Wanna see how memory cards are made? Take a tour of the Angelbird factory!

Memory cards and solid state drives aren’t the most exciting camera-related products, but they are absolutely vital to the industry. 

Without constantly evolving cards and storage, we wouldn’t be able to use some of the best sports cameras or the best 8K and 6K cameras as the cards just wouldn't keep up. 

Austrian-based tech company Angelbird specializes in making top-quality memory cards and storage solutions aimed to maximize the potential of your tech. Its products include SD cards, CF Express cards, micro SDs and CFast cards as well as portable SSDs and a range of accessories. 

• Looking for the best memory cards for your camera?

The company prides itself on selling high-quality products that have been hand-assembled and rigorously tested, to ensure compatibility with a huge range of cameras. 

Cine D recently got to have a behind-the-scenes look (video embedded below) at what goes on in the Angelbird factory from the computer-aided design stages to assembly to cold-stress testing in a freezer. But before making it to the factory, the crew had to travel for seven hours by train but on the way were treated to some stunning alpine views. 

On arrival at the factory, the Cine D was shown around by co-founder of Angelbird, Roman Rabitsch, who talked a little bit about how and why Angelbird started. With a background in music, Rabitsch never really meant to end up in the photo and video scene but he had a passion for reliable products that could read and record fast.  

What surprised me from the video was the level of human involvement – I was expecting to see loads of factory machines, but instead was presented with people at each stage of the process from assembling, to testing, to packaging. 

Stress testing and compatibility testing are one of the most important stages of the processes and had to be monitored all the time. Every time a new camera is released or a firmware update is available, Angelbird tests each card and SSD to make sure that they’re compatible with multiple models and brands.

The ten-minute video is an insightful, informative look into what goes on at the Angelbird factory. And for a video that sounds like it could be dull, it's actually very interesting. It’s easy to assume that the tech we use is made in huge factories by robots, but there is in fact a very human element – at least with Angelbird. 

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