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ThinkPad X220: ExpressCard 3x USB 3
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2019
- / laptopretrospe1
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Today I test out probably the sketchiest ExpressCard I've ever used. If you would like to order this card, see the links below, or better yet, check out some links to StarTech cards that are better built. Ordering through the links helps support the channel. StarTech did not sponsor this video, I just like their products.
Amazon Ca
Card in this video: amzn.to/2RMiMeI
StarTech 34mm Single Port: amzn.to/2RNWklG
StarTech 34mm Two Port: amzn.to/2XNDUXG
StarTech 54mm Two Port: amzn.to/2Xg6yRH
Amazon US
Card in this video: amzn.to/302KCq8
StarTech 34mm Single Port: amzn.to/2FMxL3s
StarTech 34mm Two Port: amzn.to/2FMcjvx
StarTech 54mm Two Port: amzn.to/2XDv26N
For more information on these cards and others like them, I found this thread very useful:
forum.thinkpad...
I wish you made a ThinkPad video every single day. Such great content!
That's very kind of you! I enjoy making ThinkPad videos but I'm limited to what I can get my hands on. Even then I'm very fortunate to play with as many as I have.
Agreed!
A comparison with a single or double "reputable" Express card product would be good if you get the chance. Would love some eGPU stuff, reviews on Amazon always seem a bit hit and miss. Great content. Many thanks.
Yeah I am curious to know myself the difference. But this one is safe to pass by in my books. You can't even use all the slots they give you.
nice video as always!
but please do a video demonstrating eGPU with the expresscard, for the X230 maybe
I'd love to do one sometime, it is on my bucket list for the slot. In the meantime, TechDave did a good series of videos: th-cam.com/video/a42HhV8UHIc/w-d-xo.html
X230 is actually competent at gaming when paired with an eGPU
@@samjackson7701 we will find out how an x220 does at least.
@@LaptopRetrospective what do you think, if pci-e riser card (not exp gdc) connect via expresscard usb 3 instead wifi card slot (mini pci-e) ? can it work ?
Not 100% sure I understand the setup you're describing.
This is the only video I could find that expains everything (especialy cons). Thank you!
Glad to be of service.
I have my T420 sitting in the dock and the two USB3 ports I have on my X240 are more than enough for my needs (not that the latter has an Express Card slot anyway).
Still good to know, so thanks for sharing your impressions!
You're welcome. I suspect there will be more Express Card shenanigans soon.
An eGpu video would also be very appreciated, as always keep up the good stuff, love your vids!
Hmmm. I think you folks are trying to send me a message... I might need to make a couple of calls.
@@LaptopRetrospective :-)
An eGPU basically is what makes things like these modern day relevant. Really wish modern thinkpads had it, I would love one of the new Ryzen thinkpads with eGPU
Depends on your needs if you need an eGPU. But they sure are a handy piece of kit.
I got one of those cards and could not get it to work at all on my Dell E650. The StarTech 2-port card at over twice the price on Amazon worked perfectly. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.
Exactly right.
Thanks for saving me the time to learn the hard way. Video is helpful. You save me from spending money on trash.
Glad I could help.
I can second an egpu vid using express card. Thanks for the video!
I'll have to check some prices by the sounds of things :D
Well, I'm glad I bought the Startech one now... especially as I found out on installing it that the express car ejector on my particular X220 does not actually work, so it's in there permanently now until I next open the thing up or get some pliers in there. Being said, that one seems to get good transfer speeds at least.
Glad to hear you got a good brand. 👍
@@LaptopRetrospective Well it seems to work so far...
Thanks for the awesome vids by the way. Very informative and they've been a great help.
Glad they were helpful! Thanks for watching.
Definitely a case where spending more gets you a better value. The Startexc that I added to my Dell E650 was about twice as much as the no-name 3 port card that I tried (but could not make work at all), and it worked perfectly.
There is no type C adapter for that port? That port has potential.
Thank you so much for this video! I was thinking of buying it for my X220
Go with a 2 port unit.
@@LaptopRetrospective why haha? I just wonder, may you please advise us?
StarTech would be a good choice. Not the cheapest but it will be well made.
