Sony XQD Card Price Drop

A few months ago, Sony updated their 128G and 256G XQD cards to 120G and 240G, respectively. Not sure why there is the slight decrease in capacity.

 

The price for the 120G version has been dropping a bit lately. Today it is down to $155.39 at B&H:

Sony120GB G Series XQD Memory Card

 

The 240G version is $395, which is far more than buying two 120G ones.

 

I haven't seen prices this low since Micron announced that they were shutting down Lexar a year and half ago.

 

Delkin XQD cards remind quite expensive.

Edited January 8, 2019 by ShunCheung

120G and 240G

I was afraid to buy them - so I sticked with the 64gbs. Now it looks like a good deal 120GB @$155.

 

PS: Too good to pass. Just bought it.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Mary Doo

The 64G is still $129.95. The difference is $25 and the capacity doubles.

The 64G is still $129.95. The difference is $25 and the capacity doubles.

Exactly. Too good to pass. :)

That's almost the same price (per GB) as the Lexar x2333 I ordered last March - and never received.

 

Ordered one and resisted the urge to add an UHS-II SD card to the order.

 

Appears that I have lost one 64GB SD card that my wife usually carried in her bag.

lost one 64GB SD card

Mine turn up either in a shirt top pocket (after washing) or in the rubber door seal on the washing machine....;)

 

Dieter, I missed the obvious...

 

Your card + her bag = Her card!

 

;)

 

The price for the 120G version has been dropping a bit lately. Today it is down to $155.39 at B&H:

Sony120GB G Series XQD Memory Card

 

The 240G version is $395, which is far more than buying two 120G ones.

 

Here the 120G version is up , now 299 Euro's

the 240G version is now at 549 euro's ...

 

So that isalmost twicce the US prices ….( 1 dollar = 0,8730 Euro currently)

Sony likes to keep the prices high in europe .....

I just checked in Finland, at one store Sony, Nikon and Delkin all have the same price for 120-128GB XQD .. 279€. The Sony 120GB is not yet listed at that store. Edit: I found the 120GB Sony at another store for 238€.

 

The B&H price for the Sony 120GB is very good. If I ordered it and after all the customs fees and taxes and shipping it would amount to about 196€ (pre-paid taxes and customs fees; I think if you handle these yourself, the price is probably a bit lower).

sticking to SD cards for now since i do not need the very high speed,

If i could have my D500 converted" to dual SD , i probably would do so , if you do not need the ultra high (for me) speed, then SD is fine i think, but that is just my thing i guess...

sticking to SD cards for now since i do not need the very high speed,

If i could have my D500 converted" to dual SD , i probably would do so , if you do not need the ultra high (for me) speed, then SD is fine i think, but that is just my thing i guess...

 

I understand, if you don't need the high speed, SD cards can be inexpensive.

 

My problem is that a couple of my SD cards died with light usage, and I'm unconvinced of their ruggedness as a result of these experiences.

With such huge price differences one can see why there is a thriving market in as-new cards even including seller (importer!) mark-up...

 

Just one small firmware update and XQD is a dinosaur and Sony 'loose' their effective monopoly. Delkin are not really in the game so far.

Just one small firmware update and XQD is a dinosaur and Sony 'loose' their effective monopoly. Delkin are not really in the game so far.

 

XQD will continue to work in the new cameras even after CF express compatibility is added. I suspect Sony XQD may continue to be less expensive than CFexpress, since usually higher performance is priced higher.

 

Sony is not a monopoly here, if they offer the most competitively priced fast cards, people should be happy about it. If they went out of business, no doubt prices would go up and possibly there would be less future development money on new memory tech.

 

I am not sure if the extra money that people purchasing these cards in Europe goes to the manufacturer. I suspect the stores take a large margin on memory cards.

Edited January 8, 2019 by ilkka_nissila

With all these XQD only cams being bought, I wonder whose cards are in them? Are they re-badged Delkins?

 

Interesting point. No-one says Dead as a Dinosaur. They use Dodos instead.

 

Dinosaur is more of a 'Can't evolve, keeps going for now and will just die out'......like XQD.......:(

 

If they went out of business

 

There would be a lot of seriously cheesed off Nikon owners with no cards to buy...!

Dinosaur is more of a 'Can't evolve, keeps going for now and will just die out'......like XQD.......:(

 

XQD was launched as 1.0, currently we have XQD 2.0 and CF express is essentially renamed XQD 3.0. It seems to be evolving at a brisk pace.

 

Canon users with CF and CFast cards by contrast are stuck with the speeds they have, and likely have to move to CF express in new cameras, which will be incompatible with their older cards, including the expensive CFast. Neither CF nor CFast is likely to be continued with new generation, faster technologies within their form factors. It's the XQD form factor (and PCI express bus) which is winning the contest here (apart from consumer SD, which of course has a very large market, but doesn't address all the needs of all users).

 

There would be a lot of seriously cheesed off Nikon owners with no cards to buy...!

 

Well, Delkin would still continue making their cards, I am sure, with greater vigor (and higher prices).

 

Still, I always buy the cards I need for a camera when I buy a new camera so basically my cupboards and bags are full of XQDs already. Won't be needing any more in the foreseeable future.

