Wise Launches CFexpress 4.0 Type B Memory Cards Starting at $200
Alongside its new USB4 CFexpress 4.0 Type B card reader, Wise, a Compact Flash Association Member, has released new CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards at CP+ in Yokohama, Japan.
The new cards promise double the read speed of the prior generation cards, meaning creators can offload 100GB of 8K RAW video in just 30 seconds. The new cards come in 512GB and 1TB capacities, and each version has different sustained write speeds. The 512GB card promises 800 MB/s sustained write speed, while the larger card nearly doubles that rate at 1,500 MB/s.
In terms of maximum speeds, the two cards offer identical performance. The maximum read speed is 3,400 MB/s, and the maximum write speed is 2,600 MB/s.
Interestingly, despite high sustained speeds, neither card seemingly has VPG 200 or VPG 400 certification.
“As an executive member of CompactFlash Association, I am proud of all our colleagues’ hard work and efforts in the past months to finally complete and release the specs for the 4.0 generation. We are thrilled to see what high-end imaging industries come out with next,” says Frank Wang, Senior Product Manager of Wise Advanced.
Wise’s new CFexpress Type B cards use TLC NAND flash technology, and their interface is PCIe Gen 4 x2, NVMe 1.4.
When paired with a CFexpress 4.0 card reader, the new CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards will transfer data significantly faster than older cards. However, until cameras have the required PCIe Gen 4 hardware inside — and the software to utilize it fully — burst and buffer performance when shooting will not improve with the latest and fastest cards.
This will inevitably change, but for now, the primary benefit of CFexpress 4.0 cards and readers concerns data transfer speeds after shooting.
Compared to the prior generation, CFexpress 4.0 is twice as performant, so once it’s fully supported throughout the entire photography and videography workflow, it will be transformative when shooting high-speed bursts and high-resolution video.
The Wise CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards will be available through authorized Wise retailers in mid-April. The 512GB card will retail for $200, while the 1TB card’s MSRP is $400. These are competitive prices and certainly cheaper than some of the CFexpress 4.0 Type B cards currently on the market.
Image credits: Wise