Well you can't use three fat USB drives with it, but it definitely looks like you can plug in 3 standard USB connectors. There are much slimmer USB drives than that Sandisk ( I got one of those it's pretty wide)
Yeah with the amount of heat it generates though it's hard to recommend.
That's a separate matter, that portable DVD drive is probably maxing out the power draw of those 2 USB ports and with cheap voltage regulation it's probably best to use the X230 ports for that. But if say those 3 cables were low current devices, like say a regular office mouse, a data cable and a slim USB flash drive, you might get different results.
The heat is a deal breaker for me as it seems to warm up even when not in use.
Sadly I wasn’t able to watch the video when it was uploaded earlier but hey better late than never? Oh man this was my request from last time. Keep the videos coming! ;D I also would like to see the egpu express card slot for your next video. Like is it really working? How efficient would it be? Thanks and looking forward! :D
Happy to release this video and hopefully I can get an eGPU done in the next little while.
@@LaptopRetrospective we'll wait for it!
The order has been placed! Late July or August is the arrival time. Slow boat and all.
I got a double USB3 expresscard for my X230 and it didn't work at all. Detected in device manager but nothing plugged into it worked. It is with the Lord now.
Very strange. I didn't get the chance to test an X230 but I wonder if your Express Card slot is enabled/working.
Would/could extendable USB3 ports make a USB C/3 Dockingstation work? My main focus is on getting the monitors to run
That's probably a bridge too far for these ports.
I have a x201 and i am thinking buy an expresscard sdhc adapter. Do you know if it is bootable from expresscard?
Good question. I'm not entirely sure. I know the ThinkMod guys are working on something that will though.
@@LaptopRetrospective Muchas gracias!
The inside electronics could probably be modded to make it dissipate more heat and add an on/off button. But who knows... Great video btw
Good ideas, thanks!
I am considering getting a 2-port one for my X220, but after your review I am confused. Any ideas why the card would get so hot? I also wonder how much power it can deliver, because I want to use a USB 3.0 hard disk with it. Would it work without additional power input?
If you want one that doesn't require additional power then the single port StarTech might be the way to go.
Hello i don't know if you be able to answer this considering this video Has been out for a while for you but do you happen to know what generation that ExpressCard slot is? My elitebook book is the first gen so it stupid old lol i have another laptop that is actually a 2.0 but still not my tempo I'd like to know what this one has
Pretty sure it's second generation.
I have exactly the same card purchased some time ago, where my USB3.0 ports on Dell precision M6600 were physically damaged by the previous owner. I stopped using it, because it was giving issues all the time in Windows 10 OS. And yes, it gets hot :)
Interesting. I didn't try it in Windows 10 but I suspect it is more quality control related.
@@LaptopRetrospective well sometimes the OS does not recognize the devices connected to the USB, then I had to remove the card and plug it back in. Sometimes I had to reboot as it did not want to work at all... Tried to download different drivers, but only found one I guess. Just a bad experience overall...
@@ComputersHowtos sounds like it!
Hey, can you help me? My x220 was installed with 16gb ram, but only 3,94 usable ram
My spec : Windows 7 32bit
Core i5-2xxx
Thanks
That's all your version of Windows you have will support. www.compuram.de/blog/en/how-much-ram-can-be-addressed-under-the-current-32-bit-and-64-bit-operating-systems/
Thank you so much from indonesia!!
You're welcome. Install a different OS or one of the versions listed that supports your installed RAM and you sound be good to go.
What other add-ons can you get for the express card slot? (Other than the eGPU by EXP), USB Type-C 3.0?
I don't think ExpressCard can handle USB-C. I am continuing to explore this very thing.
"I bought the sketchyest card" looks down at the same card in my own laptop. G8 🤣🤣🤣
Best of luck to ya, mine heats up like crazy.
@@LaptopRetrospective tbh i didn't have high hopes to begin with but i figured it couldn't be slower, oh how wrong i was 🤣
What are some actually useful ExpressCard bays?
You mean the cards themselves? The NVMe and egpu adapters would get my vote.
These ExpressCards certainly are sketchy! My laptop wouldn't even recognize it or anything plugged into it. Also it's not powered so anything requiring USB power draw such as external hard drives won't work. Not to mention that on some laptops the way you eject these is to push them in so that the mechanism releases to allow them to disconnect and spring out... meaning that you're essentially ejecting the damn thing every time you plug a USB device in!
