# CFexpress card cracking in R5



## hovland (Aug 21, 2021)

Hello

I recently discovered that my 256GB CFexpress card had cracked open, after 7 months of use.



I’m only an enthusiast and I’m treating my gear carefully, and the card has only ever spent time either in the camera or card reader, and was never dropped etc. So it was a big surprise to me when I discovered it. When checking on bhphotovideo.com I discovered that several others had the same issue and even with a tough card used in the R5. The basic reason seems to be the plastic quality.

And when looking into it I observed that my card had cracked in the same corner as the eject function in the R5 pushes on the card.

So does the R5 need extra good quality CFexpress cards because of the eject function?
and if so what brand does actually make cards that have acceptable and usable quality?
(never had that issue with CompactFlash in Eos 5 MK3 and MK4)

I find it a bit ridiculous that I have to buy an “Unbreakable” card for normal hobby use.
I have shipped the card back to the maker and waiting for their examination..........


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## AlanF (Aug 21, 2021)

hovland said:


> Hello
> 
> I recently discovered that my 256GB CFexpress card had cracked open, after 7 months of use.
> View attachment 199694
> ...


What make is it?


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## unfocused (Aug 21, 2021)

AlanF said:


> What make is it?


I would like to know that too.


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## john1970 (Aug 21, 2021)

Please do let us know the manufacturer of the card. I cannot believe that a major manufacturer (Sony, SanDisk, etc.) would have such issues. Hope it gets resolved on your behalf.


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## YuengLinger (Aug 21, 2021)

That's horrible.

Would it be an angelbird?









Angelbird 256GB AV Pro CFexpress 2.0 Type B Memory Card


Buy Angelbird 256GB AV Pro CFexpress 2.0 Type B Memory Card featuring 256GB Storage Capacity, PCIe 3.0 x2 Bus, Max Read Speed: 1700 MB/s, Max Write Speed: 1500 MB/s, Sustained Write Speed: 550 MB/s, For Photos, Videos, and Raw 4K to 12K, Shock / Dust / Water / X-Ray Proof, Protects Against...




www.bhphotovideo.com





I've had good luck with Prograde, but I don't do video. Seems like heat has simply degraded the adhesive on the card in the photo you shared. Though at least one reviewer of angelbird mentioned that their card came with a "bulge," right out of the box. Ugh.


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## Del Paso (Aug 21, 2021)

"Tough card", could it be a Sony?


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## hovland (Aug 21, 2021)

YuengLinger said:


> That's horrible.
> 
> Would it be an angelbird?
> 
> I've had good luck with Prograde, but I don't do video. Seems like heat has simply degraded the adhesive on the card in the photo you shared. Though at least one reviewer of angelbird mentioned that their card came with a "bulge," right out of the box. Ugh.


Interesting theory about the glue, but the card has also cracked several places in the plastic, and a small piece is missing (hope it's not inside the camera). It's an Angelbird card. And please note that so far they have been helpful and friendly. So I will give them a fair chance to solve it.


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## hovland (Aug 21, 2021)

Del Paso said:


> "Tough card", could it be a Sony?


yes, but note that it's only a single review.


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## bhf3737 (Aug 23, 2021)

I have an Angelbird 1TB CFexpress and after a few outoings I found that its top corner was cracked for some reason, I assume heat was the culprit. It got replace instantly by Angelbird.


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## FrenchFry (Aug 23, 2021)

hovland said:


> yes, but note that it's only a single review.


Hi, 
Is the card an Angelcard or a Sony Tough Card? It kind of seems like you have responded that it both of these.


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## YuengLinger (Aug 24, 2021)

FrenchFry said:


> Hi,
> Is the card an Angelcard or a Sony Tough Card? It kind of seems like you have responded that it both of these.


He said the card in the photo from his first post is an Angelcard.


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## FrenchFry (Aug 24, 2021)

YuengLinger said:


> He said the card in the photo of his first post is an Angelcard.


Yes, and then this exchange right after :


> "Tough card", could it be a Sony?


"yes, but note that it's only a single review."

This would imply that the card is both an Angelcard and a Sony Tough card, which is confusing.


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## YuengLinger (Aug 24, 2021)

FrenchFry said:


> Yes, and then this exchange right after :
> 
> "yes, but note that it's only a single review."
> 
> This would imply that the card is both an Angelcard and a Sony Tough card, which is confusing.


I think he means the card that broke in his camera is an Angelcard, but another B&H reviewer of a Sony card had a similar issue with the same camera.

At the moment, I'm trying to decide which speed Prograde SD card to get for using with the Prograde Gold CFexpress. I don't do video, but from what I've been reading, if I want to give it a try, the CFexpress is the one that matters.


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## rbtree (Aug 24, 2021)

Surely, Angelbird will stand behind their product. They'd better! I've had my R5 since fall, and predominately use a 2 tb Delkin "CF Express Power". 2nd card is a Lexar Professional 128 gb. Both have a metal back cover which wraps around and covers ~80% of the side edges, which lead to the front labeled top. I'd recommend either card over the pictured one, for sure. I only got the 2 tb Delkin as it was 2x the price
($1000 at B&H) but 4x the capacity of the 512 tb.

