Sony’s new 640GB CFexpress Type A card is the highest-capacity to date, but it isn’t cheap: Digital Photography Review
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Buried within Sony’s FX30 announcement yesterday was another announcement for two new CFexpress Type A ‘Tough’ memory cards Sony will soon have available: the 320GB CEA-G320T and the 640GB CEA-G640T.
Both the 320GB and 640GB model offer maximum read and write speeds up to 800MB/s and 700MB/s, respectively.
To date, the 640GB model is the largest-capacity CFexpress Type A card to be announced. While CFexpress Type B cards continue to be released by an array of manufacturers in capacities reaching up to 4TB, CFexpress Type A cards are limited to smaller capacities and are few and far between compared to CFexpress Type B cards.
Currently, Delkin, Exascend, ProGrade Digital, Lexar and Sony are the only companies offering compelling CFexpress Type A cards, all of which have been limited to 320GB or lower. The read and write speeds also tend to be slower than that of equal-capacity CFexpress type B cards.
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| Sony’s high-end a1 camera features dual CFexpress Type A/UHS-II SD card slots. Due to the similar form factor, Sony can use a single slot to support both memory card formats. |
These discrepancies in both capacity and speed are likely due to the smaller form factor of CFexpress Type A cards, which measure 20mm x 28mm x 2.8mm (WxLxD) compared to Type Be, which comes in at almost double the width and a mm thicker at 38.5mm x 29.6mm x 3.8mm (WxLxD). Extra space means more room for flash storage and the various interfaces required to get better speeds out of the cards.
While Sony’s new 640GB Tough CFexpress Type A card does a bit to address the capacity limitations we’ve seen in CFexpress Type A cards until now, it doesn’t come cheap. Sony’s new 320GB and 640GB cards retail for $649.99 and $1249.99, respectively. For comparison, Sony’s equivalent 256GB and 512GB CFexpress Type B Tough cards retail for $299.99 and $449.99, respectively. Oh, and they offer double the maximum read and write speeds at 1700MB/s and 1480MB/s, respectively. In fact, for less than the price of Sony’s new 640GB CFexpress Type A card, you can snag an Angelbird AV Pro 2TB CFexpress Type B card for just $959.99.
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| A product page for Angelbird’s 2TB AV Pro CFexpress Type B card, which retails for $959.99. |
Still, if you need the extra capacity and are limited to using CFexpress Type A cards, the 640GB model is your only option. Both the 320GB and 640GB cards are expected to be available in October 2022. Pre-orders are currently open on Sony’s online shop as well as through authorized Sony retailers.
Press release:
Editorial note: This is a subset of the FX30 press release:
CFexpress Type A Memory Cards: CEA-G320T and CEA-G640T
The compact and high-performance CFexpress Type A memory card CEA-G320T will be available in October for approximately $650 USD and $850 CAD (CEA-G320T),while the CFexpress Type A memory card CEA-G640T16 will be available in December for approximately $1,250 USD and $1,630 CAD. In addition to the existing 80GB and 160GB cards, large capacity 320GB and 640GB cards will be added to the series.17
These large capacity cards support high-speed performance with a maximum writing speed of up to 700MB/s and Video Performance Guarantee “VPG400”, which offers sustained writing speeds of up to 400MB/s, and enables 4K 120p high bit rate video shooting.
The new large capacity cards have achieved TOUGH specification, which means they have been certified to be waterproof, dustproof, and robust enough to support stable long-term shooting in various environments. 18
For detailed product information, please visit:
Exclusive stories and exciting new content shot with the new FX30and FX30B and Sony’s other imaging products can be found at www.sonycine.com and www.alphauniverse.com, two sites created to educate and inspire all fans and customers of Sony Cinema Line.
16 To use CEA-G640T memory card with the following cameras, the camera software version must be as listed below. Alpha 1 (Ver.1.31 or later), Alpha 7S III (Ver.2.11 or later), and FX3 (Ver.2.00 or later).
17 1 GB = one billion bytes. A portion of this card capacity is used for system files and may vary.
18 Actual performance may vary. Based on environmental conditions and usage. Sony does not guarantee damage to recorded data or card based on every situation or condition.