It does have power delivery I'm fairly sure. If not then the ThinkMods drive wouldn't work.
@@LaptopRetrospective Maybe but maybe not enough. None of my devices worked and the poor guy I sold it to on eBay also reported that his external hard drive wouldn't work.
2:04 It is true, the heat breaks the plastic on the palm rest, it happened to me on my x220t
Yeah I was a little worried about that myself.
I just got a dock and my 8 gigs of ram is on the way as well. I wonder what my next x220 related purchase will be and this gives me something to consider. Thanks
You're welcome. Good luck on your further upgrades.
Nice machine, I have a x200 but definitely want to get another x220 or x230. Thx
You're welcome!
I have a question:
Is the slot reverse compatible with PCBus?
I have been looking around for what kind of slot I have on my laptop and I cant figure out what it's compatible with.
Here's the specs of your interested:
Fujitsu lifebook E741/D
- i5 2520m
- 4 gb of ram
- 250 gb hard disk
- 1080p display
From what I understand they are not.
Fantastic video. Thanks so much.
Glad you found it helpful!
I had one of these in my X230. I plugged in two external HDDs to it and it lasted about 12 minutes .. then it was no more. I have another one in my X201 and, given my past experience, I will only use it with thumb drives. Seems to work as designed and in my case it's about twice as fast as the USB 2 ports with the thumb drives I'm using.
Yeah, seems to be hit and miss.
Good stuff 🤘
Thank you sir!
interesting, ive been using one of these cards in my t61 and the transfer speeds are WAY faster than the usb 2.0 ports on device. I'm surprised that you only see such a little difference.
I suspect the quality of the card in the video is to blame.
How to eject the ExpressCard from the Thinkpad X220 Laptop? Thanks
Should just press it in and it ejects.
@@LaptopRetrospective Thank you. It worked!
Excellent! Happy to help.
Why should it draw power when nothing is plugged into it?
This example isn't really well made which I think is part of the problem.
Hi there, I am also happy owner of Thinkpad, though model X201. Installed mint on an external Samsung SSD and able to boot it from that drive. However, it is connected to USB 2.0 port, just wondering if it would be a significant speed gain if the ssd is connected to USB 3.0, I know for fact, if installed inside the laptop , SSD performs exceptionally fast booting to Mint or shutting down. lastly, would you recommend any branded ExpressCard over unbranded ? Are all of them gets warm ?
I don't remember the SATA speeds of the X201 but it will probably be faster internally. USB 3 probably won't make any noticeable difference, if done via Express Card. Two or one slot cards by more reputable brands are ideal but they will get warm I suspect.
@@LaptopRetrospective thnx a mil for you reply, apart from USB connectivity function , are there any other type of ExpressCards ?
Yep, several including egpu setups.
what is the most recent (modern) laptop with Expresscard 34?
I know the P50/51/52 have them.
@@LaptopRetrospective i thought the p52 got rid of it.... the P51 and P71 look like the most recent i can find (outside of custom built EUROCOMs). I have an old piece of imaging equipment (SWIR camera) that only works with an expresscard 34 card as interface. But i need something moremodern for a few other programs and so that i dont have to lug around this old Thinkpad Edge m380 JUST for this one camera (plus that computer is already in poor condition). I'd really like something as small as possible, but usually i am finding all i can find are workstation stuff.
@aaronsteele6937 That sounds right. I'm remembering wrong I suspect. Express Card is really out of style after the T440 era outside of the workstation.
I actually want to defend this little card (which I have now 3 of, because I'm a proud owner of 2 x x220 and 1x x230). Quality is poor, as you point out, the blue prongs inside are bang in the middle and wobble, and more than once did I jam my usb stick the wrong way round. I think, one time was once too many, and one of the ports, middle one, conveniently, died. Not that I ever tried to use all three ports. Yes, usb sticks are usually too wide to fit all in one go, but usb cables and sticks combined, do work. Not that I would need 3 xtra ports at the same time.
