Solid-state drive — electronic storage with no moving parts, used in cameras. Faster and more durable than traditional hard drives.
Technical Details
Film SSDs achieve sequential write speeds of 500-7,000 MB/s, depending on interface and design. SATA III SSDs deliver a maximum of 550 MB/s, while NVMe SSDs via PCIe 4.0 can reach up to 7,000 MB/s. Random write performance for professional models ranges between 80,000-500,000 IOPS. Cinema SSDs use SLC or pseudo-SLC NAND for higher durability (10,000-100,000 write cycles per cell). Special recorder SSDs like the Atomos Master Caddy II offer a 2.5" SATA format with up to 8TB capacity at a constant 520 MB/s write speed.
History & Development
Samsung introduced the first commercial 32GB SSD in 2006, but it cost $600 USD. In 2012, Blackmagic revolutionized filmmaking with the Cinema Camera, which recorded directly onto internal SSDs. In 2014, external SSD recorders like the Atomos Ninja enabled 4K ProRes recording onto consumer SSDs for the first time. From 2018 onwards, CFexpress cards established themselves as SSD-based camera storage with speeds up to 1,700 MB/s. Today, 90% of all digital film productions use SSDs as their primary recording medium.
Practical Use in Film
Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" (2017) utilized Samsung 850 Pro SSDs in Blackmagic URSA Mini cameras for handheld sequences due to their shock resistance. "The Mandalorian" relies on 8TB Samsung 860 Pro SSDs in Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6Ks for its Virtual Production Stages. A typical workflow involves recording to an internal SSD or an external SSD recorder system, followed by direct transfer via USB 3.1/Thunderbolt 3 to the editing system without transcoding. Advantages include immediate data availability, no dropped frames at high bitrates, and silent operation. Disadvantages are higher cost per GB compared to tape media and limited write cycles.
Comparison & Alternatives
SSDs are increasingly replacing CF cards (max. 160 MB/s) and mechanical HDDs in recorders. CFexpress Type B achieves 1,700 MB/s but costs 5-10 times more than cinema SSDs. P2 cards offer higher reliability but only 100 MB/s at significantly higher costs. For 8K RAW recording (2,400 MB/s), NVMe SSDs are the only viable option. Tape media like LTO-9 remain relevant for long-term archiving, while SSDs dominate active storage and on-set recording.