# What's Your Favorite CF Express Card and Why?



## digigal (Aug 7, 2020)

Looking for another CF Express card for my R5 and this is my first camera that has used them so haven't developed a favorite so far. Was generally using San Disk Extreme Pro SD cards and never had a problem with them but both some Lexar SD XC II for my R and was using them in my R5 and it kept crashing because they were too slow--probably my error. Don't want to make that mistake again. I currently have a SanDisk ExtremePro CF Express for my R5 and it seems to work great. Don't know whether to just stick with that or it folks have found something they think is more reliable/durable. Thanks--
Catherine


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## john1970 (Aug 7, 2020)

If you want to try other cards I would recommend Sony Tough G series or the Prograde Cobalt series. Both should work great in the R5. I use Sony Tough G cards because they have solid read speeds and are made exceptionally well. The Tough G SD cards are especially robust when compared to normal cards.


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## unfocused (Aug 7, 2020)

You only need the ProGrade Cobalt if you are shooting high resolution video. I use the regular ProGrade cards. Have only had the 1Dx III for a month and can't shoot any sports now, so hard to know if any problems, but I've used ProGrade CFast and ProGrade SD ever since they came out and never had a problem. I've had a lot of problems lately with Lexar SD cards, so I'm no longer buying Lexar. ProGrade has the advantage that they are cheaper too. I buy 128gb cards because I'm shooting stills and that's way more memory than I need for stills. With CFExpress, I believe only SanDisk makes 64gb cards. 128 seems like the minimum you can get in other brands.


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## digigal (Aug 7, 2020)

unfocused said:


> You only need the ProGrade Cobalt if you are shooting high resolution video. I use the regular ProGrade cards. Have only had the 1Dx III for a month and can't shoot any sports now, so hard to know if any problems, but I've used ProGrade CFast and ProGrade SD ever since they came out and never had a problem. I've had a lot of problems lately with Lexar SD cards, so I'm no longer buying Lexar. ProGrade has the advantage that they are cheaper too. I buy 128gb cards because I'm shooting stills and that's way more memory than I need for stills. With CFExpress, I believe only SanDisk makes 64gb cards. 128 seems like the minimum you can get in other brands.


Yeah, I'll keep those Lexar SD Cards for my R--speed certainly isn't an issue there  and just go with CFExpress in the R5. Thanks for your input


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 7, 2020)

I'd get a card that has been tested with the R5. All the cards overheat, I don't know if better tech is coming or not. I've only seen one where the manufacturer specifically says it was tested with a R5, thats the Delkin. They also detail the overheat and how the card slows down to counter it as much as possible. I expect they all have some sort of feature to do that, but don't tell you.

I expect any of the high end cards will work, but I haven't seen technical comparisons.










CFexpress™ Cards Explained - Delkin Devices


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SanDisk Extreme Pro® CFexpress® Card Type B RescuePRO® Deluxe | Western Digital | Western Digital


When you’re shooting where the action is, the CFexpress® Card Type B unleashes the RAW performance of your gear. With read speeds up to 1700MB/s and write speeds up to 1400MB/s,6 you’ll get low latency during high-speed recording and an enhanced workflow efficiency that’s far beyond anything...




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Lexar® Professional CFexpress™ Type B Card


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https://www.sony.com/electronics/xqd-memory-cards/cfexpress-type-b-memory-card


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## Random Orbits (Aug 11, 2020)

I have a Sony Tough UHS-II card that started corrupting files a couple months after the warranty ran out. It was not part of the recent Sony recall. It was my only Sony card. Now I'm trying ProGrade Cobalt.


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## hovland (Aug 13, 2020)

It's worth noticing that Canon says that 8k raw movie recording is not supported on the San Disk Extreme Pro 64/128GB. ref https://asia.canon/en/support/8204818700
I don't know why, and it's a bit surprising considering the specs on the 128gb card


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## SteveC (Aug 14, 2020)

hovland said:


> It's worth noticing that Canon says that 8k raw movie recording is not supported on the San Disk Extreme Pro 64/128GB. ref https://asia.canon/en/support/8204818700
> I don't know why, and it's a bit surprising considering the specs on the 128gb card



I'd look at the card's _minimum_ sustained write speed.

If it will support everything else, it may be an option for me.


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## unfocused (Aug 14, 2020)

digigal said:


> Yeah, I'll keep those Lexar SD Cards for my R--speed certainly isn't an issue there  and just go with CFExpress in the R5. Thanks for your input


Had another Lexar SD Card go bad yesterday. This time the read/write switch fell off (have no idea where or when) and card now thinks it is read only. That's the fourth Lexar SD Card I've had go bad in less than a year. All were purchased from either B&H or Adorama, so I'm sure they were genuine. The quality control just doesn't seem to be there anymore.


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