ProGrade CFexpress Type A Cobalt Memory Cards Announced

Storage Media

by Dave KratzSeptember 23^rd, 2021

The ProGrade CFexpress Type A memory card is a new release that promises outstanding minimum sustained write speeds and is specifically designed for high resolution video.

Prior to this announcement, the only company to produce CFexpress Type A cards was Sony.  With ProGrade now bringing these to the market, users can expect great performance and quality at a lower price.

CFexpress Type A is a new media format that hasn’t seen widespread adoption yet. These cards are smaller than SD cards but more than double their theoretical write speed. Sony was the only manufacturer of these new cards, until now.

This tiny size and increased speed allows cameras to remain small and still pack-in professional codecs. Currently, the only cameras that use CFexpress Type A media are the Sony A7S III, Sony a1, Sony FX3, and Sony FX6.

ProGrade CFexpress Type A Key Features

• 160GB Storage Capacity
• NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 Bus
• Max Read Speed: 800 MB/s
• Max Write Speed: 700 MB/s
• Min Write Speed: 400 MB/s
• Records Raw 4K Video
• Records 8K, 6K, and 4K ProRes Video
• Metal Enclosure for Temperature Control
• Built-In Thermal Throttling
• Shock / Vibration / X-Ray Proof

The ProGrade CFexpress Type A cards utilize a NVMe PCIe 3.0 x4 Bus with a maximum write speed of 700 MB/s. And with a claimed sustained minimum write speed of 400MB/s, this would allow them to effortlessly record 8K ProRes, and 4K raw video; however, there are currently no cameras on the market with those capabilities that take CFexpress Type A media cards.

ProGrade Digital

My personal experiences with ProGrade digital have been outstanding. Their performance, quality, reliability, and customer support have been top notch.

I purchased two of their 1TB CFast cards for my Red Komodo. After a month of using them with no issues, they called me on the phone to inform me of an issue that some users had reported. They quickly replaced both of my cards as a precaution, and I have been a huge supporter ever since.

Price & Availability

The ProGrade CFexpress Type A card is currently available order on ProGrade’s Website, and they’re also listed as a ‘coming soon’ on B&H. They’re priced at $329.99 for a single 160GB card or $589.99 for a two pack – a $69.99 discount.

Hopefully we’ll see some larger capacity CFexpress Type A media hitting the market soon too.

Link: Website

Do you think you’ll use ProGrade’s CFexpress Type A media in your camera? Let us know in the comments below.