DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

This is what a CFast 2.0 card looks like on the inside

Jan 16, 2020 by John Aldred 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

CFast 2.0 might be on the way out, thanks to CFexpress, but it’s a popular format still in use by a lot of cameras. The Pocket 4K and 6K, for example, pretty much require one for their highest resolution and highest data rate raw recording. But what happens if a card goes bad? Yes, it can happen. Well, that’s when you send it off to somebody to crack it open and have at it with a soldering iron.

Recently we got to take a look inside an XQD card and thanks to HDD Recovery Services, we can have a look at a CFast 2.0 card as well. It’s amazing just how much technology is contained in memory cards so tiny. When you get to see what they’re made up from, you can understand why they’re so heavy next to a comparatively ultra-lightweight SD card.

I mentioned in the XQD post that I’ve been following this channel for a while. It’s interesting to see the inner workings of different types of storage devices. Most of these aren’t dismantled just for the sake of showing off how they work, as a rule, so channels like this, when something dies and opening it up is just a matter of course, they provide some very cool insight.

As usual, the first task in the video is to check all of the solder joints on the components on the board. This might mean removing huge chips and reballing them in order to be able to resolder them, just in case there’s something going on underneath a chip that isn’t readily visible.

Most chips conform to some kind of standard, that let you use what’s known as a solder mask (essentially a laser-cut stencil) to accurately and easily add fresh solder onto each of the connection points. In this case, though, the grid on the underside of the chip wasn’t standard, so each individual ball of solder had to be placed by hand – a boring and tedious job.

Eventually, they manage to repair this card well enough to be able to access it and recover the data for the client. As with just about any storage device that requires complete disassembly, though, you likely won’t be able to use the card for its intended usage ever again.

When you see videos like this, not only do you learn a bit about how the storage devices we use on a daily basis work, but we also start to understand why data recovery costs so much. It’s not as simple as just putting the card in a reader and running SanDisk’s recovery software on it. The amount of actual labour and electronics knowledge required (especially with solid-state) is considerable. And the kinds of software they use come with licenses that start at $1,000.

You also really learn the importance of having a reliable backup workflow in place, too.

Again, this one I probably wouldn’t suggest you try to follow along with at home, but if you’ve got a dead card lying around anyway, and you’re not concerned about what might be on it, it can be fun to take some of these things apart and at least try to fix them yourself.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Exascend Archon CFast 2.0 is new CFAST player with RED certification Data recovery service shows what the inside of a dead Sony XQD memory card looks like Atech’s new Blackjet CFast 2.0 card reader is built for durability and speed Lexar launches the highest capacity CFast card on the market

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: CFast, CFast 2.0, data loss, Data Recovery, Lexar, XQD

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Press photographers banned from documenting the handing over of Trump’s “articles of impeachment”
The V-Coptr Falcon foldable bi-coptor drone has a flight time of up to 50 minutes »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Tourists fight over a photo spot at famous Pedra do Telégrafo
  • iPhone 15 Pro Max: First impressions
  • Blackmagic’s new app turns your iPhone into a cinema camera (kinda)
  • Nikon announces Zf shortage (Surprise!)
  • Finally! Sennheiser EW-DP SKP plug-on transmitter offers 32-bit float recording

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy