Truth about XQD cards for the D500 - Lexar 1400

Vincent

Senior Member
I'm hoping to have a D500 soon (more on that later).
Since I do not have an XQD card, I'm looking into the subject.

Clearly the Lexar 2933X is the optimal choice, that is not looking at price.
Not bad is the Sony G series, but still more expensive, where I live.

However I believe this is pushing it, even if I found a good deal on a Sony G 128GB card.

So looking at the other options, I came to a deal on a Lexar 1400X 64 GB.

Looking at the manual of the D500, I would estimate a Lexar 1400X 64 GB, with lossless compressed 14 bit:
- would take up to 50 pictures already in the buffer, without card
- goes up to about 115 pictures with the card
- this means about 11 bursts of full 11 seconds at 10fps

It seems a lot for me, however I do want to go to take pictures of the white tailed eagle fishing at sea later this year.
How many pictures do you really need to cover this kind of event?
 

TKC_D500

Senior Member
I haven't had Any issues with Lexar 2933x 32gb XQD cards I use in my D500. I did have problems with Lexar UHS-II SD cards though. I switched back to SanDisk SD cards and they have worked fine.


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BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Thom Hogan had some exhaustive notes about this when the D500 was released (go here for all his D500 ramblings). I went back and checked and it was the Lexar SD cards that were causing lockups and other intermittent issues. I couldn't find anything about any reproducible or systematic issues with any XQD cards from any brand.

That said, I've got a 64GB Sony G-series 400MB/S XQD card. I've only once come close to filling it up and that was on a day where I was firing away at 10fps all day trying to catch baby bluebirds as the fledged.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
That said, I've got a 64GB Sony G-series 400MB/S XQD card. I've only once come close to filling it up and that was on a day where I was firing away at 10fps all day trying to catch baby bluebirds as the fledged.

Thanks for that confirmation/correction. The Sony cards are what I was looking at, but seemed to remember the D5 originally shipping with the Lexar card ... so I thought it strange there would be a compatibility issue. Good to hear that the Sony card is working good for you.
 

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
Thom Hogan had some exhaustive notes about this when the D500 was released (go here for all his D500 ramblings). I went back and checked and it was the Lexar SD cards that were causing lockups and other intermittent issues. I couldn't find anything about any reproducible or systematic issues with any XQD cards from any brand.

That said, I've got a 64GB Sony G-series 400MB/S XQD card. I've only once come close to filling it up and that was on a day where I was firing away at 10fps all day trying to catch baby bluebirds as the fledged.
how many batteries did you go through?
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Well, I got to swap out 7 of the old batteries (they get chewed up quickly and go dead in the D500 when they are at around 40% on any other camera), but the new batteries last a decent amount and swap 'em out after ~600-800 images. I keep the touch screen off as it kept the camera awake when I didn't want it to. It's too sensitive and will treat skin oil from my nose the same as my finger. I would put a fresh on in and it would be dead in the AM because I didn't notice the screen didn't go off when I set it down. Nikon needs to fix that with a firmware update, but I'm so used to not using it on the other cameras that it's no big deal. I turn it on for use with Live View, which is where it's really handy to set focus points and shoot.
 

Vincent

Senior Member
The goal of this thread was how fast does your XQD have to be.

1) Most people do not need 10fps => Any XQD will do, probably interesting for video
2) You might want to have the exact moment in an event: eg. slipping the ring on a finger => do you need more then 32 fps in 1 go = 3 sec
3) You might want to have the exact moment in a difficult to predict event: e.g. sports and wildlife: it seems a Lexar 2933X or Sony G can help for illimited bursts
 

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
It seems I read somewhere that Sony and Nikon teamed up to design the XQD format. That being said, I would think there should not be any compatibility issues with Sony. After knowing all that I bought 2 Lexar 2933's. I haven't tried them yet... I'm still getting familiar with the camera and have only shot SD Sandisk cards.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
I though Nikon was including Lexar cards and/or readers when the D5 first shipped. But I opted for the Sony cards. No complaints, but also nothing to compare against.


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jc32750

Senior Member
Regarding swapping the batteries. When I went on line the site said my version of batteries does not qualify. The problem is my batteries are terrible. And it up buying a new one plus a battery grip. I'll call Nikon instead of trying on the internet.


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