However, to the defence of this express card:
1. there are actually only about 2 - 3 other xpress usb 3.0 models available on planet Earth as alternative to this one. Plus one or two come with that extra power-to-usb cable, which is both untidy, and - takes away your usb 2 port (so, essentially, you lose 1 x usb2 port to gain 2 x usb 3 ports)
2. amazon reviews of those other cards are mixed, to put it gently (partly, no doubt, because people can't be (...) to download proper drivers, or don't know what to do with that little, round, flat disk (it's called mini-CD, children, you put it in a dvd drive, which is... ah, just look it up! :)
3. those other cards cost about 50% - 100% more, and combined with the above (extra power required, only 2 ports provided, very mixed reviews), I don't think they're worth extra money. After all, it's AD 2020, and it's a 2012 laptop. Hardly worth spending lots of money on.
4. I strongly disagree with your claim that this card gives you, quote, "slightly higher transfer speeds". For me (w7) it's about 40 - 50 Mbs on this card v. 10 - 20 Mbs on usb 2.0 port (varies, depending on write / read and file size).
5. I never assumed this card would actually POWER any of my portable usb devices, and generally it doesn't, I bought it as a quick go-to ports for usb sticks (I actually have an i7 with a usb 3, and I also run my x230 at home with a dock which comes with another usb 3.0 port. All somewhat slower than what usb 3.0 is supposed to be, but whoever bought into that "up to 400 Mbs speed" lie must have been born yesterday). Anyway, it does power my portable toshiba usb 3.0 hdd, but won't power my other portable hdds.
In summary, this card sucks, but it sucks the least of all (2 or 3) usb 3.0 cards available.p.s. once you lose that mini-cd with drivers, as you did (and I did once), and the seller of the card tells you to (...), you can get the drivers for W7 off fresco website, it's called fresco FL1100 chipset driver, file, currently, FLUSB3.0-3.8.35514.0 (support.frescologic.com/portal/kb/articles/usb). In W10 it's supported natively. Don't know about linux though.
My tests on this machine being conducted under Linux probably are the cause for our different results and it may well perform better in a Windows environment. Thanks for taking the time to come to it's defence! How do you find the heat?
@@LaptopRetrospective re. heat, it's anecdotal, i.e. I never actually measured. I did notice that the card is warm (warmer than body heat, I'd say) whenever I pull it out, but I assumed it was because it lives in a tight, generally warm "environment" and thus conducts heat from the machine around it, rather than generates it itself (other than when actually working). But it's no proof of card heat generation or lack of, plus my day to day usage is different, I run x230 sitting in a dock, with the lid closed, certainly hotter than a regular lap-top use. And, with the above, I hardly ever need those extra usb 3.0 ports. (it's different when I take of the x220s on the road, of course)
p.s. in another video (buying a thinkpad x220 battery in 2019, you mention battdepot. Strangely enough, they don't sell, at least for the UK market, either x220 or 230 branded replacement, i.e. Dr. Battery, only for the tablet variant (actually good batteries will become precious commodity for these laptops in the coming years as fewer and fewer will be available). I different story though ;)
@Laptop Retrospective what is the music at the beginning of your videos? I recognise it but not sure what it's from.
I'll have to check the name and get back to you
Art of Silence.
@@LaptopRetrospective Many thanks :-D
I got my 2 x USB3 ExpressCard today (CSL brand). I'm quite happy, it seems to only get warm in actual usage so Windows does seem to be able to manage the power to some extent.
It's a good job because my Expresscard slot is a bit screwed and the ejection mechanism is... AWOL, so it kind of needs to stay in there.
ATTO gives me readings of around 280MB/sec read/write with a 128GB Intel SSD hooked up in a USB3 caddy. Real-world file transfers seemed to stabilise around 130MB/sec write and a bit higher read.
This far exceeds what I was able to get via the USB2.0 ports so I'm really happy with this. Thanks for the video!
@@leephcom You're welcome. Glad you have a good solution.
When I got my X220 it has that left side of the palm rest without a small bit part.
Now I understand why! Someone must have gone wild with an expresscard
Hmmm. Interesting I wonder what happened...
Hello, is there a command I get type in my thinkpad x220 to check that everything is working properly on the computer? I turn off my trakpad on the bios, and then turn it on again in the bios, but it is not working, can you help? Thank you for your time.
Not in front of mine right now but there is a keyboard shortcut to toggle the input. It's Fn+ on the of F keys. Not sure if it just toggles the TrackPoint or just the trackpad.
