ProGrade CFexpress 4.0 transfer Blazing 3.4GB a second
Nov 16, 2023
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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ProGrade CFexpress 4.0 transfer Blazing 3.4GB a second
Nov 16, 2023
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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ProGrade Digital has announced its newest CFexpress 4.0 cards. Unlike their first CFexpress 4.0 announcement, though, these ones are a bit more reasonable in price for the masses.
Available in 512GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, they offer some impressive speeds. Read speeds go up to 3,400MB/sec, with burst write speeds up to 3,000MB/sec. Sustained write speeds are a guaranteed 2,400MB/sec.
[Related reading: Symbols on SD Cards and their meaning]
ProGrade Digital CFexpress 4.0
ProGrade’s new Gold Series CFexpress 4.0 cards offer almost identical speeds to its pricier Cobalt Series CFexpress 4.0 cards. But they do so at a significant reduction in price.
The company’s 1.3TB Cobalt CFexpress 4.0 card costs $1,459, with the same maximum read speed. Where it differs is in the write speed. While they both offer the same burst write speed, the Cobalt card has a guaranteed sustained write speed of 2,800MB/sec.
Losing that extra 400MB/sec isn’t going to be a big issue for most people. At least, not yet, while there aren’t any cameras on the market capable of taking advantage of CFexpress 4.0 speeds. That might change in the future, but for now, these make a lot more sense for most people to buy.
ProGrade vs OWC
ProGrade isn’t the only company on the market producing CFexpress 4.0 cards. OWC has also announced their own line of CFexpress 4.0 cards. OWC has the OWC Atlas Ultra CFexpress 4.0 in 1TB and 2TB capacities and the OWC Atlas Pro CFexpress 4.0 in 256GB and 512GB capacities.
The 1TB and 2TB cards cost $579.99 and $999.99, respectively. The lower capacity 256GB and 512GB cards cost $169.99 and $199.99, respectively. The Atlas Ultra and Atlas Pro offer 3,650MB/sec max read speed, which is a little more than ProGrade.
The write speeds, on the other hand, are a little different. OWC Atlas Ultra offer a minimum guaranteed write speed of 1,500MB/sec. The OWC Atlas Pro is an even slower 800MB/sec. Both are still faster than many people need today, but both fall very short of ProGrade’s claimed 2,400MB/sec sustained write speeds.
Burst write for both brands sits at 3,000MB/sec, but ProGrade’s cards are less expensive. I’d be very interested to see some real-world transfer speed tests between the two brands once they become available.
[Related reading: Memory Cards Have “Less Space” Than Advertised, Here Is Why]
Price and Availability
The ProGrade Gold Series Digital CFexpress 4.0 1TB is available to pre-order now for $399.99. The 512GB and 2TB variants are expected to be available soon, priced at $179.99 and $799.99, respectively.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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