I've had a couple instances where the camera has stopped recording.., last two were at 4k 60 fps vid mode, with a notice "slow record speed" Surprising. as I've sometimes let an 8 k vid run for a min or so, and a 4k, 120 fps one for about the same. (This last is irrelevant to the discussion, but I thought folks might find it interesting and maybe share if they've had a similar experience with a quality CF-E card.


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## Jonathan Thill (Aug 24, 2021)

YuengLinger said:


> I think he means the card that broke in his camera is an Angelcard, but another B&H reviewer of a Sony card had a similar issue with the same camera.
> 
> At the moment, I'm trying to decide which speed Prograde SD card to get for using with the Prograde Gold CFexpress. I don't do video, but from what I've been reading, if I want to give it a try, the CFexpress is the one that matters.


Thanks @YuengLinger I just read the report of the Sony tough card on BH and from the image the user posted it does not look all that bad. I have been using Sony tough cards for just over a year (SD and CFe) and have not had any complaints or issues. 

I do own a Prograde Gold CFexpress 128GB and it works well for images but does not have the sustained write speed to handle 8K Raw so it is my back up card. It is also not as fast off loading images using my card reader when compared to the Sony. 
This is the card I have - https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08632GFW2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Prograde makes a number of different speed cards so if speed to handle the 8K Raw matters be careful


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## Bdbtoys (Aug 24, 2021)

YuengLinger said:


> I think he means the card that broke in his camera is an Angelcard, but another B&H reviewer of a Sony card had a similar issue with the same camera.
> 
> At the moment, I'm trying to decide which speed Prograde SD card to get for using with the Prograde Gold CFexpress. I don't do video, but from what I've been reading, if I want to give it a try, the CFexpress is the one that matters.



I was lucky and ordered my cards before the R5 was released so got them for a great price. These are what I'm using and have had great luck with them.
Prograde Digital SD UHS-II 256GB Card V90
ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type B 325GB Cobalt Series


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## mkamelg (Aug 25, 2021)

It looks tragic. To avoid such a problem, founder of this thread probably should buy a CFexpress Type B memory card with sides reinforced with a piece of metal (at least that's what it looks like in the pictures). Such a technical solution can be found in the following models of memory cards:

*ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type B 1700 Cobalt*

"Reasons to avoid
- Only two capacities available
- High price per gigabyte”

*ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type B 1700 Gold*

"Reasons to avoid
- Min write speed much less than ProGrade's Cobalt CFexpress cards”

Origin of the quotes: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/the-best-cfexpress-cards

Most of the negative reviews for these memory cards which can be read at various online stores come from people, who are not familiar with the compatibility list.

ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type B 1700 Cobalt / Gold compatibility list: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91b18jUbrcL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

So if you want to record videos in 8K resolution, you need to buy a ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type B 1700 Cobalt memory card with a capacity 325GB or 650GB, or a ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type B 1700 Gold memory card with a capacity 512GB or 1TB.

*Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Card*

"Reasons to avoid
- Write speed relatively slow"

Origin of the quote: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/the-best-cfexpress-cards

*Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Card SILVER Series*

*Delkin Devices Power CFexpress Type B Memory Card*

Reviews on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Delkin-Devic...erType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=1

*Wise Advanced CFX-B Series CFexpress Memory Card*

Reviews in the B&H store: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...fx_b128_cfexpress_xqd_card_128gb.html/reviews

*Exascend Essential CFexpress Card Type-B*

https://www.canonrumors.com/shedding-some-light-on-cfexpress-firmware-and-camera-compatibility/

*NKI 512GB Kinetic Plus CFexpress Type B Memory Card*

Firmware update: https://support.n.ki/

Reviews on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/NKI-512GB-Ki...erType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=1

*Integral UltimaPro X2 CFexpress Memory Card Type B 2.0*

*Integral UltimaPro X2 CFexpress Cinematic Memory Card Type B 2.0*

Reviews on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-re...erType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=1

It's a UK brand, probably not available outside the UK and Europe.

*MICROFROM CFexpress Type B Card*

Reviews on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/MICROFROM-CF...erType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=1


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## hovland (Aug 31, 2021)

YuengLinger said:


> I think he means the card that broke in his camera is an Angelcard, but another B&H reviewer of a Sony card had a similar issue with the same camera.
> 
> At the moment, I'm trying to decide which speed Prograde SD card to get for using with the Prograde Gold CFexpress. I don't do video, but from what I've been reading, if I want to give it a try, the CFexpress is the one that matters.


yes, that's correct. sorry for any confusion.


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## hovland (Aug 31, 2021)

mkamelg said:


> It looks tragic. To avoid such a problem, founder of this thread probably should buy a CFexpress Type B memory card with sides reinforced with a piece of metal (at least that's what it looks like in the pictures). Such a technical solution can be found in the following models of memory cards:


Thanks for suggesting reinforced cards. That might help the integrity/structural strength of the card even if the R5 eject mechanism pushes on the "front" of the card.


mkamelg said:


> *Integral UltimaPro X2 CFexpress Cinematic Memory Card Type B 2.0*
> 
> Reviews on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-re...erType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=1
> 
> It's a UK brand, probably not available outside the UK and Europe.


Thanks for several good suggestions, and I observe that on amazoon.co.uk they list integral with shipping to my home country.


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