Thank you as always for replying to my message, you are the only person I have found that replies to thinkpad questions! It is appreciated! I went into my bios using f1 two times yesterday regarding the trakpad on and off feature, I tried to go into the bios using f1 today, three times, but my thinkpad wont let me go into the bios now, why do you think that is?
Thank you for your time.
If the keyboard input and TrackPoint don't work, my guess is faulty keyboard since it's the same cable for both. Try taking the keyboard out and putting it back in but I'd be prepared to replace it.
The track point works fine, but the track pad won't came back on after I turned it off and then on using bios. Why do you think it's not letting me go back into my bios menu?
It won't let you into the BIOS but it's still boots normally?
It’s like having sli in a gaming pc. You can kind of use it, it’s a little bit faster sometimes, but it’s pointless.
Never had an SLI setup so yeah, point taken. :-D
🤔 that's odd. I thought the x220 had the smaller 34mm slot and the t420 had the 54mm slot, but it's the other way around.
In fact the bigger computer has the smaller slot and the smaller computer has the bigger slot.
If you have more expresscard shenanigans see if a single port usb 3 card in the smaller 34mm size runs faster?
It is certainly interesting. I left a link to an article in the description of the video of some tests that were done with other cards.
@@LaptopRetrospective thanks mate i'll take a look
Hello, I have an x220, regarding the camera, on the left side off the camera board there are two holes, are you suppose to put screws in those holes? If I break a few plastic bits that click the front bezel, would you advise replacing it (front Bezel)?
Thank you for your time.
I'm not entirely sure which part you are referring to but if you Google for the ThinkPad X220 maintenance manual you'll get instructions and pictures on how each part goes together.
Thank you, I appreciate the fact that you always respond to questions asked, it's appreciated!
My pleasure Guy! I'm happy to help. I hope the maintenance manual helps clear up a few things.
Stuck one to my P50's Expresscard 34. It has 2 ports and there's no room for extra power and that would be so ugly setup to have cables going in and out anyway. I put it there mainly because all the very many USB's it already has are in the back and right side and I like it better on left side. Easiest to plug in stuff and they aren't in the way when using mouse
Fastest number I saw on File Explorer was 9.65 MB/s which is not far from the 10 that my drive is capable of
Thanks for the information!
@@LaptopRetrospective I actually squeezed the aluminum a little bit to make the ports tighter as they were a bit sloppy and it's now a little bit faster. No difference between the original 3.0 ports and this. Now the card comes off when I pull it though so it needs a little more fine tuning.
How's the heat on yours?
@@LaptopRetrospective not much heat and I don't understand why it would warm up even when not used?
Do you know where I can find HDMI Express card? Does it exist?
I know StarTech has an HDMI capture card, not sure about exporting video though.
@@LaptopRetrospective ok thank you for the information 👍
You're welcome.
damn lol I have the exact same sandisk usb 3 pendrive and usb 2 sandisk pendrive and the same samsung portable usb dvd drive LOL
I see you are a person of culture as well.
Jist of the video: Rumor has it.
Yep, especially with these three port setups.
Hello, does it works with the i5 version too?
The i5 version of the X220 was featured in this video.
mine is plugged in 24/7. for several years now...
Nice! What do you use it for?
@@LaptopRetrospective oh just for usb3 card reader etc. btw i got the really janky 3port just like in your vid. runs really hot so i'm surprised that it hasn't died yet LOL
Me too. 😁
What is different about the center USB port?
What do you mean exactly? Just want to make sure I answer your question.
@@LaptopRetrospective The version with center barrel plug is to be plugged in for additional power (and thus speed?) taken from another USB port. I found out after I asked you. Thanks for your quick reply. I wrote this after watching your video the second time.
Cheers, glad you found your answer!
Is it really that hot? Can we cut off when not used?
In my experience it gets hot if it's plugged into the card slot, even with no USB devices attached.
any difference between the 34 and 54 speeds?
Haven't had a chance to test but the speed should be in the slot on the motherboard, not the card size.
What are you using or doing to prevent over heating with Linux Mint ??
Not leaving it plugged in when I am not using it. :-D
How’s the battery life after installing?
I don't keep it in when I'm not using it. Gets a bit toasty.
Huh kinda glad i never went through and bought that one (kinda had my attention since it had 3 ports)
Yeah, safe to say there are better options.
