CFexpress High Speed Memory Card Contains “Certified Counterfeit Products”
CFexpress is a memory card standard that allows for faster data transfer than SD cards, and is used in high-end digital cameras with features such as high-speed continuous shooting and high-definition video recording. Among these CFexpress cards was one that appeared to be “certified as capable of high-speed data transfer,” but the situation has reportedly improved.
Sony photographers should be careful about which memory cards they buy | PetaPixel
It took six months, but CFexpress card makers have (mostly) cleaned up their act | PetaPixel
https://petapixel.com/2024/07/08/It took six months but the credit card makers at cfexpress have mostly cleaned up their act/
There are three types of CFexpress cards: “Type A”, “Type B”, and “Type C”, which come in different sizes. The smallest CFexpress Type A is primarily used in Sony cameras, but some CFexpress Type A products act as if they are certified even though they are not certified for high-speed transfer.
Many CFexpress card models have been released by many manufacturers, each with different transfer speeds. For this reason, the CompactFlash Association (CFA), which developed the CFexpress standard, gives each model a Video Performance Guarantee (VPG), which is an indicator of transfer speed. For example, the following Sony CFexpress Type A cards are certified as “VGP400,” which guarantees a write speed of 400MB/s or more, and have a certification logo on the label.
There is a mark in the firmware of the CFexpress card that indicates the VGP certification status, and the digital camera reads the mark embedded in the card firmware to determine whether the function can be used. For example, the Sony digital camera “α1” requires the use of a CFexpress Type A card with a VPG rating of 200 or higher (PDF file) when shooting 4K or 8K video, and an unqualified CFexpress Type A card is inserted in this case, you will not be able to select the recording method from the shooting settings.
According to external media PetaPixel, some CFexpress Type A cards have been certified as VPG200 by inserting a code that mimics “VP200 or higher” into the firmware, although they are not actually VPG200 certified and act as if they were received. If you use such a card, your digital camera will recognize it as a valid card and you will be able to shoot, but the video data may be corrupted or the bit rate may be reduced.
PetaPixel listed four companies as manufacturers that imitated the flags: Exascend, Wise, Pergear, and Angelbird.
PetaPixel published an article in December 2023 pointing out the above-mentioned issue. Then, in July 2024, an article was published stating that “the situation has improved.” According to PetaPixel, three companies, Exascend, Wise, and Pergear, have recently received VPG200 certification. In addition, the remaining company, Angelbird, has stopped producing cards that emulate flags.
PetaPixel says that with three companies approved and one company withdrawing, “at least you don’t have to worry about cards from well-known brands anymore.” On the other hand, it is necessary to continue to be cautious about CFexpress Type A cards sold by unknown manufacturers and are clearly very cheap.
You can check the list of VPG certified memory cards from the link below.
Video Performance Guarantee (VPG) – CompactFlash Association
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