CF Express Type B Cards 4.0

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BillW

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Has anyone tried one of the new CF Express Type B cards, version 4.0, in a Z9 or Z8? I see ProGrade is now offering them in a Cobalt version and Gold versions. The stated minimum write speed is 2800 mb/s, which is about double what my Delkin Black and ProGrade Cobalt version 2.0 cards are rated at. I think there are version 4.0 cards from some other suppliers too.

The ProGrade Gold version looks pretty reasonable in price. I'm wondering how it does with heat/temperature. Tempted to buy one to try it.

I wonder whether the Z9's hardware will be able to take advantage of all or part of this higher minimum write speed. The Q/A on the B&H website suggests that the Z9 can use this higher minimum write speed. Interesting to see what this could do for burst lengths on a Z9 or Z8.

I also wonder whether you need a new card reader or whether a card reader designed for version 2.0 cards would still work, albeit without using the highest speeds.

Finally, uploading files to a computer, perhaps not all machines could take advantage of a newer reader or the higher car speeds.

Interested to hear any thoughts or experience.
 
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From the ProGrade website below, although I am skeptical that it can speed up that much on a MAC. Mac's use Thunderbolt 4 not USB4 and there are differences. Someone is going to have to test and report on these. You may be correct that the minimum speed could help things out for those going deep into the buffer while shooting.

NOTE: Current CFexpress cameras will not be able to take advantage of the maximum speed of this card. Until CFexpress 4.0 cameras are introduced, the benefit of this card is tripling the speed of your workflow when downloading content with the ProGrade Digital PG05.6 USB 4.0 Reader.
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I ordered a ProGrade CFe Type B, 4.0. Gold version, 512 GB. Stated minimum write speed 2400 mb/s. Will see how it works after Christmas.
 
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you will NOT see an improvement with cameras that are not cfe-b v4 capable.

also, my playing with pci 3 and pci 4 rated nvme cards shows that if a pci 4 card can obtain 3000MB/s does NOT mean you will get theoretical max or even close to it in a pci 3 system.

the tl;dr is the v4 cards are not going to be any faster than the good performance oriented current gen cards in the current generation cameras.

we will have to wait for cfe-b v4 enabled to take advantage and as such, i probably would wait before investing in v4 cards until you actual own a v4 capable camera or understand your mfgs camera roadmap to see there is a v4 capable camera in your near future.
 
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...just for the record CF-B 4.0 can use 4 PCI-E lines. Previous CF-B uses 2 lines. As a result I expect the new cards to have approximately same speed as the older generation on a Z9 camera.
 
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Tibor Hrnko said:
...just for the record CF-B 4.0 can use 4 PCI-E lines. Previous CF-B uses 2 lines. As a result I expect the new cards to have approximately same speed as the older generation on a Z9 camera.
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sorry, i don't think that's correct. v4 cfe-B still uses two, they just run twice as fast. you have to jump to cfe-c to get 4 lanes but i've never seen or heard of anyone using cfe-c.

but yah, the effect is the same because your running that v4 card at "half speed"
 
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John Navitsky said:
you will NOT see an improvement with cameras that are not cfe-b v4 capable.

also, my playing with pci 3 and pci 4 rated nvme cards shows that if a pci 4 card can obtain 3000MB/s does NOT mean you will get theoretical max or even close to it in a pci 3 system.

the tl;dr is the v4 cards are not going to be any faster than the good performance oriented current gen cards in the current generation cameras.

we will have to wait for cfe-b v4 enabled to take advantage and as such, i probably would wait before investing in v4 cards until you actual own a v4 capable camera or understand your mfgs camera roadmap to see there is a v4 capable camera in your near future.
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Prograde says the version 4.0 cards work with and are recommended for the Z9/Z8. The gold version was $180 for 512 gb at B&H ( $162 each if you buy two). So doesn’t seem bad. (Cobalt version is more expensive and larger capacity.)

I‘m hoping they will be at least similar in speed to my Delkin Black (128 gb and 325 gb) and Delkin Power G4 (650 gb) cards in the Z9/Z8. I was looking to pick up some more cards for trips to Botswana and South Georgia next year.

I‘ll test it when I get it, hopefully next week.
 
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BillW said:
Prograde says the version 4.0 cards work with and are recommended for the Z9/Z8. The gold version was $180 for 512 gb at B&H ( $162 each if you buy two). So doesn’t seem bad. (Cobalt version is more expensive and larger capacity.)

