CompactFlash Association’s VPG Certified Card List

Just thought it might be good to share it here (and for my own personal reference too).

CompactFlash Association (CFA), the body which sets the standards for all things related to CompactFlash, has recently published a list of cards which have passed their VPG tests.

VPG, or Video Performance Guarantee, is a standard set by CFA for CFexpress cards (both Type A and Type B) which indicates the minimum sustained write speeds when writing to the card continuously. Cards which pass the tests set by CFA are awarded a VPG200 (minimum 200MB/s) or VPG400 (minimum 400MB/s) certification (as of writing only these two levels are available).

The VPG ratings do look to be on the conservative side, as most of the cards (especially the pSLC ones) are definitely capable of much higher sustained write speeds, and even the current generation TLC ones do report having good sustained write speeds too. I guess the VPG ratings take into account writing the entire card from empty to full continuously and making sure there are no frame drops throughout the entire write process?

While the testing methods are not transparent, having an official list direct from CFA do bring about a peace of mind when purchasing new cards as it will act as a good reference to counter manufacturers just blatantly sticking any labels they want on their cards.

And since I am on this topic, while it is always nice to grab a good deal, be wary of no-brand cards or never-heard-of cards. It is not worth it to risk losing images, or worse frying your cameras just to save a bit on the cards.

(If you’re interested, I have an entry previously written about the cards I am using currently. Don’t worry there are no affiliate links or ads.)