Sonnet debuts SF3 Series Pro Dual-Slot Thunderbolt 3 Card Reader

Sonnet aims to help digital image technicians, photographers, and videographers transfer their data quickly and securely with a brand new Thunderbolt 3 card reader for CFexpress 2.0 Type B and XQD Media.

Sonnet Technologies, the same company that recently announced the Fusion Dual SATA SSD card, has announced another new product. This time, they're targeting professional videographers, photographers, and those who work in digital imaging.

The SF3 Series Pro Card Reader for CFexpress 2.0 Type B and XQD Media is a professional media reader that features dual card slots and a 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 interface. Its small aluminum enclosure allows it to be tossed in a bag and taken on the go if needed.

It's designed to work with CFexpress 2.0 Type B and XQD cards, which are ultra-fast recording media that is intended for those who shoot 4K and 6K Raw Video or high-megapixel photos in mind. Thanks to the two slots, the card reader helps to significantly cut down on time required compared to other single-slot readers.

For those who are looking for extra security, the Sonnet SF3 Series readers feature threaded mounting holes to facilitate secure mounting in a standard rack shelf. This addition helps to keep workspaces organized and the device out of harm's way.

The SF3 Series Pro Card Reader is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers that feature Thunderbolt 3 ports. It's also backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 2 devices when used with a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter. The SF3 Series Pro Card Reader is available for purchase directly from Sonnet for $199.

4 Comments

cy_starkman 16 Years · 653 comments

About 4 years ago

goes to website link - there are 3 models, one deals with RED cards, the other with cards for Sony and Arri cameras.

worth mentioning.

i also personally think the thing is huge for what it does.

sflocal 16 Years · 6138 comments

CFExpress should be the deFacto standard and replacement of SD cards. I just watched a very interesting YouTube video from a favorite camera/photography site about their original action of ditching and ultimate regret of ditching their Nikon D850 to go to a Sony A7R4. The SD cards/buffer can no longer provide the necessary bandwidth for such high megapixel images at the speeds they advertise to be of any real use in the real world.

As new cameras come out, if they're not using this format I will look elsewhere.

elijahg 18 Years · 2842 comments

sflocal said:

CFExpress should be the deFacto standard and replacement of SD cards. I just watched a very interesting YouTube video from a favorite camera/photography site about their original action of ditching and ultimate regret of ditching their Nikon D850 to go to a Sony A7R4. The SD cards/buffer can no longer provide the necessary bandwidth for such high megapixel images at the speeds they advertise to be of any real use in the real world.
As new cameras come out, if they're not using this format I will look elsewhere.

I suspect the physical size of CF is one reason they aren't so popular. The A7R4 has two SD cards and does some kind of RAID like striping to record quickly, so not sure how it has turned out to be an issue (apart from the fudgery of two cards)? Also the next SD standard has almost 1GB/sec, so should be fast enough.

elijahg said:

sflocal said:

CFExpress should be the deFacto standard and replacement of SD cards. I just watched a very interesting YouTube video from a favorite camera/photography site about their original action of ditching and ultimate regret of ditching their Nikon D850 to go to a Sony A7R4. The SD cards/buffer can no longer provide the necessary bandwidth for such high megapixel images at the speeds they advertise to be of any real use in the real world.
As new cameras come out, if they're not using this format I will look elsewhere.

I suspect the physical size of CF is one reason they aren't so popular. The A7R4 has two SD cards and does some kind of RAID like striping to record quickly, so not sure how it has turned out to be an issue (apart from the fudgery of two cards)? Also the next SD standard has almost 1GB/sec, so should be fast enough.

I agree the CFExpress size is bulky. The new Canon 1DX has dual CFExpress slots, albeit it is a bulky camera with the real estate to have it. I think even the upcoming SD speed is still too slow for these ultra-high megapixel cameras that can saturate that bandwidth. CFExpress cards being PCIe are already starting out at 1.7GB/s and going up from there. That's some serious speed, and bandwidth is only going to be even more important as camera makers continue introducing storage-hogging megapixels and 8K video.