I‘m hoping they will be at least similar in speed to my Delkin Black (128 gb and 325 gb) and Delkin Power G4 (650 gb) cards in the Z9/Z8. I was looking to pick up some more cards for trips to Botswana and South Georgia next year.

I‘ll test it when I get it, hopefully next week.
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they will definitely work. v4 maintains backwards compatibility.

be interested in your experiences. should be a nice card regardless.
 
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Geoff_G said:
Here is a good read on these new cards. One thing I took note of is the increased current draw the new cards will have. Smokin hot..3 Amps....whew...Vs 1.5 -> 2.5 Amps for Prograde 'Gold' and 'Cobalt' Type B.
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Interesting. Thanks for the link.

The ProGrade website says: "Low power consumption for extended battery life when recording continuous video." Not reading carefully, I assumed that power use might be lower.

The DP Review article says that version 2.0 of CF Express Type B cards can go up to 2,000 mb/s, at least as a theoretical max. My current CF Express type B cards have minimum sustained write speeds around 1,400 mb/s. I wonder if the version 4.0 cards could function as a version 2.0 card with a higher minimum write speed -- say closer to 2,000 mb/s -- than my existing cards. We'll see.

I don't have any special equipment to test the new card. Will put it in the Z9 with lossless compressed RAW at 20 fps and see how long the Z9 goes before slowing or stuttering. And compare to my version 2.0 cards. And also see how warm the cards feel.
 
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BillW said:
I don't have any special equipment to test the new card. Will put it in the Z9 with lossless compressed RAW at 20 fps and see how long the Z9 goes before slowing or stuttering. And compare to my version 2.0 cards. And also see how warm the cards feel.
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Your way is better than any fancy equipment testing..:)..looking forward to your report!!
 
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BillW said:
The DP Review article says that version 2.0 of CF Express Type B cards can go up to 2,000 mb/s, at least as a theoretical max. My current CF Express type B cards have minimum sustained write speeds around 1,400 mb/s. I wonder if the version 4.0 cards could function as a version 2.0 card with a higher minimum write speed -- say closer to 2,000 mb/s -- than my existing cards. We'll see.
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my testing of a nvme pci 4 card in a pci 3 system suggests it does NOT mean the card will perform near theoretical max in the older system. instead it will probably perform similarly to other high end cards ilof the current generation
 
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Write speed is a touch lower than the fastest cards. My prograde cobalt gets 86 with a couple buffered shots and doing the same test nets me 77 with a couple buffered with the Prograde gold 4.0 512.

More than fast enough to shoot HE* and capable of much faster 4.0 speeds when it can be implemented. I feel like for the price it wouldnt be wise to buy anything that isnt 4.0 from this point on. For all we know 4.0 cards will be needed to get the full potential out of newer cameras.
 
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i have the prograde gold pcie 4 1 TB card.
not seeing any change in write speeds in the camera ( z9/z8) ie same as pcie 3 cobalt cards. however, data transfer ( read speeds) are about 50-60 % faster while transfering using prograde usb4 cfexpress card reader.
 
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I will not get as technical as others since I am not a techie type ... maybe to old for that :)

I have switched to ProGrade CFexpress™ Type B 4.0 Memory Card (Gold) 512GB in both Z9's (was using Delkin Black 325GB CFe type B and Delkin card reader).

ProGrade CFexpress Type B single-slot USB4.0 card reader. I use the card reader on a mac studio M1 max connected with the supplied thunderbolt cable.

I got a great price on the card 2 pack direct from prograde. Got the reader on amazon (sold by prograde) on a sudden half off sale. Actually cheaper than the Delkin Blacks.

I photograph birds all situations at 20fps plain old raw not HE* (although that works well also ) I have not had the new cards buffer out /slow down yet but seldom had that with the Delkin Black either.

I download using drag and drop to my desk top from the card in the reader. The prograde card and reader combo is noticeably faster than my Delkin Blacks were and not finicky as the Delkins were in either type of Delkin reader where if I forgot to eject the card immediately after download finished it would frequently refuse to eject and I had to go through some extra steps when I pulled it without ejecting first mostly for my own comfort.

So far very happy with the ProGrade CFexpress™ Type B 4.0 Memory Card (Gold) 512GB

I do not do video so no experience there.
 
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Perhaps a silly or naïve question, but is the usable write speed a camera can handle something that can be changed with firmware or or it a hardware issue, e.g., can Nikon allow a Z9 to take advantage of the faster write speed by updating its firmware, or is the write speed controlled only by hardware?
 
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