Angelbird AV PRO CFX CFexpress Memory Cards Announced

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by Jeff LochSeptember 9^th, 2019

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Angelbird, the Austrian manufacturer of storage and media solutions for professional creatives, just released an entire range of CFexpress memory cards and a card reader. Let’s take a closer look at these new Angelbird AV PRO CFX memory cards.

Angelbird AV PRO CFX and AV PRO CFX XT

More and more cameras like the Canon C500 Mark II – you can read and watch our first look article here – uses CFexpress cards to record 4K/6K/8K footage. Soon, this type of media will replace CFast 2.0 cards. Form-factor wise they are also backwards compatible with XQD cards (which, for example, are used in the popular Sony FS7 cameras) – however, a firmware update in cameras is needed in order to support the CF Express cards.

Angelbird is known for offering quality products at an affordable price for filmmakers and creatives in general. To help you transition more easily to this new type of media, Angelbird has just announced some new CFexpress Type B memory cards.

A CFexpress memory card should be able to write data at a minimum of 400 MB/sec to meet the minimum XQD-400 standard specifications. The least that we can say is that Angelbird is making their cards future proof. Indeed, both AV PRO CFX and AV PRO CFX XT offer read speeds up to 1700 MB/s and write speeds up to 1400 MB/s. These speeds are 3.5 times faster than CFast technology!

So what’s the difference between Angelbird AV PRO CFX and AV PRO CFX XT cards? Here is a quick summary:

• The AV PRO CFX is the “entry-level” model with a minimum guaranteed write speed of 550 MB/s. It is best suited for shooting in 4K and 6K resolutions. The maximum capacity is 1 TB.
• The AV PRO CFX XT is the top of the line model, with its 1GB/s sustained write speeds. It is perfect for 4K/6K/8K uncompressed RAW shootings. Also, it should work fine to capture high frame rate footage. The maximum capacity is 640 GB.

Both cards are shock, dust, X-ray, and splash-water proof. They are tested for safe operating temperatures at extremes of -25C to +85C.

Finally, like most product in the Angelbird AV Pro product line, the company offers you a free professional data recovery service. In case something goes wrong, you are not provided with a simple “DIY” recovery software. Send your card to Angelbird, and a staff of professionals will check the issue and safely attempt a secure data-recovery in their lab. This service covers media that has encountered physical damage and/or software issues such as data or file corruption.

Angelbird CFexpress Card Reader

Having some fast memory cards is excellent, but it doesn’t make sense if you don’t have a powerful card reader. To go with their AV PRO CFX and AV PRO CFX XT cards, Angelbird also released a CFexpress Card Reader which performs at speeds in tandem with the memory cards.

The Angelbird CFexpress Card Reader features a USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-C) connection port for transfers up to 10 Gb/s. The connection port is recessed for extra security and minimum wear and tear.

At the bottom of the card reader, there are non-slip rubber pads for added stability. There is also a velcro binding on the side so you can stack and group multiple Angelbird card readers.

There is also a “Write Protect” switch that is built-in the card reader. By enabling this switch, you can’t delete or erase anything from the card by mistake.

The Angelbird CFexpress Card Reader comes with a USB Type-C to Type-C cable (50 cm, 19.7 in) and active USB-A to USB-C adapter.

Price and Availability

All products should be ready by the end of 2019. There is currently no word on pricing yet. As usual with Angelbird, some camera-specific Match Pack solution featuring CFexpress memory cards will also be available.

What do you think of these new Angelbird AV PRO CFX and AV PRO CFX XT cards? Do you use Angelbird media for your productions? Let us know in the comments!