What SSDs should I use with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera?

Certified SSDs for Blackmagic Cinema Camera

SSDs which are qualified for 2.5K RAW CinemaDNG video capture will also work well for compressed video capture. There are some SSDs which Blackmgic Design tested and found to be dropping frames when capturing 2.5K RAW CinemaDNG video. However, they still work well when capturing compressed video.

The following SSDs are recommended for 2.5K RAW CinemaDNG capture or compressed video capture:

• ADATA XPG SX900 256 GB (ASX900S3-256GM-C)
• Angelbird 240 GB AV Pro mkll
• Angelbird 500 GB AV Pro mkll
• Digistor 240 GB SSD Professional Video Series (DIG-PVD240S, pre-formatted ExFat)
• Digistor 480 GB SSD Professional Video Series (DIG-PVD480S, pre-formatted ExFat)
• Digistor 1 TB SSD 4K Professional Video Series (DIG-PVD1000, pre-formatted ExFat)
• Kingston HyperX Savage 120 GB (SHSS37A/120G)
• Kingston HyperX Savage 240 GB (SHSS37A/240G)
• Kingston HyperX Savage 480 GB (SHSS37A/480G)
• Kingston HyperX Savage 960 GB (SHSS37A/960G)
• OWC 120 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (OWCSSD7P6G120)
• OWC 240 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (OWCSSD7P6G240)
• OWC 480 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (OWCSSD7P6G480)
• OWC 960 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (OWCSSD7P6G960)
• Samsung 256 GB 850 Pro (MZ-7KE256BW, spacer required)
• Samsung 512 GB 850 Pro (MZ-7KE512BW, spacer required)
• Samsung 1 TB 850 Pro (MZ-1T0BW, spacer required)
• Samsung 2 TB 850 Pro (MZ-7K32T0BW, spacer required)
• Sandisk Extreme Pro 240 GB (SDSSDXPS-240G-G25)
• Sandisk Extreme Pro 480 GB (SDSSDXPS-480G-G25)
• Sandisk Extreme Pro 960 GB (SDSSDXPS-960G-G25)
• Transcend 256 GB SSD370 (TS256GSSD370)
• Transcend 512 GB SSD370 (TS512GSSD370)
• Transcend 1 TB SSD370 (TS1TSSD370)

In addition to the above, these SSDs work ONLY for compressed video capture:

• Crucial 256 GB M4 (firmware 000F) (CT256M4SSD2)
• OCZ Agility 3 240 GB (AGT3-25SAT3-240G)
• Sandisk Extreme 120 GB (SDSSDX-120G-G25)

Important Notes About SSD Speed

Some models of SSD can’t save video data at the speed the manufacturer claims. This is due to the disk using hidden data compression to attain higher write speeds. This data compression can only save data at the manufacturer’s claimed speed when storing data such as blank data or simple files. Video data includes video noise and pixels which are more random so compression will not help, therefore revealing the true speed of the disk. Some SSDs can have up to 50% lower write speed than the manufacturer’s claimed speed. So even though the disk specifications claim an SSD has speeds fast enough to handle video, in reality the disk isn’t fast enough when used to store video data for real time capture. However, this mostly affects HD capture and often these disks can still be used for playback. Use Blackmagic Disk Speed Test to accurately measure whether your SSD will be able to handle uncompressed video capture and playback. Blackmagic Disk Speed Test uses data to simulate the storage of video so you get results similar to what you’ll see when capturing video to a disk. During Blackmagic testing, we have found newer, larger models of SSD and larger capacity SSDs are generally faster.