Media Best Practices

This section describes best practices to ensure that your CFexpress cards continue to provide reliable storage and fast data rates. Following these best practices may prevent your CFexpress card from becoming fragmented, which can lead to data integrity errors.

• The only files that should be saved from your computer to your CFexpress card are Preset files, Firmware Upgrade files, and LUTs. DO NOT save other files, folders, or applications to your media.
• DO NOT back up your hard drive to the CFexpress card. If using a Mac, the system may ask if you want to back up your files to the CFexpress card using Time Machine; DO NOT use the CFexpress card as a backup disk.
• DO NOT delete clips off of your CFexpress card using a computer. Delete clips only by formatting your CFexpress card in-camera. For more information about formatting your CFexpress card, refer to Secure Format.
• DO NOT format your CFexpress card using a computer, unless the CFexpress card cannot mount to the camera. For more information, refer to Secure Format.
• When ejecting the CFexpress card from a computer, ensure that the icon has completely disappeared from the Finder window (Mac) or from Windows Explorer (Windows) before removing the CFexpress card. Sometimes, the pop-up saying that the CFexpress card has ejected displays too early.
• When the reader has a write-protect switch, such as the RED® CFexpress Type B Card Reader, it is recommended that you set the card reader to write-protect when uploading clips to prevent connected devices from adding any unwanted data to your CFexpress Type B card.

Indexing on a Mac

NOTE: You can use the RED CFexpress Type B card reader with Write-Protect to prevent the Mac OS from indexing your CFexpress Type B card (refer to RED® CFexpress Type B Reader).

Most newer versions of the Mac OS automatically index all external drives when you connect them. This includes when you connect CFexpress cards.

Indexing makes the connection process take longer. While the CFexpress card connects to the Mac, DO NOT remove the card. Indexing writes hidden files to the CFexpress card. When you insert an indexed CFexpress card in the camera, it can take the camera a while to recognize the hidden files and connect to the CFexpress card. While waiting for the CFexpress card to connect, DO NOT remove the CFexpress card or turn off the camera. After the camera successfully connects to the CFexpress card, perform a secure format to remove the hidden files. For more information, refer to Secure Format.