XQD availability?

Maybe LEXAR is not going to bother with XQD, if it really is doomed to be replaced with the same form factor CExpress, as many on this post seem to be saying.

 

It wouldn't be the first time a maker has 'changed their mind' due to a shift in market direction.

 

Certainly they seem to be having supply/manufacture problems. Why invest in a doomed format?

 

It would indeed be interesting to see if a Nikon XQD slot could be made to use CExpress cards with firmware changes only.

Lexar have stated that they are currently producing XQD cards, it just seems the demand is exceeding supply and the cards that make it to the stores are quickly sold. This isn't really surprising given the high interest in the D850 and how much data it generates.

CFexpress cards are likely to be more expensive than XQD (Delkin is planning on starting production in Q3 2018). If the write speed is twice that of XQD and read speed triple (Industrial CFexpress 1.0 and Industrial CFX 1.0 Cards) then one could expect to see 2-3x prices compared to XQD Sony G. Usually the highest performance products are disproportionally expensive. Of course it may be that a miracle happens and they just give the cards away out of charity to photographers.

 

Notice for example that CFast 2.0 Sony G series 128GB card costs $299.99 at B&H whereas the XQD version is $229.95. And CFast is far from being as fast as CFexpress.

Edited March 20, 2018 by ilkka_nissila

A bit of competition would do wonders to bring the price, and profit margin, down..... although I know fast memory has never been cheap.

 

I still remember my works paying £275 each (£750 for 3) for 128 MB LEXAR CF Cards in 1999, with the awesome speed multiplier of 12x.

Hate to drag up an old post but it seems LEXAR will not be producing XQD cards...infact they haven't made any since this thread, and it's prequel was started.

 

Despite all their good intentions and words, it didn't work out.

 

The distributor of Lexar in Poland gave this press release..

 

Lexar rezygnuje z XQD, trwają pracę nad następcą! | My Adventure Sp. z o.o.

 

As Shun is on email terms with Lexar maybe he could check with them?

Edited October 23, 2018 by mike_halliwell

Oh dear. I'd love to see a statement from Nikon (although I have very little hope of seeing one) indicating which cameras they expect to provide CFExpress support with - other than the Z series, for which I believe they committed. At this point, we can't tell the difference between "incompatible at a hardware level" and "we haven't updated the firmware yet". A commitment to at least try to add support on the D5/D500/D850 would be pretty reassuring (ideally also dragging in the D4/D4s, but I realise that's older hardware).

Makes the 'proposed' Firmware Update to allow CFExpress in XQD Slots a bit more important...:eek:

Delkin, Nikon and Sony offer XQD cards now and later there will be CF express cards that can be used. I don't know why it is so important that it says "Lexar" on the card.

True enough Ilkka!

 

You just gotta hope prices fall a bit. They're pretty nuts at the moment....:(

How much memory card capacity do you need?

I guess I'm 'lucky'. For my D500, I got a 32GB LEXAR 2933X in Feb 2017 for £76 (a bit expensive) and a 128GB for £125 on April 2017

 

Back up slot (when I use it) is a bunch of Sandisk 64GB 95MB/S (UHS I)

While I have never own a Lexar memory card, competition is always good. So, in that sense I think it is sad that Lexar is gone.

 

I spoke to Nikon Sweden about the CFExpress format at the Z6/7 launch event and got the reply that current models will receive firmware updates to support it. That would include D5, D500, D850 and Z6 and 7 - as of today. He did not mention a date, which means some of these model may have been discontinued by then. When asked about the D4/S he said he had no information about them. Since FW updates that gave varying degrees of support for AF-P lenses was made available for discontinued cameras, I would not be surprised if the D4/S cameras will also be updated so support CFExpress (and possibly others that may have been discontinued by then).

 

Mike, it seems you got your 128GB card at a very good price. I had to pay much more for my 128GB Sony G Series 440/400 card (which is 122GB, rather than 128GB). (Formatted it displays 11h 18m 36s remaining for video with my current settings whereas the SanDisk 128GB Extreme Pro 95 SD card in the other slot shows 11h 40m 37s.)

I think XQD prices were very volatile in early 2017 and, as I said, I got lucky on the 128GB at Amazon UK.

 

11.1/2 hrs is a lot of footage to loose on one disc. I don't worry about corruption these days, so much as theft..!

 

I suppose the increased usage of CFExpress by different manufacturers of camera gear can only be a good thing. It seemed Sony were being very tough on licensing rights for XQD. I was always surprised SanDisk never ventured that way. I thought as co-developers they'd hold license rights too?

Even on the Nikon DSLRs with dual card slots, when you capture video, it will only be recorded on one card. There is no dual-card backup mode for video capture. In any case, you probably want to spread your footage on multiple cards.

 

I can't see any reason why Nikon wouldn't update the firmware on all of their cameras that use XQD to be CFexpress compatible, at least among the cameras that are still in production. It could be a bit iffy whether Nikon will still update the firmware for the D4, but then the D4 can also use CF cards. The thing is that if you feel XQD cards are expensive, I would imagine CFexpress cards will be a lot more expensive, perhaps twice or more?

