Question 1

What's different about CFexpress recovery vs microSD?

Accepted Answer

Three things. First, the data rates are 3-10× higher — a single 1-minute ProRes RAW clip from an X9 can be 12 GB. Second, CFexpress hot-eject errors are different than microSD: the protocol leaves writes in flight when you pull the card, often truncating the moov atom. Third, ProRes RAW and ProRes 422 HQ have different container structures than H.265, so the carving algorithm is different. AerialRestore handles all three transparently.

Question 2

What's the difference between CFexpress Type B and CFast 2.0?

Accepted Answer

CFast 2.0 is older (used in Inspire 2, X7, X5S). CFexpress Type B is the current standard (Inspire 3, Mavic 3 Cine, most pro mirrorless). They use different physical connectors but have the same form factor. AerialRestore supports both — just plug the card into the appropriate USB-C reader.

Question 3

Can you recover ProRes RAW HQ from Inspire 3?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ProRes RAW HQ writes JPEG-XS-style intra-frame RAW data with a .MOV wrapper. AerialRestore identifies the ProRes RAW frame headers via signature carving and rebuilds the .MOV wrapper. Recovery rate ~92% on full clips, higher on partial clips.

Question 4

Inspire 3 records flat color (D-Log M, D-Gamut RGB) — preserved after recovery?

Accepted Answer

Yes. D-Log M and D-Gamut RGB are color metadata embedded in the ProRes / H.265 stream. Recovery preserves all metadata atoms — the recovered clip imports into Resolve with the original color profile flagged.

Question 5

CFexpress 4.0 — does AerialRestore handle the new spec?

Accepted Answer

Yes. CFexpress 4.0 doubles the bandwidth of 2.0 but uses the same physical and protocol layer. AerialRestore reads at whatever speed the card and reader negotiate. Used with Ronin 4D 8K and the latest mirrorless bodies.

Question 6

Will the card need to be reformatted after recovery?

Accepted Answer

AerialRestore is read-only — your card is untouched. After recovery, if the filesystem is corrupted, you'll want to format the card in your camera (not your computer) before reusing it. The Inspire 3 / Mavic 3 Cine in-camera format properly initializes the card for the camera's specific I/O patterns.

CFexpress Card Recovery