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Sony A7R V – Do You Really Need a CFexpress Card?

You are here: Home / Memory Cards / Sony A7R V – Do You Really Need a CFexpress Card?
Last updated: December 2, 2022 / Published: December 1, 2022 by Timothy Mayo - 1 Comment

The Sony a7R V now supports the much faster CFexpress Type-A memory cards in both of its memory card slots.

However, because only Sony, Prograde, Delkin, Lexar and more recently Exascend are making CFexpress Type-A cards, they are still rather expensive.

Sony A7RV CFexpress Card

Due to their high price you might be wondering whether or not you really need to use a CFexpress Type-A card?

Especially when the a7RV also supports UHS-II/I SD cards which are much cheaper per GB.

Well, although you can certainly use UHS-II and UHS-I cards, there are two instances when you might want to use a CFexpress Type-A card.

Shooting in S&Q Mode With XAVC S-I 4k (2x Slow Motion)

If you want to shoot in S&Q Mode with the file format XAVC S-I 4k, a record frame rate of 30p/25p/24p and a frame rate of 60fps / 50fps (2x slow motion) then you will need a CFexpress Type A card. The a7R V will not let you record in this specific format with a V90 card.

However, you could still record in one of the none S&Q video formats and then interpret the footage in post. You won’t be able to view the S&Q footage in camera and this is an extra post processing step, but now you won’t require a CFexpress card and you’ll also get audio since recording in S&Q does not record audio.

Burst Shooting

If you enjoy shooting any type of action then you will probably be shooting a lot of bursts. If you use a CFexpress Type-A card not only will you be able to take more shots before hitting the buffer compared to a UHS-II card, the buffer will also clear much faster.

Here are the results of my Sony a7RV in-Camera Speed and Buffer Tests using a Lexar Professional CFexpress Type-A Gold card which was the fastest CFexpress Type-A card in my tests.

Image TypeShots Before Hitting BufferTime to Clear Buffer (Seconds)
Uncompressed RAW (132.8MB) – 7 fps1997.08
Compressed RAW (71.4MB) – 10 fpsOver 1000< 2s
Lossless Compressed RAW L (80.1MB) – 7 fpsOver 1000< 2s
Lossless Compressed RAW M (48.3MB) – 7 fpsOver 1000< 2s
Lossless Compressed RAW S (37.1MB) – 7 fpsOver 1000< 2s
JPEG Extra Fine (49.6MB) – 10 fpsOver 1000< 2s
Uncompressed RAW (132.8MB) + JPEG Extra Fine (49.6MB) – 7 fps6510.78
Compressed RAW (71.4MB) + JPEG Extra Fine (49.6MB) – 10 fps10418.35
Lossless Compressed RAW L (80.1MB) + JPEG Extra Fine (49.6MB) – 7 fps729.95
HEIF (4:2:2) Extra Fine (24.9MB) – 10 fps7717.90

Check Price & Reviews for the Lexar Professional CFexpress Type-A Gold

At: B&H Photo | Amazon

And here are the results of my Sony a7RV in-camera speed and buffer tests using a Sony SF-G Tough UHS-II card which was the fastest UHS-II card in my tests.

Image TypeShots Before Hitting BufferTime to Clear Buffer (Seconds)
Uncompressed RAW (132.8MB) – 7 fps5019.81
Compressed RAW (71.4MB) – 10 fps10521.28
Lossless Compressed RAW L (80.1MB) – 7 fps6612.26
Lossless Compressed RAW M (48.3MB) – 7 fps1517.43
Lossless Compressed RAW S (37.1MB) – 7 fpsOver 1000< 2
JPEG Extra Fine (49.6MB) – 10 fps14314.73
Uncompressed RAW (132.8MB) + JPEG Extra Fine (49.6MB) – 7 fps4326.81
Compressed RAW (71.4MB) + JPEG Extra Fine (49.6MB) – 10 fps8433.05
Lossless Compressed RAW L (80.1MB) + JPEG Extra Fine (49.6MB) – 7 fps4718.95
HEIF (4:2:2) Extra Fine (24.9MB) – 10 fps6588.11

Check Price & Reviews: Sony SF-G Tough UHS-II

At: B&H Photo | Amazon

As you can hopefully see, the CFexpress cards allow you to take many more shots before hitting the buffer and clear it a lot faster.

Summary

If you want to shoot in S&Q Mode with the file format XAVC S-I 4k, a record frame rate of 30p/25p/24p and a frame rate of 60fps / 50fps (2x slow motion) then you will need to use a CFexpress Type A card.

If you like shooting continuous bursts then a CFexpress Type-A card will allow you to take many more shots before hitting the buffer, it will also clear the buffer a lot faster than UHS-II cards will allow.

If you are interested in further speed and buffer tests then I’ve tested 6 CFexpress Type-A and 13 UHS-II memory cards in my Sony A7R V Memory Card Guide.

Sony A7R V Resources

Sony A7R V Memory Card Guide

Best Sony A7R V Memory Cards With Speed & Buffer Tests

Sony A7R V Accessories Guide

Ultimate Sony A7R V Accessories Guide

Sony A7R V Battery & Charger Guide

Sony A7R V Battery & Charger Guide

Sony A7R V Manual

Sony A7R V User Manual & Online Help Guide

Sony A7R V Firmware Update 2.01

Sony A7R V Firmware Update 2.01

Check Price & Reviews: Sony A7RV

At: B&H Photo | Amazon

Category: Memory CardsTag: CFexpress, Sony a7R V
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About Timothy Mayo

I started Alpha Shooters back in 2017 to share my own experiences as a photographer shooting with Sony Alpha cameras, lenses and accessories.

I enjoy wildlife photography the most but will happily point my camera at pretty much anything.

As well as this blog you’ll also find a community forum which provides members with a friendly and safe place to share images and ask questions.

You can find out more about my story here or follow me on Instagram if you wish.

I also have a YouTube Channel but haven’t published much content recently due to the demands of my one and three year old boys.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AlphaWorld

    December 2, 2022 at 11:40 pm

    Now that I’ve taken my new A7RV out for a second shoot, I have my own reaction to this question.

    At the moment I’m using uncompressed RAW + JPEG, mainly because my normal suite of tools for processing RAW do not yet support this camera. So my favourite 160GB CFeA cards only hold 800-odd images – that feels like so few! With my A1, using just lossless compressed RAW (L), I’m getting over 2200 images on the same cards.

    I discovered that Sony has announced a 256GB SD in the Tough G range – seemed perfect! Sadly, those cards aren’t yet available here, even though they are listed for sale 🙁

    My current 128GB Sony Tough G SD cards are only showing 700-odd image count with the uncompressed RAW + JPEG. I think I’ll use SD cards more often on this camera than on the A1, especially if I can get the 256GB G SD cards! Yeah, I know I could get the 320GB or 640GB CFeA cards, but I’d rather not sell my car to get them 😀

    I’ll be keen to see what the capacities will be like when I can switch to shooting just lossless compressed images – your estimated file size suggests I’ll get about 2000 images to a 160GB card.

    Roll on ACR support for the A7RV!

    Reply

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