Sony 320GB and 640GB CFexpress Type A TOUGH Cards Introduced

Storage Media

by Francesco AndreolaSeptember 30^th, 2022

Sony has just increased the size of their CFexpress Type A TOUGH cards with two large-capacity models, 320GB and 640GB. They offer maximum read and write speeds of 800 and 700MB/s respectively, come with VPG400 certification, and are solidly built. Pricing starts at $650.

A few days ago, Sony released the first APS-C camera in their popular Cinema Line, the FX30. Just like its bigger siblings, the full-frame FX3 and FX6, the new camera features a dual CFexpress Type A/SD card slot but requires CFexpress Type A media to record video at the maximum resolution, frame rate, chroma-subsampling, and bit-depth.

That’s the reason why, along with the FX30 and the new XLR-H1 Handle Unit, the company also announced two new 320GB and 640GB CFexpress Type A cards, that will soon join the existing 80GB and 160GB models. Let’s take a closer look.

Sony 320GB and 640GB CFexpress Type A TOUGH: features

As the name suggests, Sony’s TOUGH Series cards are built like a tank, being waterproof as well as X-ray-, UV-, impact-, moisture-, and dust-resistant. Of course, these new 320GB and 640GB models are no exception.

Both cards share the same maximum read and write speeds of 800 and 700MB/s respectively. Moreover, the Video Performance Guarantee 400 certification ensures that this type of media can offer sustained write speeds of up to 400MB/s. These values meet the required specs for recording 4K UHD video at up to 120fps in 4:2:2 10-bit on the Sony Cinema Line cameras.

The cards measure 20x28x2.8mm/0.8×1.1×0.11” in size, so are more compact than the CFexpress Type B standard (38.5x 29.6×3.8mm/1.5×1.2×0.14”). However, the latter tend to come with larger capacities, higher R/W speeds, and more affordable prices.

Price and availability

The new Sony 320GB and 640GB CFexpress Type A TOUGH cards are now available for pre-order from B&H. With official retail prices of $650 and $1,250 respectively, they don’t come cheap, especially compared to CFexpress Type B equivalents. According to Sony, the 320GB variant will be available in October, while the 640GB version will come later in December.

For more info, please visit Sony’s website here.

Featured image credit: photo by Jason Dent on Unsplash

Do you own a camera that requires CFexpress Type A media? What do you think of these new high-capacity options from Sony? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!