Author: Ugo Baldassarre / translation: Giorgio Aprile
Since some months the distributor Polyphoto SpA., known for selling on the Italian territory some photographic brands like Olympus and Tamron, among others, have included a “new” brand: Angelbird.
The Austrian company specializes in professional-grade memory cards and memory media that essentially meet two characteristics: reliability and uncompromising performance.
Intrigued, I decided to deepen my knowledge of both the brand and the product. Considering that the topic is also connected to the Micro 4/3 photographic system, I decided to talk about it in more detail in this article.
Choosing a memory card suitable for the characteristics of your device is fundamental. It is an aspect that is often underestimated in the choice of accessories.
Many Olympus users have learned, at their expense, that some cards from some manufacturers are not properly compatible with their cameras. In fact, it happens that not all SDHC / XC memory card manufacturers carefully follow the directives and standards of the consortium, the SD Association (founded by Toshiba-Panasonic and SanDisk), with the result that abnormal functioning can occur when used on some cameras.
Energy absorption by the card or by its memory control is generally involved in this type of problems: if it relies too much on the power supply of the camera, malfunctions or troubles may occur.
Angelbird is an Austrian company specialized solely in production and sale of the highest quality and performance cards and storage media.
It is a brand already known to many professionals in the video sector and its products have been equipping since time the best performing video cameras on the market: performance and reliability are at the top level, even for super-professional needs.
Angelbird storage media are developed taking in mind the specific characteristics of each photographic equipment: there is, for example, a line dedicated to almost every brand and even to some specific devices (such as the pack for Canon C200 or that for Blackmagic).
They are products that make the most of the potential of the cameras on which they are used, specifically designed not to create bottlenecks in the transfer and recording of data.
The correct choice of a memory card not only affects the performance of the camera: it can indeed also have some impact on the quality of the result.
Attention: colours, quality, image definition are obviously not affected by the choice of the memory card; however, the transfer speed and the efficiency on sequential shooting may be affected and, in the case of 4K video or higher resolution, the fluidity of display.
In general, the use of high-quality memories is certainly easing the operation of the camera.
Using high performance cards on high level cameras is more than an obvious choice (or so it should be!): professional cameras like the Olympus OM-D E-M1X, or the Panasonic GH5 / GH5s, oriented to 4K video, they deserve cards of this level.
Angelbird SD cards are available in “single” or “double” packaging. The available sizes are up to 512 GB for the V60 MK2 (280 MB/s read / 160 MB/s write) and up to 256 GB for the faster series, the V90 MK2 (300 MB/s read and 280 MB/s write). Both lines belong to the SDXC UHS II category.
The SD lines are flanked by the CF lines “Fast” and “Express” and a wide range of external SSD memories, also at the top of the category for performance and reliability.
Just to give an example, on the search for quality and reliability that the brand boasts, just look at how carefully the USB cable connection was made for the external SSD drives: the connector fits completely inside the case, thus avoiding the high vulnerability of the connectors of this type, very subject to involuntary damage.
Still on the subject of reliability and safety, I would like to point out that Angelbird products sold and distributed in Italy by Polyphoto S.p.A. enjoy a 2+1-year warranty and free recovery of data in case of problems or loss of data.
On the new Polyphoto.it shop you can find all the products of the Angelbird range and choose the most appropriate pack for your camera (click here): there are some dedicated to the most important photographic brands on the market.
Obviously, the whole range is also available at the best photographic material retailers. Many italian customers who bought the latest Olympus products had the opportunity to receive one Anglebird memory card for free. (This promotion was aviable only for Italy)
Memory cards are not eternal. Personally, for my professional use, I change them at most every two years and dedicate the “older” ones to less crucial roles.
For my work, I must always be attentive to data maintenance and to reliability of the media that I use for both myself and my customers.
I wouldn’t be surprised if at the next change of SD cards I decide to turn to Anglebird: all the feedbacks and comments collected agree in defining these memory cards as exceptional products.