KipperTie has unveiled the brand new Longtake® SSD drives for RED DSMC2 cameras.
The Longtake is currently available to order in 2TB sizes but you can imagine other capacities becoming available as larger capacities become more affordable.
Key features
- Fully RED Approved third party SSD mag.
- Price: £1350.
- Shipping Q4 2019.
- Fully compatible with RED MINI-MAG®.
- 2TB capacity (1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes)
- High-quality Samsung M.2 SATA SSD
- Optional USB-C connector on mag for direct offload
- 1200TBW warrantied lifespan
- Extensive QC: Full serialised traceability
- Worldwide data recovery plan via industry leaders Ontrack.com
- Designed and made by KipperTie in the UK.
The Longtake not only uses faster storage but is double the capacity of the largest RED Mini-Mag at 960GB.
Unlike the RED Mini-Mags which uses mSata drives, the KipperTie Longtake uses the much newer, and faster M.2 SATA drives, hence the odd shape of the drive.
What’s inside?
In response to the recent Jinnitech videos and RED MiniMag drama, a lot of the internals and processes are clearly specified by KipperTie.
To show that the Longtake® is not just a bunch of adaptors and off-the-shelf parts, they clearly show the internals and state that they use Samsung 860 EVO M.2 SATA SSD drives. Here is what they say on their website about being ‘Made in UK’.
Longtake® SSD mags are produced by KipperTie under RED.com’s Approved Third Party programme. RED’s intellectual property and patents are properly licensed in this process. Each SSD module is provisioned at RED for supply chain and quality transparency.
KipperTie
Longtake® qualifies firmly as ‘Made In UK’. The SSD module is made in China for Samsung. PCB manufacture and assembly for the controller board is carried out in the UK. The casing is machined in England from British 6082 aluminium billets (the second ‘i’ adds strength).
Bead blasting, anodising, dyeing and laser engraving all take place in England too. An American storage case is fitted with foam made and cut in the UK, and labelled with British stickers.
All design work, assembly, QC, and testing is carried out at our Pinewood Studios HQ in the UK.
KipperTie create a number of quality products so we have no doubt that it is well made, with machined, anodised aluminium casing.
Type-C Connectivity
In a nice touch, there is an option for a Longtake 2TB with a USB-C port, making it easy to transfer footage on the go without having to use a RED Mag reader. It uses the most current USB C Gen 2 so you will get fast read and write speeds and not be bottlenecked by the USB port.
What about data recovery?
Each Longtake drive comes with complementary data recovery services from Ontrack which is available globally. It covers each SSD once.
KipperTie authorises Ontrack to provide their standard service up to a limited value where failure of the Longtake SSD occurs. This service is for original customers only, once per SSD, based on serial number. KipperTie appoints Ontrack as the arbiter of whether a warrantable hardware failure has occurred in cases where misuse or accidental damage may be the root cause.
KipperTie
You are under no obligation to use Ontrack, however we recommend that if data recovery is a possible requirement you should refrain from even connecting the affected SSD until expert contact is made.
In cases of accidental deletion, over-write or damage we still fully recommend Ontrack, although KipperTie can take no responsibility for costs incurred where accidental loss of data or physical damage occurs.
KipperTie authorises Ontrack to provide their standard service up to a limited value where failure of the Longtake SSD occurs. This service is for original customers only, once per SSD, based on serial number. KipperTie appoints Ontrack as the arbiter of whether a warrantable hardware failure has occurred in cases where misuse or accidental damage may be the root cause.
You are under no obligation to use Ontrack, however we recommend that if data recovery is a possible requirement you should refrain from even connecting the affected SSD until expert contact is made.
In cases of accidental deletion, over-write or damage we still fully recommend Ontrack, although KipperTie can take no responsibility for costs incurred where accidental loss of data or physical damage occurs.
Pricing & Availability
The Longtake SSD drives are expected to start shipping in Q4, 2019.
Longtake 2TB – £1,350 (~$1,750 USD)
Longtake 2TB USB-C – £1,395 (~$1,800 USD)
For comparison, the largest RED Mini-Mag you can buy will cost you $2,350 USD for the 960GB model and $1,450 USD for the 480GB. You will then need a Mini-Mag reader which is $195 USD.
As for Jinnitech, a 1TB Gold Jinnimag will cost £755 (~$975 USD)