 

I have pretty much given up on the idea that Lexar will make XQD cards again. They mentioned at least 6 months ago that they would make XQD again "very soon." Clearly they have either technical issues or legal issues. It looks like Lexar will go straight to CFx as ProGrade does. At least we now have Delkin in the XQD game, and the up-coming Panasonic FX mirrorless cameras will also need XQD cards (along with an SD slot).

The thing is that if you feel XQD cards are expensive, I would imagine CFexpress cards will be a lot more expensive, perhaps twice or more?

 

That's what worries me too! I'm glad I haven't yet got any XQD only cameras...:eek:

 

It will be interesting to see what the market does when it settles down to the 'many' new cameras using XQD.

My point was not about video, it was about my XQD card offering a noticeably smaller available capacity once formatted than my equally large SD card.

 

Both where formatted on a computer to exFAT and then formatted in the camera. MacOS Finder/Windows Explorer show nearly 6GB less in formatted capacity for the XQD card. I only used the available recording time to illustrate the difference.

 

When CFExpress cards enter the market en masse, they will help lower the prices on XQD cards, even though they most probably will cost more.

Well, I already have an XQD-only camera (although I still have the option to switch to two CF slots, but why would I do that?) I suppose I'll add a Z6 in the future and it'll be completely XQD only. That was why I added a 64G and a 128G Lexar card last year as soon as I heard that Lexar was going out of business altogether. At the time prices were still lower.

 

I'll probably add 1 or 2 Delkin card later on so that I have some new cards on hand. On cameras with just one slot, I would rather not use some of my cards that are now over 2 years old.

Humm, to think that the formatted size 'difference' was a fairly big card not so long ago.,... when the likes of 4GB were BIG!!

Ah - thanks, Heimbrandt. Sorry if this was already documented - I only remembered the answer for the Z bodies, but maybe it covered everything at the time.

 

My only concern was whether the hardware would somehow turn out to be incompatible. Given how PCI Express works I would have thought that was unlikely, but I've learned never to assume something is going to be future proof just because it was supposed to be...

Delkin, Nikon and Sony offer XQD cards now and later there will be CF express cards that can be used. I don't know why it is so important that it says "Lexar" on the card.

I have not seen any Delkin or Nikon XQD card in any shop yet up to today , so can you show me where i can obtain those ?

I think the Delkin ones are very new (and may or may not actually be shipping). The Nikon ones are, last I heard, Japan-only - but I'd be astonished if they're not rebadged Sony cards (with the option to switch supplier if needed). Nikon have better things to do than make their own memory cards!

I don't have first hand experience but I was under the impression that the Z7 are shipped with Nikon-labeled XQD cards in some regions (they don't make them themselves but rebrand them); of course I could have fallen victim of someone who photoshopped the Nikon XQD card and Z7 camera next to each other rather than actually reported what was in the box. I don't know when they will be available separately. Delkin XQD cards can be ordered here with expected delivery in 2-4 weeks.

 

Cameramemoryspeed tested the Z7 with Sony, Lexar and Nikon XQD cards so I assume the Nikon cards must be available somewhere so that they could do the testing:

 

Nikon Z7 XQD Card Comparison - Write speed test and fastest continuous shooting performance - Camera Memory Speed Comparison & Performance tests for SD and CF cards

 

Okay, they note it is currently available only in Japan. I think Nikon's intention for rebranding the cards and selling them under their own name is to ensure stable availability (so that if the original manufacturers run out of stock they have sufficient inventory to make sure that some cards are always available). I would be surprised if they keep it Japan-only in the future.

Edited October 24, 2018 by ilkka_nissila

No offense meant / bashing intended: The Coolpix 990 came with a not overly large Nikon labeled CF card, so the proud owner could start dabbling with it. - I've seen similar from Sony in the memory stick era.

Have Nikon been selling cards (without cameras) in the past?

 

My attempt to check local XQD availability online resulted in "12 weeks, on backorder". Not sure if the mall carries another XQD card.

Depending where you are, Amazon has some Sonys, only Sonys mind you...!! (Amazon UK here)

 

32s are ~£85/80. 64s are ~£160 and 128s are ~ £224 From Sony G 440 MB/s

Edited October 24, 2018 by mike_halliwell

That's vaguely my experience when I bought a few months back (I have a slow, small XQD card as well as backup, but it's detectably slower on a D850 during image review). 128GB seemed to be the inflection point - 256GB is currently about £500, so more expensive than two 128GBs. 128GB UHS-II SD cards (at least, 300MB/s fast ones) are in the same ballpark as XQD; I got one of those, but I have many fairly decent (95MB/s) UHS-I SD cards if I have a problem. 64GB UHS-II cards are cheaper than the XQDs, but only about half the price of a 128GB.