Nextorage NX-B2PRO CFexpress 4.0 Type-B Cards Announced
Just read that earlier today Nextorage has announced their CFexpress 4.0 Type-B cards, the NX-B2PRO.
According to the official page, the NX-B2PRO comes in 4 capacities, and while all of them are VPG400 certified, they do have slightly varying max speeds and sustained speeds:
165GB : Max Read 3,900 MB/s, Max Write 3,600 MB/s, Min Sustained Write 3,400 MB/s
330GB : Max Read 3,900 MB/s, Max Write 3,600 MB/s, Min Sustained Write 3,400 MB/s
660GB : Max Read 3,700 MB/s, Max Write 3,600 MB/s, Min Sustained Write 3,400 MB/s
1330GB : Max Read 3,700 MB/s, Max Write 3,600 MB/s, Min Sustained Write 3,200 MB/s
CFexpress 4.0 specifications doubles the theoretical bandwidth of current CFexpress 2.0 cards (actual press release of CFe 4.0 here; you can read my write-up on it here), and while none of the current camera bodies are capable of using CFe 4.0 speeds in them, the standard being backwards compatible means that it does make sense to purchase a CFe 4.0 card for future proofing.
I have had very good experience with Nextorage cards so far, and their customer support was efficient and helpful when I contacted them prior to my first purchase with them to learn more about the cards, so I definitely am glad that they are one of the first few to have CFe 4.0 cards ready and available.
With this release, they now have a simple to understand line-up for CFe-B cards:
B1SE - Standard CFe cards with decent max speeds, but low minimum sustained write speeds (discontinued)
B2SE - Successor to B1SE; standard CFe cards with improved max write speeds and minimum sustained write speeds
B1PRO - High performance pSLC CFe 2.0 cards with high max speeds and high minimum sustained write speeds.
B2PRO - High performance pSLC CFe 4.0 cards with high max speeds and high minimum sustained write speeds.
B2SE cards do offer a really good cost performance per GB if you do not require high speeds for video or high fps shooting, and definitely would recommend them (especially the 512GB version) for anyone looking for a high capacity card that is plenty fast.
The B1PRO is a great card to use with the Z8 (and I would assume the Z9 too), as even shooting in moderate bursts at high FPS in lossless compressed RAWs, the buffer does not stutter and remains responsive throughout its operations. It also remains relatively cool throughout - both during shooting and when offloading from the reader to the PC.
The B2PRO with higher speed ratings, almost double in fact, means that using them in current equipment now should make them run much cooler than the B1PRO since the speeds are way below their theoretical threshold.
Which brings me to wonder the following:
Will there be a B3SE based on CFe 4.0 standards too? This could be a good way to get high speed high capacity cards with good cost/GB ratio.
Will future Z cameras come with a CFe-B primary slot, and a SD+CFe-A hybrid secondary slot? If CFe-A slots run at CFe 4.0 specifications it would be performing at current CFe-B speeds now, so not much compromise on speeds need to be made.
Anyway definitely looking forward to reading B2PRO’s reviews, and keeping my eyes on it when it is time to replace or add more cards to my kit.