Perhaps just as important as our cameras and lenses is what we store our media on: memory cards. After all, if our photos and videos aren’t safely saved to be transferred, then did we really even create them? And with new cameras like the Sony Alpha 7R V being introduced to the market with high-resolution stills and 8K video, it’s no surprise that media storage needs are changing. That’s where the Sony CFExpress Type A Cards come in handy, and in this video, Sony Artisan and professional photographer Miguel Quiles walks through all of the key features you need to know about them. Check out the Sony Alpha YouTube Channel for more videos like this one.

Sony Artisan and professional photographer Miguel Quiles walks through all of the key features you need to know about the Sony CFExpress Type A Cards.

“For years now I’ve been using Sony’s TOUGH line of SD cards,” explains Quiles, “which are known not only for being fast with speeds up to 300MB per second, but also for being water and dustproof, bend resistant and impact resistant for drops up to 16 feet.”

Some of Sony’s newer cameras, like the Alpha 1, FX3, and Alpha 7R V all have the option of using their latest TOUGH line of CFexpress Type A Cards, which offer the fast speeds needed to keep up with them. “They’re 80GB and 160GB cards, which have been available for sometime, have an 800MB per second read speed and a 700MB per second write speed.” Recently Sony has expanded the lineup to also include 320GB and 640GB options, which Quiles says he’s been using for his latest video projects and loves being able to shoot for so long at such high-resolution without having to change the card as often.

On the CFexpress Type A Cards you’ll find a small clapper board icon with a number on it, which Quiles explains. “This is a new specification called VPG which stands for Video Performance Guarantee. Cards with this destination are optimized for continuous high bandwidth data writing. These CFexpress Type A Cards have a VPG rating of 400 so you’ll get a minimum of 400MB per second which is perfect for high bit-rate video shooting. These CF Express Cards give you faster buffer clearance when you’re doing high-speed shooting and it allows you to shoot in all the highest video quality modes that your specific camera offers.”

How do you transfer all of the photos and videos you’ve stored? Quiles says to pair them with Sony’s MRWG2 Card Reader and you’ll be able to transfer data via super speed USB 3.2 up to 10GB per second. 

“If you’re wanting to get the best photo and video performance out of your newer Sony cameras that offer a CFexpress Type A slot, then these cards are going to be the very best options that you can get.”

Subscribe to the Sony Alpha YouTube Channel for more videos like this one.