XQD VS. CFexpress Cards

[Jan Anne]

The Blackjet also seems futureproof as Thunderbolt 3 is part of the upcoming USB 4 protocol which uses the same USB-C connector

[Eddie Draaisma]

The Blackjet works fine with all my Sony, Nikon (the one that came with the Z7) and Lexar XQD cards; non-compatibility of the Sony XQD driver with M1 macs is currently indeed an issue (as is updating Sony cameras/lenses with M1 macs). I am not hurt by that, not yet...

[Jan Anne]

Thanks for the clarification Eddie

[MFloyd]

I have only a couple of CFE cards; the remainder are XQD ones. In terms of still image usage, no perceived difference. Downloads to personal computer is faster with CFE’s. Problem was the reader. At the time of the D6 arrival, I found only one expensive reader which could handle both XQD and CFE, ie the Sonnet, illustrated hereunder:


Sonnet - SF3 Series - CFEexpress/XQD Pro Card Reader

These readers are more targeted towards the video industry; they are very fast; up to 10 can be chained, but they need a heavy transformer, so for traveling it’s a real nuisance. I recently purchased the new Sony reader, which is compact, doesn’t need a power feed (beside the USB-C) and which travels now with me.

[Eddie Draaisma]

Thanks for the Sonnet reader info, good to see that there is another fast TB3 XQD/CFexpress reader.

Apparently it needs the same Sony driver for XQD as the Blackjet, so it does also not work on M1 macs (yet).

[Jan Anne]

Here's one from ProGrade, formally known as Lexar:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1548491-REG/prograde_digital_pgrwcfxxqdana_digital_cfxb_xqd_thunderbolt_3.html

Also needs the same Sony driver to make it compatible with the Sony XQD cards, something tells me they all use the same chipset haha

[Tom Hook]

The Blackjet works fine with all my Sony, Nikon (the one that came with the Z7) and Lexar XQD cards; non-compatibility of the Sony XQD driver with M1 macs is currently indeed an issue (as is updating Sony cameras/lenses with M1 macs). I am not hurt by that, not yet...

I asked BlackJet and got this response:

"TX-1CXQ is compatible with Apple M1 if you use CFexpress cards. The Sony’s XQD driver currently is not compatible with Apple M1 as we are waiting for updated driver to support M1 chip".

[David H. Hartman]

I'm tired and maybe not do a good job of comparing but I'm not seeing much of a price advantage for XQD over CFExpress. I think XQD is going to be supplanted so why buy XQD at this time.

Dave

[Jan Anne]

Good question, guess the timing to adopt the new standard depends on personal requirements and limitations.

My D500 and Z6 are not going anywhere anytime soon, might add a second Zee camera to the collection to replace the Sony a7S but I see no point in selling these two gems. Both use XQD and work best with these cards, CFexpress can be used but are slower and have a smaller buffer size as a result.

Then there’s the lack of suitable future proof readers, don’t mind spending money but hate wasting it unnecessary. I mainly use the iPad Pro 12.9 2020 for my photo editing so out of the four dual format readers the three thunderbolt 3 readers are out by default, also the XQD fix won’t work on iOS and the two readers with confirmed solid performance by trusted forum members are heavy duty desktop models not suitable for travel.

The Sony is USB-C and suitable for travel but two members here reported issues plus it is not fast enough to use the cards at their max speed potential on the Macbook which kind of defeats the point of using these cards when the camera’s can’t utilize the extra speed neither.

This leaves the two single format readers from Transcend and Lexar:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/Card-Readers/ci/1096/N/4093113321?filters=fct_a_memory-card-type_5618%3Acfexpress%2Cfct_usb-version_7132%3Ausb-3.2-20-gb-s

These are both USB-C for the iPad Pro and fast enough to read the 1700MB/a cards on the MacBook Pro at full speed because they are USB 3.2 2x2 which supports 20Gbps transfer speeds. The fact that they cost less than the cards themselves is also a nice bonus, they are future proof as USB4 is backwards compatible with older protocols but the downside is traveling with multiple readers when both cameras come along for the ride.

But it’s still early stages and I am in no rush so will probably buy a CFexpress card when the first travel size dual format USB4 readers come to market like I just did for my NVMe M.2 SSD cards.

