This week, Sony users have something to get excited about as the CFexpress Type A memory card market just got flipped on its head. Until now, it bugged me that I was paying 2-4x as much per GB for CFexpress Type A cards for my Sony cameras as I was for CFexpress Type B cards for my Canon and Nikon cameras. That looks to change with the launch of Angelbird’s new 1TB CFexpress Type A card, with a retail price of just $499. Not only is this the largest capacity CFexpress Type A card on the market, but it also boasts the highest (claimed) read and write speeds and a price per GB close to four times less than Sony’s largest card.
Let’s give this some real numbers: Angelbird says its new card can reach read speeds of up to 820 MB/s and write speeds of 720 MB/s, with a sustained write speed of 650 MB/s, easily passing VPG 400 standards. At $499 for 1TB, that’s $0.5 per GB.
Compare this to Sony’s current largest CFexpress Type A card, the 640GB TOUGH G card, with a maximum write speed of 800 MB/s and a read speed of 700 MB/s. Sony’s card has a retail price of $1248, which equates to $1.95 per GB! Nearly four times more expensive than Angelbirds’s new card.
When the CFexpress Type A card was first introduced with the Sony a7S III, Sony cards were the only option, so they set the price point. Other manufacturers, like ProGrade Digital, joined the Type A market a few months later but only needed to undercut Sony’s pricing by a few dollars to seem like a better option. There wasn’t a lot of incentive to price things more aggressively, and Sony users have paid the price for the last few years.
Moving forwards, all CFexpress Type A manufacturers will have to slash their prices to compete with Angelbird, including Sony. Until they do, there is no point in buying anything other than an Angelbird CFexpress Type A card. You can order them now from B&H or Amazon. My wallet thanks you, Angelbird!
