SD (or Secure Digital) cards have been around for a while and have become somewhat ubiquitous in a range of popular modern digital devices with their most recent iterations such as SDXC and UHS-I cards. Secure disk media has grown more and more popular for modern camcorders from consumer handycams all the way to professional Digital SLR cameras, professional audio field recorders and digital cinema cameras like the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera. The small wonder from Blackmagic Design is capable of recording 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW video as well as ProRes HQ 422 with bits rates of 220Mb/s. The very capable and equaly popular Panasonic GH4 can even record 4K up to 100Mb/s internally on fast SDXC cards. SD cards are a direct descendent of the basic MultiMediaCard (MMC) format introduced in the mid-90’s. Like MMC, SD uses a simple and basic transfer mechanism rooted in the interface of flash memory chips themselves. Despite being updated and refined, SDXC formats used by the most advanced consumer and pro-sumer cameras todayhave many imitations, and even the highest speed struggle to meet the ever increasing demands for 4K video and higher bit rate codecs. Some cameras like the 5D Mark III for example, use CompactFlash cards, which are based on now-outdated computer standards, including PCMCIA (16-bit ISA bus) and ATA, though in a smaller form factor. The new XQD card format is philosophically similar to CompactFlash in that it uses a high-speed computer bus rather than a flash interface. XQD adopts PCI Express version 2 for 2.5 Gbps throughput, with 5 Gbps promised in the future. XQD media cards come in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities, with 256GB and even larger capacities possible in the future. The physical form factor falls in between CompactFlash and SD, which helps with portability. Popular cameras that use this new recording media format are the Sony FS7, PXW-Z100, both capable of recording 4K, and the Nikon D4 DSLR. New G Series XQD Cards Features The new G Series is compliant to XQD Format Version 2, both PCI Express Gen.2 and USB3.0 interface are supported on a newly-developed controller for high performance. The G Series delivers increased read 400MB/s*1 and write 350MB/s*1 speeds, which is 3x times the speed of the previous N Series cards. Sony's unique media technology enables these G Series cards to provide efficient data writing, dependable recording of 4K video while avoiding speed degradation. The larger capacity 128GB model expands the line-up allowing up to 40 minutes of 4K XAVC Intra 422 60p (600Mbps) recording with Sony's 4K video cameras. The G Series XQD cards are supplied with a dedicated USB 3.0 adapter, which offers convenience and efficiency for professional workflows. It dramatically reduce ingest time by less than half compared to the fastest Compact Flash card*2 even for large quantities of RAW images or data-intensive 4K video files. Sony recommend the latest G-Series XQD cards for the PXW-FS7 for 4K XAVC-I and XAVC-L recording to ensure stable recording and compatibility with the latest firmware. For all your Sony FS7 needs and to make your order you can contact our Sony specialists at 0208 977 1222 or visit our Sony FS7 order page.