Reviews

Delkin Devices - Memory Cards and Reader

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Recently I have been using some Delkin Devices products and have to say, I’m extremely impressed.

The three Delkin Devices are:
1. CFexpress Type A and SD UHS-II Card Reader
2. Black CFexpress Type A Memory Card 160GB
3. Black UHS-II V90 Memory Card 128GB

I have used the memory cards and memory card reader over the last month and they have performed well and not missed a beat. Being compatible with my Sony cameras, Alpha 1 and Alpha 9’s.

Using them on location at sports events, speed and reliability is so important, and these cards didn’t disappoint. My Sony Alpha 1 was shifting 50 Mbyte files onto the Black CFexpress Type A card quickly and without problem. My Sony Alpha 1 and Sony Alpha 9 can use the Black UHS-II V90 Memory Card, and both cameras worked without issue and handled large amounts of data quickly and reliably.

Both the CFexpress Card and SD Card are solidly built and feel very sturdy in the hand and physically fit into the cameras card slots snuggly and freely.

Looking at the CFexpress Card specifications, the card Records 8K, 6K and 4K Video at high frame Rates and Bitrates, with maximum transfer speeds of up to 880MB/s and maximum write speeds of up to 790.

I shoot my Sony Alpha 1 at sporting events at 30fps, producing approx 50 Mbyte file sizes, thats approx 1,500 Mbytes per second, and the Delkin Devices Black CFexpress Card cleared the buffer quickly and without issue time and time again.

Now one thing I hadn’t realised was that the Black CFexpress Card and also the Black SD Card along with other Black products have a 48 hour replacement guarantee. so if a card does have any issues Delkin Devices will replace the card within 48 hours! This alone makes these cards a very worthwhile proposition.

The CFexpress Card is tested to be able to withstand up to 80lbs. of force.


Looking at the Black SD V90 card. As well as the 48 hour replacement scheme mentioned above, Delkin have tested the Black SD cards to able to withstand 45lbs. of force.

One thing I really like about the Black SD card design, is the exclusion of the Write Protection tab. The times I have slid the Write Protection Tab by mistake when loading into a camera and locked the card, only to have to remove it again to slide the tab back and re-insert into the camera. It sounds like a small thing, but when working on location and changing cards quickly, the Write Protection Tab can be a real annoyance and I don’t recall ever using the lock feature for the intention it was designed for. Delkin have also designed the card without ribs in between the contacts, which I know only to well from experience when using other SD branded cards, can snap off and end up inside the card slot of the camera.

Delkin Devices SD memory cards are rated for temperature ranges of -25°C to 86°C.

The Black SD UHS-II V90 card has a maximum read speed of 300 MB/s and 250 MB/s write, and I have it to be faultless in use by me with my Sony Alpha 9.

But what use is having blazing fast memory cards, that are reliable, strong and damage resistant, if you cant offload the data quickly? The answer is the Delkin Devices USB 3.2 Memory Card Reader. these readers come in various types to suit the type of CFexpress card you are using. In my case the CFexpress Type A & SD UHS-II Memory Card Reader (DDREADER-58). Which is colour coded with a yellow end to make identification easier also has a rubber end cover that folds over the CFexpress slot even with the card inserted.

The card reader supports CFexpress Type A and SD UHS-II and is a solid design with a USB-C interface. A nice touch from Delkin Devices is to include both USB-C to A & USB-C to C cables.

The card reader is fast at off loading data from the cards and just like the memory cards, hasn’t missed a beat, clearing cards down blazingly fast.

For users of PhotoMechanic software (which 99% of professional sports photographers are), or other capable software, the Delkin Devices Memory Card Reader has the ability to clear down two memory cards at the same time. Which means it can read data from the CFexpress Card and SD UHS-II Card simultaneously. This alone is a feature that makes getting your hands on this Memory Card Reader worthwhile as it can speed up your workflow.

Sony 20mm f/1.8 G Lens Review

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The Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens is a wide angle prime lens designed for use on Sony’s full frame Alpha camera system. It is light in the hand which makes it ideal as a carry around lens for holiday trips or landscapers who want to travel light. The Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens though is a very capable lens and should be considered for many more reasons than just its weight and compactness. It is a very capable lens in many instances and genres of photography. 

I have used the Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens in a number of situations attached to my Sony A9 and Sony A7R3 and found that it handled faultlessly as you would expect a Sony lens to handle, with tactile switchgear and aperture ring giving intuitive control over the lens.

The Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens has a fast widest aperture setting of f/1.8, making it ideal for when working in low light conditions. The wide aperture also helps with subject / background separation by creating a shallower depth of field that we don’t usually associate with such a wide angle lens and generates beautiful circular bokeh.

The lens features a physical switch to turn on and off autofocus which is easy to locate and operate even when wearing gloves. Aperture adjustments can be made via the lens aperture ring, which is a feature both photographers and videographers will appreciate. The aperture ring can be used with a click option, which adjusts aperture settings in 1/3 stop increments, from f/1.8 to f/22 when changing apertures settings. Or without the click option for a smooth transition between aperture settings. The aperture ring also has an ‘A’ for automatic aperture selection. The aperture can also be changed from the camera body control wheel or in the cameras menu system.

The Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens has a function button to the side of the lens which can have a selection of functions assigned to it for the user to customise to their shooting preferences, for example, Eye a/f, white balance options etc.

There is a manual focus ring which is easy to find and turn which has a slight resistance and intuitive feel to it, this was easy to operate even when wearing gloves. The lens does not extend during focussing and remains the same physical size and the lens hood is small, making the lens an overall compact solution.

The sharpness from the Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens is impressive, it is extremely sharp throughout the different aperture settings including when wide open at f/1.8. I was more than confident to shoot this lens with a wide open aperture or to fully stop it down and be happy I would have a sharp image.

When shooting against brightly lit backgrounds I could see no evidence of chromatic aberration from the lens. This was the case regardless of the aperture I used. Whatever Sony has implemented into this lens to control CA they have done a remarkable job. The vignetting I observed during my use of the Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens was minimal.

Although the Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens is a wide angle lens I didn’t notice obvious lens distortion and thought the lens performed well in a variety of different scenarios. The autofocus was also fast and accurate and extremely capable during the time I used it even in low light conditions.

Sony 20mm f/1.8 G Lens with A7R3. ISO100, 20mm, f/22, 30sec

The Sony 20mm f/1.8 G is a prime lens that occupies a unique position in the current Sony lens line up. It is a wide angle lens with a wide aperture. While some may consider and use this lens as a ‘fit all in’ lens, I have found it to be very versatile and useful to be able to draw more of the environment into the shot when shooting a portrait. I have found the level of detail the Sony 20mm f/1.8 G lens renders to be of a high quality with no evidence of CA and high levels fo sharpness when viewed at 1:1. The ability to shoot a wide angle lens with a wide aperture opens a whole new world of perspective and photographic opportunities and the 20mm f/1.8 G lens is an excellent addition to the current Sony lens line up and will be a firm favourite for astrophotographers, concert photographers, landscapers and travel photographers.