Sony has announced two new high-capacity cards in its TOUGH range of CFexpress Type A cards.
Capacity
Sony already makes 80 GB, 160 GB, 320 GB and 640 GB CFexpress cards. However, the new releases are much larger at 960 GB and a whopping 1,920 GB. The latter is currently the world’s largest CFexpress card, with double the capacity of Angelbird’s 1 TB card.
High speed
Sony’s new TOUGH CFexpress cards have maximum write speeds of up to 700 MB/s. They also have fast read speeds of up to 800 MB/s. Curiously, the minimum sustained write speed is 200 MB/s which means that the cards only have the VPG200 (Video Performance Guarantee) rating. The previous cards in this series are certified to VPG400, which means double the sustained write speed at 400 MB/s. Despite this, the new cards are suitable for high-bitrate video recording, such as XAVC S-I 4K 120p.
TOUGH range
Sony’s TOUGH memory cards are designed for reliability and to withstand the rigors of professional use. The cards have bend resistance tested to 150 newtons. This is ten times greater than that required by the CFexpress 2.0 specification. The cards are also built to withstand a drop from 24 feet (7.5 meters) which is five times the distance set in the CFexpress Type A standard.
Weatherproof
In addition, Sony’s TOUGH cards will work faultlessly in extreme temperatures, harsh electrostatic environments, and intense UV light or X-rays. They are even constructed to exceed IP5X dust resistance and IP7X moisture resistance requirements.
What we think
The Sony TOUGH CFexpress cards give you the highest levels of reliability. You can be confident they won’t let you down, even when shooting under the most challenging conditions. However, that level of reliability does come at a price. Angelbird’s 1 TB CFexpress card only costs $499. This means you could buy two to get the same capacity as Sony’s 1,920 GB card and still save $400. In addition, the Angelbird card is rated to VPG400, double the VPG200 of the newest Sony cards. For many video makers, therefore, the Sony cards may not make economic sense for all but the most vital or demanding projects.
Pricing and availability
Sony’s new 960 GB and 1920 GB CFexpress cards are available to pre-order now and are scheduled to ship from June 19th. The 960 GB card will retail at $749, and the 1920 GB card will cost $1,399. Interestingly, the 960 GB is priced lower than the current retail prices for the 320 GB and 640 GB, so those cards may be discounted soon.
