ProGrade Digital Inc. announced new CFexpress 2.0 Type A Gold Series memory cards that promise “optimal capacity for RAW cinema-level video shooting.”
The new CFexpress Type A Gold-class cards come in 240GB and 480GB capacities and include the same “industry-leading quality” as the ProGrade CFexpress 2.0 Type A Cobalt 160GB card, per the card maker.
The Gold line has a VPG 200 rating and has an NVMe host interface with PCIe Gen3 X1 interconnect. The new Gold cards are fully compliant with the CFexpress 2.0 specification and promise maximum read speeds of 900 MB/s, burst write speeds of 800 MB/s, and sustained write speeds of 600 MB/s, which ProGrade says is “ideally suited for the highest-resolution cinema-grade video capture applications.”
Granted, the VPG 200 certification is not the fastest VPG certification that the CompactFlash Association (CFA) offers — that would be VPG 400. VPG 200 means that the new ProGrade Gold CFexpress Type A cards are guaranteed to never drop below 200 MB/s speeds, which is still fast enough for current video applications. It is a bit surprising that the cards promise sustained write speeds of 600 MB/s but are not VPG 400 certified. ProGrade adds in its specifications list that, in line with the VPG 200 certification, the minimum sustained write speed is 200 MB/s.
“The introduction of our new CFexpress Type A, Gold line of memory cards — with capacities of 240GB and 480GB — provide sweet-spot storage levels and pricing to meet the needs of a wide range of still and video shooters,” says Josh Brewer, Product Manager of ProGrade Digital. “This new range of cards for ProGrade combines the necessary VPG 200 levels of video performance, with NAND technology optimized for great value and reliability.”
It is worth reiterating that the ProGrade cards are fully compliant with the CFA’s 2.0 specification. The cards also include thermal throttling to protect them from overheating during strenuous use, and laser-etched serial numbering ensures that all critical components are traceable for quality control purposes. The cards are X-ray proof, shock-proof, and ship with a three-year warranty.
As for the pricing, the 240GB version is $260, while the 480GB version is $450. In price-per-gigabyte terms, that’s $1.08/GB and $0.93/GB, respectively, which is competitive.
Image credits: ProGrade Digital