Sonnet SF3 Series RED Mini-Mag Pro Card Thunderbolt 3 Reader

Sonnet Technologies, Inc. announced the SF3 Series – RED Mini-Mag Pro card reader, in its family of professional media readers.

It features dual card slots and a 40Gb/s Thunderbolt 3 interface. RED MINI-MAGs are the official SSD media for RED LLC‘s Digital still and motion cameras.

What it does:
Compatible with Mac Windows, and Linux computers with Thunderbolt 3 ports, the card reader ingests footage from two RED Mini-Mag s at the same time at their maximum speeds. Designed for demanding workflows, it is built with rugged aluminum enclosures and dual Thunderbolt 3 ports. These features enable users to stack and connect up to 6 readers in a daisy chain to their computer through a single cable, and ingest footage from 4, 6, or more cards simultaneously. The reader is also compatible with older Macs with Thunderbolt 2 or Thunderbolt ports when used with the bidirectional Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter and a Thunderbolt cable (both sold separately).

Sf3 Series card reader stacked

Why it’s important:
With the move to shooting footage in 8K and at high frame rates, Mini-Mags fill up fast, and the need for a tool that accelerates offloading footage from multiple cards is greater than ever. The SF3 Series – RED Mini-Mag Pro card reader was designed to meet the time-sensitive demands digital imaging technicians (DITs) and post professionals face on location and in edit suites. By itself, one company’s reader can ingest files simultaneously from 2 cards at up to 1,060MB/s, cutting ingest times in half (or better) compared to single-slot reader available. Users can connect 3 Sonnet readers to their computer to exploit Thunderbolt 3’s 2,750MB/s bandwidth and ingest 6 RED Mini-Mags in the same time it takes to ingest one card of the same capacity via any single-slot reader.

Certified RED Approved, the SF3 Series – RED Mini-Mag Pro card reader is a portable dual-slot Mini-Mag reader available. For digital imaging technicians (DIT’s) working multicamera shoots or in a small space, the ability to stack multiple SF3 Series RED Mini-Mag, SxS, and CFast 2.0 readers in the same footprint is convenient, while connecting them all to the computer through a single cable is game-changing. Being able to ingest multiple cards simultaneously means that users can complete the ingest process – without swapping cards – in a little as one-sixth the time required using single-slot readers. For users who need to mount their gear in equipment racks, Sonnet SF3 Series readers include threaded mounting holes to support installation in a standard rack shelf, enabling side-by-side mounting of two readers in 1U of rack space.

The SF3 Series – RED Mini-Mag Pro card reader (part number SF3-2RMM) will be available starting on July 15 at a suggested retail price of $299.