D5/D850/D500 CFexpress Firmware released! (finally)

Nikon D5/D850/D500 DSLR cameras now support CFexpress memory cards (firmware updates release) - Nikon Rumors

 

It looks like a few other minor bugs are fixed as well. I'll probably wait a few days before updating myself.

Download links can be found on Nikon's site here:

 

Nikon | Download Center

 

If you do have CFexpress cards and use them in Nikon cameras, let us know if there are any glitches and how the performance is with the new cards.

This list of Nikon-approved cards was posted on fredmiranda by ekam:

 

Approved Memory Cards for DSLR Series

 

This kind of lists for each camera can be found on Nikon support pages from regional sites as well.

Links for the three firmware updates:

• Nikon D5: Nikon | Download center | D5 Firmware
  
• Nikon D500: Nikon | Download center | D500 Firmware
  
• Nikon D850: Nikon | Download center | D850 Firmware
  

I happen to have all three of those DSLRs and just updated them all. I also have a 128G Lexar and a 256G ProGrade CFexpress cards. Those cards are now working on those three DSLRs.

 

That means you can use a cheaper 128G ProGrade CFx card on those DSLRs:

ProGrade Digital 128GB CFexpress 2.0 Gold Memory Card

 

Hopefully with more demand and more competition, we'll continue to see price drops for CFx cards.

Are you getting the expected burst performance from those CFexpress cards?

Are you getting the expected burst performance from those CFexpress cards?

Haven’t tried burst yet, but I seriously doubt that any one of those DSLRs can take advantage of CFx speed. They were designed when CFx did not exist.

Haven’t tried burst yet, but I seriously doubt that any one of those DSLRs can take advantage of CFx speed. They were designed when CFx did not exist.

Hopefully it will at least equal the XQD speed. I heard that with some CFe cards in certain cases it could be slower than the XQD.

I believe that on the Z6 and Z7, using CFx cards may actually be slightly slower than XQD cards, but the difference seems to be very minor. Even the Z6 and Z7 were designed like 3, 4 years ago prior to the introduction two years ago. They cannot take full advantage of the CFx's multiple PCIe channels.

 

To me, the main advantage for the new firmware is that I can use any one of my XQD + CFx cards on any one of those DSLR or Z body. Previously I had a lot of concerns about accidentally inserting a CFx cards into my D500, for example. It goes it ok but was a totally useless card without the new firmware. Uploading from a CFx card to a computer can potentially be a lot faster.

 

Another advantage is that certain CFx cards are cheaper. With more potential customers and a lot of competition, we may see some major CFx price drop in 2021, especially since they no longer need to pay the XQD royalty to Sony.

Edited December 3, 2020 by ShunCheung

I noticed that some stores link Nikon cameras with Sandisk CFexpress cards with product codes ending in IN which are not supported in Nikon cameras. Instead, cards with NN-ending product codes should be used. Here is how to identify the Nikon-compatible Sandisk CFexpress cards on the package and on the backside of the card itself:

 

https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/na/NSG_article?lang=en_SG&articleNo=000043035

Edited December 4, 2020 by ilkka_nissila

For whatever reason, SanDisk CFexpress cards are the most expensive at B&H. Below is a comparison among 128G variations.

I think ProGrade has the best deal at this point. They are formed by former Lexar executives so that I have confidence in them.

 

I just downloaded the firmware updates for the D500 and D850 and looked at the information about each of them at NikonUSA. The information on the D500 firmware says you have to do it twice, and it may not work. Does anyone have any better guidance on this firmware for the D500?

I just downloaded the firmware updates for the D500 and D850 and looked at the information about each of them at NikonUSA. The information on the D500 firmware says you have to do it twice, and it may not work. Does anyone have any better guidance on this firmware for the D500?

That only applies if your camera is on version 1.12 or earlier. If I understand correctly, if your camera is already on 1.13 or newer, you should be able to update directly to 1.30.

I only upgraded my D500 firmware once this time. Before that, I believe I already had the last version before 1.30.

Prograde Digital CFexpress cards don't seem to be available in Finland. For 128 GB size, I can find Delkin, Lexar, Sandisk and Sony (listed from least to most expensive for a 128 GB card).

Prograde Digital CFexpress cards don't seem to be available in Finland. For 128 GB size, I can find Delkin, Lexar, Sandisk and Sony (listed from least to most expensive for a 128 GB card).

Same here in the Netherlands

Same here in the Netherlands

 

Readily available in the UK (at least via Amazon).

I did my D500 and D850 firmware updates yesterday. The D 500 update had to be done just one time as I think it had 1.15 installed.

Memory cards is probably one of the easiest camera items to order from a different country. They are small and not fragile. It is easy to ship within Europe and from even across oceans. Defective rate is pretty small too. Haven said that, the ProGrade CFx card I received was a tiny bit defective. It arrived slightly curved so that it was a bit tight going into my Z6. I managed to bent it back a little and it has been working fine for months. The issue was so minor that I didn't bother to exchange.

 

I think initially, the Canon R5 was only compatible with SanDisk CFx cards. But in the longer run, I don't see SanDisk charging so much more for their cards. There is more than enough competition that I expect prices to come further down in 2021 and on.

