Nikon launches their XQD cards in the USA – Just as everybody else releases CFexpress
Dec 11, 2019
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Nikon announced their XQD cards back in August 2018, but they’re now finally in the USA, just in time to become obsoleted by the wave of CFexpress cards being released by everybody else. It only seems to be available in 64GB capacity, and not the 120GB previously reported, but they are showing as available right now to pre-order from B&H for $129.95.
The release comes just at a time when SanDisk, Delkin, ProGrade, Wise and Lexar have just released their CFexpress cards for order (in the case of SanDisk) or pre-order (everybody else), offering 3-4x the speeds of Nikon’s (or anybody else’s) XQD cards.
Nikon’s XQD cards offer read and write speeds of 440MB/sec and 400MB/sec respectively. Their description of the XQD cards goes a little something like this…
Designed for professional photographers and videographers, the 64GB XQD Memory Card from Nikon is made to excel in high-end DSLR and mirrorless cameras, including the Z 7, Z 6, D5, D500, and D850. It offers a storage capacity of up to 64GB. With support for both PCIe 2.0 and USB 3.0 interfaces, this XQD card features read speeds of up to 440 MB/s and write speeds of up to 400 MB/s, allowing it to record 4K video and continuous raw still image bursts. To make this card more durable, Nikon made the contact pins recessed, which helps protect against damage, dust, and electrostatic shock. Also featured is a strong shell strength for use under demanding conditions, and the ability to withstand temperature extremes from -13 to 149°F.
Sales of Nikon’s bleeding-edge memory cards start in January 2020, but they’re currently available in 64GB flavour to pre-order for $129.95, which makes a lot of sense when you can also pre-order a CFexpress card with 128GB capacity boasting more than 3x the read and write speeds (1,700MB/sec & 1,400MB/sec respectively) for as low as $174.99.
CFexpress, for those who still haven’t heard, is the drop-in next-generation successor to Sony’s proprietary XQD tech and is set to be manufactured by at least 14 different memory card companies so far including Delkin, Lexar, ProGrade, SanDisk and Wise mentioned above. But joining them will be Sony, Apacer, Biwin, Adata, Western Digital, Egodisk, Delock, Innodisk and Angelbird.
The only thing stopping CFexpress – which was first shown off way back in April 2018 by ProGrade Digital – from becoming the standard already has been Nikon’s lack of CFexpress support in their camera bodies which contain XQD card slots. All it takes is a firmware update. Until fairly recently, Nikon bodies were pretty much the only things that offered XQD card slots. Now, though, other manufacturers including Panasonic and Phase One have adopted the standard.
I don’t see any logical reason for Nikon to release their XQD card now unless they’re not planning to release the firmware promised almost a year ago anytime soon and want to corner the XQD market. That might make sense in Nikon’s mind now that pretty much nobody else is making them.
If that’s their plan, their market will be quite limited, with Panasonic already having released a firmware patch to upgrade the XQD card slots to CFexpress in their mirrorless bodies. Canon is also expected to house a pair of CFexpress slots in their upcoming 1DX Mark III. I expect many other cameras being announced or released next year will also have ditched formats like CFast 2 to go with CFexpress instead. So, soon, Nikon may once again be the only company using XQD cards.
I can also see some people starting to switch away from Nikon, too, making their market even smaller now that they’ve decided to make repairs even more frustrating than they already were. I’ve even been considering switching, too.
I’ve been a Nikon shooter for the better part of two decades now, and currently have 14 Nikon bodies (9 digital, 5 film) but I just can’t take them seriously as a company anymore. I’ll still keep using the Nikons I own until they die or just can’t give me what I want anymore, but when it’s time to buy again, I’m pretty confident I won’t be buying Nikon again.
[via Nikon Rumors]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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5 responses to “Nikon launches their XQD cards in the USA – Just as everybody else releases CFexpress”
Betamax reloaded.
Nikon has a history of clinging to legacy hardware (which made their products attractive for people with old lenses). However, in the age of mirrorless cameras with large bayonet diameters and short flange focal distances, this is not an issue anymore. To some extent, I can understand why the Z6 and Z7 came with XQL slots only while the newer Z 50 still suports SD and SDHC.
Taking away replacement part support for independent repair shops and private individuals was already a bummer, sending many repairable cameras to the scrapyard. Further restricting the repair policy and degrading certified shops to mail-in subcontractors sounds quite Apple-ish to me and for sure isn’t increasing trust in the brand, whatever the reason for that decision might have been.
Totally second you about using my gear until it breaks beyond repair or just doesn’t meet my expectations anymore. I’ll only be walking away from D70, D300, 11-16, 18-70, 35-70, 50, 105, 70-200 lenses, 1.7x TC, some dedicated flashes and remotes, so the barrier isn’t too high. “Andere Mütter haben auch schöne Töchter.” (There are plenty of other fish in the sea.) as we Germans sometimes like to put it.
Who is the steering the ship over at Nikon?!? This last 2 quarters have been a series of disappointing news. Some based on wrongly placed bets, others on lack of leadership. 2020 might be the year of th he switch to Sony which sucks because I love Nikon and its ambassadors. However, I’m not in the business to support a misrun corporation. Get it together Nikon.
I’m also a Nikon shooter and I couldn’t agree more. I’m looking at getting rid of my Z6 in the next few months and switch elswhere simply because I can’t stand to watch a company I have been a customer of, and admired since the mid 90’s, beat themselves to death with one stupid idea after another. The failure to deliver a fast, compact and affordable nifty-50 into the Z-system and instead lead with THE BEAST, otherwise known as the 58mm f/0.95 Noct, tells the story.
Stick to DSLR, there is no need to change a shit when some cameras are perfect for a lifetime..
I want a mirror in my camera like I want Fred Flintstone peddles in my car.