at that. The auto focus worked very well, and resulted in in images I never would have captured with my M9. To be sure, the camera was utterly brilliant in the strong Thai sun, and magical in muted, but not dark, light - my personal favorite. The depth and breadth of color transition is just extraordinary. All I brought was the 70mm and the Contax 120mm - which I should have just left at home, along with my tripod which did not earn its keep. The real shooting opportunities were  in hand held situations. Trying to shoot moving elephants with a tripod mounted camera (which is why I brought the 120mm/tripod) proved foolhardy. When the sun went down, the Q came out. It is a new camera to me. It is truly brilliant at what it does - a sleek, swift, elegant low light machine. It is just too damn easy to use - the ultimate walk about camera for night markets, shooting up to 3200 auto ISO with stabilization. It went largely unnoticed, unlike the S which, with lens hood deployed, is about as stealthy as a bazooka. Having lived with the M9 before the S, I am no stranger to the limitations of the CCD sensor, which are magnified on the S platform given the weight and vibration the camera generates. I have not put the images up on a screen yet but accept that I will be disappointed that many images were lost due to hand held blur. But better to have shot and lost....Yes, my mind did wander on more than one occasion to thoughts of how an 007 might have extended the shooting envelope. But then I see the color rendition of a well exposed and composed CCD image, and it just takes my breath away. Truly, the Q goes where the S cannot, but the quality of capture is in different leagues.

So, I will be working on the culling process in the next few weeks. And once that is done, I will start working on the images - or more likely, when restraint fails me, that will be done in reverse. If I can figure out how to post images, which I have never done, I will put up some examples.

Cheers.

David

 

The advantage of the 007 is that you can shoot up to 1600 ISO without compromise... The 006 max was 400 in my opinion.

 

Albert  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

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The advantage of the 007 is that you can shoot up to 1600 ISO without compromise... The 006 max was 400 in my opinion.

 

Albert  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Albert, I agree with the 400 max on the 006. But even at that setting, image quality, especially withe DR and color density, irrespective of noise, suffers. I did some quick and dirty comparisons shooting a gold temple outside of Chiang Mai and discovered that color fidelity was so much better at the lower ASA.

It brings me to a question that I was pondering today. And that is whether it is ultimately better for image quality to under expose by two stops at 100 and rehabilitate in LR (which I have done with remarkable success) rather than shoot a properly exposed image at 400. I should test this in the field. Your thoughts?

David

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  • 1 month later...

I started (briefly) with the S2P and then traded it for an S007. The main reason was that I had spent well over a year with the SL and loved its versatility in setting exposures, lens versatility, image quality etc. The S007 is so very close to the SL that I wanted a ‘two-for’ kit. Because the S sensor is so large, I find that not only is ISO 1600 fantastic, but I can make great prints from ISO 3200 - in the book size (Large Landscape) and the 11x17 range. Shutter speed is paramount, no question. Leica folks told me the absolute minimum hand hold should be 1 / 2xF and now I agree. I rather try for closer to 1 / 3XF and let the noise fall where it is. The dynamic range is so much better than the M, I have pulled nasty shadows up with very little noise (CMOS). I also used the M9P for several years and love the CCD color. But, at the end, it is a measure of light and the difference, to me, is the post processing. The M9P required little to no work (curiously similar to the S007), but I have gotten equally great prints out of the M240 and the M10 is fantastic and much more like the film bodies I still use.

 

So, I use the 35S, 70CS and 120S on the S007, but also use them on SL with the 24-90 and 90-280. Or, I take the M10 with various M lenses, and use them on the SL. It seems to me the SL was the key for me - large kit or small kit, but the SL comes with me regardless.

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