That all being said, buying CFexpress cards when owning the latest cameras which natively support them is a no brainer, just be aware which reader you buy

[chambeshi]

I have decided to use XQD with CFExpress side by side but not buy any new XQD.  Last week, i learnt the hard way most CFExp readers including   do not read XQD cards trademarked Lexar (now part of Prograde). This is contrary to what a sales guy in Pretoria told me over the phone! And reading feedback on BandH, neither does Lexar v3.2 reader : Lexar 3.1 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1643021-REG/lexar_lrw550u_rnbnu_cfexpress_usb_3_2_gen.html/qa

So currently, BandH list only 3 dual readers for CFExp b and XQD. 2 models of blackjet by Atech Flash Tech and 1 Prograde - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1548491-REG/prograde_digital_pgrwcfxxqdana_digital_cfxb_xqd_thunderbolt_3.html
But they do seem widely avaialble, and not yet in S Africa

I will stick with one brand of card ie Lexar/Prograde, and carry on with both XQD and CFExp readers until the driver firmware is sorted out. Note to ROM - pack both in camera bag for a trip!

[chambeshi]

The other option is a portable backup device with a dual XQD - CFexp cardreader

I have  DJI Lacie, which can only read XQD via the USB port, and I have still to test it but it should work with a CFExpress reader. A promising option is the Nexto DI NPS-10-XQD (NPS10XQD) portable backup, which I aim to try out. On paper this sounds better than the pedestrian DJI 'block' I've been using in the field since 2018 (instead of a computer)
https://www.nextodi.com/products/nps-10

http://robyoungsonphotography.com/new-blog/2020/4/20/fast-and-reliable-photo-backup-in-the-field-review-of-the-nextodi-nps-10

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1481555-REG/nexto_di_nps_10_xqd_portable_all_in_1.html/reviews?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1KiBBhCcARIsAPWqoSp_-zfGSffeUPdbRJv1RMYAh8OArhBz3ajHNHN9jMd22IdrJJiO0aAaAppHEALw_wcB

This model has -

1 XQD / CFexpress card slot
2 two UHS-II SD card slots
1 microSD card slot
and both types of USB 3.1 ports

It works with 2.5" SATA harddrives and also SSD. Drives can be swopped, and apparently files can be copied to an external drive - even a RAID unit - without a computer

https://www.nextodi.com/drive-compatibility/nps-10

[Eddie Draaisma]

For some reason the Blackjet stopped reading my Lexar and Sony XQD cards on the iMac, but not on the Macbook. Strange. Removing the "XQD Memory Card.kext" from /Library/Extensions and reinstalling the (Sony XQD Memory Card) driver did not solve the problem; and the .kext could not be removed from the StagedExtensions .kext cache. For that, after a long search I found out that the command

sudo kextcache --clear-staging

had to be executed, and after reboot all was working again...

[Eddie Draaisma]

Recently found another nice reader for CFE type B cards,  the OWC Atlas FXR. Smaller than the Sony MRW-G1 and in a metal casing.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-atlas-fxr

Interesting to see that MacOS does handle CFE cards completely different than XQD cards; apparently for speed reasons they are mounted as external removable drives and not as external devices. This makes programs Lightroom act differently and a little more cumbersome.

[pluton]

I got some of these: combo CF/mSD/SD, and CFe only unit.  Working fine via USB-C into a 2020 M1 Mac Mini with Lightroom plus system downloads for video. No overheating, or heating at all.https://www.westerndigital.com/products/accessories/sandisk-professional-pro-reader-cfexpress#SDPR1F8-0000-GBAND

[Eddie Draaisma]

Yesterday I got an email from Blackjet informing me that there is now an Apple Silicon Mac (M1/M2) XQD driver for the Blackjet TX-1CXQ reader (https://blackjetusa.com/products/blackjet-tx-1cxq-cfexpress-b-xqd-thunderbolt-3-reader).

The good news is that it also works for my much smaller OWC Atlas FXR reader.

The bad news is that it is an unsigned driver,  only installs and works with Mac System Integrity Protection disabled  .

Driver download page:
https://blackjetusa.com/pages/software-tx-1cxq?syclid=cjaaaniusviqvgdnmi20&utm_campaign=emailmarketing_136623095945&utm_medium=email&utm_source=shopify_email