Also i suggest like many have already to try out an egpu setup(would like to try it with my x230)
@@miskoma3882 noted!
X220 vs x230 which better with exp gdc?
X230 has a stronger CPU that reduces bottleneck.
My x220 has built in usb 3.0 :)
Lucky you has an i7.
There is missing real transfer speed test from e. g. portable ssd disk.
Still I don't know if I can attach 3 USB cables. I'm disappointed with this presentation.
Thanks for your feedback, this is an older video and the adapter wasn't the best quality I feel. The three USB side by side would depend on the size of the items being plugged in.
lol @ 2:15
Great video :-)
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
what lenovo notebooks have express card slot ?
Quite a few models from the x00 to x30 era as well as the first P and W series.
How did you replace the windows key on the keyboard with a linux mint symbol, love the vid!
That's a sticker that UNIX Stickers used too sell before they got taken over by sticker mule.
@@LaptopRetrospective Thanks!
No problem, not sure where you'd find one now. Maybe a custom sticker site.
@@LaptopRetrospective alright! I shall begin my search.
Best of luck. Let me know what you find. I know the Mint store has some badges I think.
What a nice OS did you use? It nice
Linux Mint on this one.
which keyboard is installed into your x220
Standard one is featured I believe.
@@LaptopRetrospective can i use X220 keyboard for my X230T
@@prahaladdonga24 not sure the tablet keyboards can be swapped with non tablet versions. Also, the BIOS trickery would be needed.
I wish you did the USB to USB copy.. that would have been the "real" test..
Noted, if I do one in the future.
I once heard a story of a person first getting to know what usb is back in the day through some teen magazine article titled "what is a universal cereal, and why it's on bus?", Now thanks to decades of research, we know that usb 2.0 is potato chips, confirmed
Glad to do my part for science.
USB extension cable?
I need the ExpressCard driver please D:
What OS are you on?
@@LaptopRetrospective WIN 11
Hmmm. Haven't tried it in Windows 11. I don't have a machine with an EC slot that natively supports it.
@@LaptopRetrospective no problem, I already found the driver on a website :D
Nice!
Does it take the 34mm or the 54mm?
This one is 54 but I suggest the 34.
@@LaptopRetrospective Much obliged.
You're welcome. I've found the 34mm form factor to generally be more reliable.
Are you running Ubuntu on it?
Linux Mint so not entirely incorrect.
@@LaptopRetrospective Thank you. May I also ask. The express card on the X series is larger than the ExpressCard slot on T520, T530 and P50, P51 right sir? I am trying to buy the expresscard for those 14 and 15 inchs size
That's correct. You want the 34mm size. It still fits in the 54mm slot as well.
Good idea. I`ve blown all my usb`s using arduino`s.
I used that exact same card in my L440 and it got BOILING hot. I took it out before ruining my machine.
How were the transfer speeds?
@@LaptopRetrospective I don't recall testing the transfer speeds, just remembering it getting so hot I was worried of it melting the inside of the laptop. It did "work" as I used it briefly with a USB thumb drive, but that's all I can remember doing with it.
You use 34mm or 54mm ?
This was a 54mm card.
should've opened it up
model please
I'm not sure if this is even still available under this brand. That's the trouble with some of these parts.
Is that a Canadian accent?
Sure is, eh?
@@LaptopRetrospective Yup. Because instead of "out", you say "AYY-oot".
Please start locking your focus. The constant auto focus makes the video near impossible to watch.
Unfortunately that particular lens does not allow me to lock the focus. So it's either that or a lens with a manual focus and a narrow sweet spot.
In short I need another camera for this work or a better lens. Sorry!
@@LaptopRetrospective Thanks for the reply. Hopefully you'll be able to get equipment that can allow you to adjust the focus in the future as your content is great, it just becomes a bit annoying when the camera decides to change what it's focusing on.
@@dangerousmythbuster totally agreed. It seems to only do it under specific conditions, part of the game is learning those conditions and avoiding triggering them.
Cheers Jorn, all my videos recently have been filmed with manual focus, but I wish I had something that kept it all in focus. 🤣
Yeah the camera I have, although amazing is probably not the best for the job on retrospect, or I'm missing something. Phones on a whole seem to do better with focusing.