CFexpress are really just a newer version of XQD cards. Until a few months ago, I wasn't aware of the patents Sony has on XQD since it was jointly developed by Sony, SanDisk and Nikon, but curiously SanDisk has never released XQD cards. Apparently whoever also makes XQD cards has to pay some royalty to Sony, but Micron has their own patents so that they could come up with some agreement with Sony when Micron used to own Lexar, but the new owner Longsys does not have such leverage.

 

Apparently the name change to CFexpress (CFX) is just for the sake of distancing it from XQD. (E.g. you don't see them change the name for SD, when they went to UHS-II with an extra row of electronic contacts.) CFX prices could be more competitive if manufacturers don't have to pay extra money to Sony. Nikon has already announced a firmware upgrade for the Z6 and Z7 to work with CFX; not sure Nikon will do the same for the D4, D5, D850, and D500.

 

If XQD cards are so expensive in Europe, it shouldn't be all that difficult to get them from the US. Memory cards are small enough that shipping shouldn't be an issue, and usually there is no warranty concerns.

Dieter, I missed the obvious...

Your card + her bag = Her card!

You DID miss the obvious - "her bag, her card" is of no significance - my fault no matter:oops:

 

Amazon Germany lists the 120GB XQD at 238.89€ ($273.39) - which includes 19%VAT. Without that, it's 200.75€ or $228.93. Amazon US lists the original price at $221.99, adorama at $199.95, and B&H at $187.39. Adding 8.75% sales tax (for me), amounts to either $241.41, $217.45, or $203.79. Without the current hefty discount, prices for the card in Germany and the US are within the same ballpark.

That sale is over in less than a month. The Sony 120G is back to $205 (from $155) at Adorama and B&H, but you may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.

That sale is over in less than a month. The Sony 120G is back to $205 (from $155) at Adorama and B&H, but you may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.

Glad I bought mine when it was $155. Thanks for the tip. However, Amazon is listing it at $161 - must be old supply.

I was hoping that it would be a permanent XQD price drop, but obviously that is not the case. Most likely we need to wait for CFX to be available with more competition before any significant price reduction. Memory card prices can drop rapidly. I recall paying like $120 for a 64G Sandisk 95MB/s SD card in 2013. They are now in the $20+ range.

I was hoping that it would be a permanent XQD price drop, but obviously that is not the case. Most likely we need to wait for CFX to be available with more competition before any significant price reduction. Memory card prices can drop rapidly. I recall paying like $120 for a 64G Sandisk 95MB/s SD card in 2013. They are now in the $20+ range.

Seriously though, now that I have 184GB of XQD (120 + 64) - plus the multiple SD cards, I cannot imagine needing any more to shoot on the field with my D500 camera. I remember those days when I brought a pair of 250GB external drives to go to a trip for backup of all the images of the entire trip. 250GB was more than plenty, and the other drive makes the duplicate for contingency. That was plenty and I was just using a fraction of the space from an entire trip.

 

Now if someone uses the D850 to shoot wildlife, then they may need more XQDs. Dunno.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Mary Doo

For curiosity sake, I found an article with a rough estimate of how many images fit into a 32GB card on the 24MP Nikon D7100.

 

https://prophotosupply.com/newsdesk/2014/06/how-many-images-will-fit-memory-card/

If XQD cards are so expensive in Europe, it shouldn't be all that difficult to get them from the US. Memory cards are small enough that shipping shouldn't be an issue, and usually there is no warranty concerns.

ship the cards to Europe is a no go, as the will be a import duty abt 8-10% and VAT of 20-25% (Scandinavia) and these fees are collected by Post Nord, who charge a fixed fee of abt USD 25!! Buy personally in the US shops and bring back should be relatively safe, but still you can be requested to proof, that your equipment was purchased in you country of residence. I have experienced that once in Copenhagen.

Edited February 8, 2019 by ShunCheung

import duty abt 8-10% and VAT of 20-25% (Scandinavia)

 

There is customs fee and tax but you still end up saving some money compared to XQD prices in Europe, at least the last time I checked.

 

Interestingly I read that the EU-Japan trade deal is to gradually phase out most tariffs over the course of a few years. I guess that can lead to price reductions in Japanese products sold in EU/EEA.

I gather for those that like to keep the new lens box AND walk through home customs with an 'old' lens, they dismantle the cardboard origami box to flat and post it to themselves!

 

Those molded, re-formed cardboard lens 'holders' to keep the lens centred in the box must be annoying though!

 

but still you can be requested to proof, that your equipment was purchased in you country of residence.

I like the word requested there....:)

 

I still have a 32 and a 128 GB LEXAR 440MB/s I got ages ago for my D500 and hope I won't need to buy more until CFX arrives.... and they make a firmware update for the D500.

I gather for those that like to keep the new lens box AND walk through home customs with an 'old' lens, they dismantle the cardboard origami box to flat and post it to themselves!

 

Those molded, re-formed cardboard lens 'holders' to keep the lens centred in the box must be annoying though!

 

 

I like the word requested there....:)

 

I still have a 32 and a 128 GB LEXAR 440MB/s I got ages ago for my D500 and hope I won't need to buy more until CFX arrives.... and they make a firmware update for the D500.

 

I do not know how often the Customs in the airport request/ask for the receipts, but many people make a copy of the receipt every time they make a purchase. Buying 2nd hand from a private can be a challenge.