PGYTech Createmate Review

Pros

Cons

Main Materials

Aluminum-alloy, ABS, Silica gel

Dimensions

115 x 60 x 25mm

Weight

157g

Data Transfer Speeds

312MB/s

Available colours

Moss Green / Black

The Createmate is tiny and lightweight. It can hold more than enough SD cards for my trips, even if I went through an SD card a day. Everything is tucked in nicely and it looks like it’s going to be easy to use. It has a textured, rubberised coating which is great for grip and anti-shock in case it does fall. Having a small carabiner as well will come in handy for keeping it close by. 

So a lot of cameras have the option of wireless transferring images nowdays. But I still think this is the better option. In fact it saved me from losing hours of work on more than one occasion. Even though transferring is a lot better on the Sony A7CII than my Sony A6000, it does mean I have to put the camera down whilst it completes the transfer.

I have settled into the routine of rotating between two SD cards, having one transferring onto my tablet whilst I continue shooting with the other. This actually ended up saving me on a photoshoot when as SD corrupted and failed in the last hour. Instead of losing everything I had done in the 5 hours prior, I only lost 30 minutes. It’s still frustrating, but the simple fact is if I didn’t use my Createmate, it could have been so much worse

I took it with me to a portfolio day to test along with my new lens and I used the carabiner to clip onto my belt loops and honestly forgot I was carrying it. At 157g it weighs next to nothing and it was handy not having to head back to my bag when I needed a new SD card. It is so light at times I even forgot it was there and nearly sat on it, but the tough exterior keeps everything safe.

There are two versions of the Createmate. One is designed for SD and Micro SD cards, whilst the other accommodates CFexpress Type B cards too. This is naturally a lot more expensive, I don’t use CFexpress cards so I just use the regular SD card version.

But both cases can hold more than enough cards for multiple days of storage. I recommend putting a Micro SD Card Adapter in one of the SD card slots. Meaning You can interchange between them depending on what camera card needs replacing. As standard though it can hold x4 SD Cards and x4 Micro SD, as well a couple of sim cards too.

Having a cable and card reader built-in has been really handy on a number of photoshoots. Most recently I was at the Barbican Conservatory taking photos. I stopped for a break halfway through and was able to immediately transfer the photos to my phone and check them out.

It has also come in really handy during studio days. At one point I thought my SD card was corrupted, so I switched to another one and used the Createmate to check my photos were ok and start backing them up. The screen on my Sony A6000 isn’t the best for checking my photos, so it is really handy being able to quickly view them in detail. It’s also really quick,, boasting speeds of 312MB/s, perfect for my high speed cards.

An issue I have had with other USB readers is my tablet failing to register when it’s plugged in, but so far it has picked up the PGYTech Createmate every time without fail. 

You cannot fault the packability of the Createmates design. Everything slides down into its neat, rubberised sleeve. Even the cable tucks away discreetly so it doesn’t get caught or damaged. I did previously have it being a tad tricky to remove the cable without nails.  But since my initial review, PGYtech has added a small release button that makes it a lot easier. I can’t say I will be buying a new version just for that button, but I love it when designers listen to feedback. And for them to act on it, it must have been something the community fed back.

The Createmate has become a go-to accessory for me when travelling now. Having a supply of spare SD cards ready to go makes sense as any photographer knows that things go wrong. Now if you are on a budget this may not be for you and you may prefer this one from KF Concept I reviewed earlier this year, and that one holds batteries too.

There are a lot of other SD card cases that are a lot cheaper, but none that I have seen features an integrated SD card reader. For myself, that alone is worth the extra cost. It’s one less cable to bring and it also helps keep me organised. The PGYtech Createmate is one of my favourite accessories as a photographer, and its saved me on enough occasions that it was worth every penny.