CFExpress is quickly becoming the most popular choice of storage device for the latest cameras. This relatively new form factor is easy to handle and far more robust than the SD format for which it is quickly superseding.
Okay, so you’re unlikely to fit as many CFExpress cards into a small card wallet as you are with SD. CFE-B cards also weigh in at three and a half times the amount of SD and are over twice the size, but then we’re dealing with a weight difference of 5g, and in real terms, the size difference is also inconsequential.
The big difference aside from size and weight, which isn’t that big, is data transfer speeds. CFE-B Cards offer the types of read and write speeds required by the latest cameras.
Even if you compare a decent UHS-II SD Card against a standard CFE-B card, the difference is huge; for example, a Sony UHS-II SD will offer a read speed of 300MB/s and Write of 299MB/s. The PERGEAR CFE-B card and those speeds are boosted to a read speed of 1000MB/s and Write of 500MB/s.
What does this all mean for us as photographers? At the moment, not a great deal as the UHS-II SD cards are capable of keeping up with the present flock of cameras if, of course, they have the relevant slot.
But, CFE-B essentially future proofs the cameras and gives that performance boost that’s handy for 4, 6 and 8K video and ultra high-resolution stills.
There’s also the fact that the larger form factor of the CFE-B cards should dissipate the heat better, offer larger capacity storage and be far more robust.
Essentially the CFE-B format is rather good, and the switch from SD to CFE-B for the latest cameras is more than welcome. When it comes to it the PERGEAR CFE-B Lite 128GB is a very decent example.
So very interesting you got basically the speeds advertised. I purchased their “non lite” 256gb card (1300 read 1000 write) and can only get 256 write 400 read (and then sometimes 150 read) using their reader with a thunderbolt connection. Seems this card is much faster and reliable than mine. Their customer service has been extremely poor and they basically keep throwing the problem back at me, but I’ve used every speed test they recommend (including black magic like you) and still get abysmal speeds. Its been 3 months of back and forth with no solution presenting itself. Wish I had purchased Lexar or Sandisk or DElkin.
Hi Merlin, there can be quite a few things that effect the transfer speeds when testing, which is why the Blackmagic Disk Speed test is so good, I also check with AJA System Test. Before testing I format the card in camera, then make sure that my Computer, a MacBook Pro 2019 16-inch is rebooted and that the speed test software is the only software running. How does the card perform in camera?