Media card manufacturer Exascend has announced a new high-capacity Type A CFExpress Card capable of read/write speeds of 800MB/s and 700MB/s, respectively. The new line of Essential CFExpress Type A cards will come in 120GB-240GB sizes and will be the highest capacity Type A card on the market.
Designed for use in Sony’s a1, a7 IV, a7S III, FX3, and FX6 cameras, the Type A card relies on the 3D TLC NAND Flash storage with a PCIe 3.0 interface. This offers sustained write speeds of 550MB/s and a maximum of 700 MB/s.
The card also uses Exascend’s Adaptive Thermal Control and SuperCruise technologies to keep the card cooler when writing at those high speeds.
Image Credit – Exascend
If you’re wondering what the difference is between a Type A and Type B CFExpress card, it’s largely its physical size and the fact that Type B cards have two lanes for their Gen 3 PCI-express interface, while Type A has only one. That translates to Type B cards having double the maximum performance.
However, while most media card makers are focusing on Type B cards for recording video at 8K and beyond, Exascend is using the single interface with the faster NAND flash storage interface and their proprietary SuperCruise writing technology to achieve higher sustained write speeds and thereby making them able to capture 8K video at 60fps.
Image Credit – Exascend
Meanwhile, the Adaptive Thermal Control technology assures reliability and performance in extreme temperatures ranging from -0 to 70° (C).
Exascend says that with this technology managing the temperature of the cards when the temperatures climb, users can be assured the card will remain reliable.
Here’s a complete list of the card’s features:
- 120GB, 180GB, and 240GB capacities
- Read up to 800 MB/s; write up to 700 MB/s
- Handles 8K RAW at 60 FPS
- New proprietary SmartStream technology: a disruptive technology that dynamically scales CPU frequency and performance to cater to the use cases, maximizing energy efficiency
- Exascend’s trademark Adaptive Thermal Control technology: ensures stable performance in thermally demanding environments
- SuperCruise technology: a sustained performance-enhancing algorithm that allows the CFexpress card to handle critical memory tasks while still offering stable performance
- Five-year global warranty
Image Credit – Exascend
The only real downside to these cards is that they’re somewhat of an odd duck, with really only Sony cameras being able to use them. Still, if shooting on a Sony platform, these cards could be a viable option when capturing at those higher 8K speeds.
The Exascend Type A Cards will be available at up to 240GB, while the current best other competing Type A card makers like Delkin, ProGrade Digital, and Sony can offer 160GB.
The retail price for the Exascend 240GB card is $400, with the 180GB and 120GB cards costing $300 and 190 respectively. The cards also come with a five-year warranty.
The card is, however, listed as being “available soon,” with no set date for shipping or pre-ordering links. There is, however, an inquiry link at the Exascend Essential website.
[source: Exascend]
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