I found this statement at Thom Hogan's site. Since some of the Read and Write speeds with the CFexpress cards are impressive vs the XQD cards, I am wondering what it means. My question is does it apply to Read speeds, Write speeds or both if CFexpress cards are used in a D500 and D850?

 

If I get a CFexpress card reader, does it make any difference if the cable is USB -C or USB-A? I have never used anyhting that is USB-C.

 

"Nikon has finally introduced the long-awaited firmware updates for the D500, D850, and D5 cameras that support CFexpress cards (and fix a few bugs). Just a reminder: don't expect speed increases, as the card slot mechanisms in these cameras has a fixed upper limit that dates to early XQD. Some D500 owners need to perform the update twice (pay attention to the instructions on Nikon's download page)."

I found this statement at Thom Hogan's site. Since some of the Read and Write speeds with the CFexpress cards are impressive vs the XQD cards, I am wondering what it means. My question is does it apply to Read speeds, Write speeds or both if CFexpress cards are used in a D500 and D850?

 

 

"Nikon has finally introduced the long-awaited firmware updates for the D500, D850, and D5 cameras that support CFexpress cards (and fix a few bugs). Just a reminder: don't expect speed increases, as the card slot mechanisms in these cameras has a fixed upper limit that dates to early XQD. Some D500 owners need to perform the update twice (pay attention to the instructions on Nikon's download page)."

 

As far as I understand, the problem is that Nikon didn't originally design the D500, D850 or D5 with CFexpress in mind and the firmware gives compatibility but the performance is reported to be suboptimal. If you use the CFexpress cards in a card reader, you can get faster transfers from the card to the computer or vice versa, provided that your computer allows those faster speeds. In future cameras, the burst performance may be better using CFexpress cards than XQD, but with these updated cameras, it appears to be the opposite according to most reports. Nikon reportedly say the performance when using CFe should be comparable with XQD but some users have reported they get something like 60 images instead of (the manual specified) 200 before the D500 buffer is full. Although 60 is a lot, it's still pretty shocking considering that the nominal write speed of most CFe cards is far better than XQD. In the D6, some CFexpress cards are reported to give better burst performance than XQD (e.g. 30% increase with Sony CFe compared to Sony G XQD) but some CFe are somewhat (up to 20%) worse than XQD. There appears to be a great deal of variability in how the new cards perform in various Nikon cameras. Also, at least initially there were reports of some readers not working with CFe cards of a different brand, and so on. Only Sony make a reader that can work with both CFe type B and XQD, but it's not cheap.

 

Of course, if one is not a heavy burst shooter, such differences in buffer performance may not matter. I usually shoot single shot but if I use burst, sometimes it is a long one and I've managed to get the D850 to stutter a couple of times even with XQD. I could have avoided that with 12-bit NEF recording but sometimes one doesn't have the optimal settings in the camera for a particular situation. I would like to have a 128 GB card for my D850 but I don't want one that compromises the burst performance of the camera, even though I might only use it a few times per year. In my opinion Nikon and the card manufacturers should have been able to make this work more smoothly so that when buying a faster CFe card, the performance does not get reduced. Otherwise it is hard to convince the customer to buy the new product. One factor that is putting me off is that I got three free XQD readers that came with the first cards that I bought in 2016 and the Sony CFe reader is about 97€. I'm used to having one on my desktop and the other in my laptop bag and a third one in storage for a rainy day. If I buy CFexpress cards I have to get a new reader and then I lose this redundancy that I have with XQD readers that came bundled with the cards. Most people seem to think XQD is a ripoff but I think moving to CFe is more expensive and currently of questionable benefit unless one uses a camera like R5 which genuinely requires those speeds to offer some of its features. If they gave bundled readers either with camera or card then that would soften the blow. Maybe CFexpress is just too "cutting edge" and better deals including bundled readers may come later.

 

There are also reports of some CFe cards running so hot that they are too hot to touch. I know XQD cards also get warm e.g. when running a transfer of a large number of files to the computer, but I've never felt they were too hot to touch.

 

If I get a CFexpress card reader, does it make any difference if the cable is USB -C or USB-A? I have never used anyhting that is USB-C.

 

It depends on what ports your computers have. My desktop has a variety of different USB connectors (USB 2, USB 3 and USB-C), but most laptops have less variety and if you have the wrong cable you may need to use an adapter (or get another cable...).

Edited December 7, 2020 by ilkka_nissila

Ilkka, thank you for this explanation. Joe

I read a report by a user who first got limited burst with CFe cards right after firmware update but then did a full camera reset and now gets the expected 200 images from D500 and similar or slightly better result from CFe than XQD in the Z6. So if you are not getting the expected burst performance from CFexpress then maybe a camera reset may help. It would be great if this turns out to be true. It would be a big relief.

See Thom Hogan's his post about XQD/CFexpress on Dec 7th

 

New Camera and Photography Articles, Nikon DSLR camera and lens

That SanDisk 128G CFx card just dropped by $69 at B&H, from $229 to $160:

SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO CFexpress Card Type B

 

Again, I wouldn't rush out to buy a lot of CFx cards. Just make sure that you have enough and perhaps a little more. These cards lose their values fast.