XQD Cards: I just bought a used Nikon D500…Now I need to purchase an XQD Card…do these cards ever go on sale and/or where is the best place to purchase them Thanks Chuck...

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

I just bought a used Nikon D500…Now I need to purchase an XQD Card…do these cards ever go on sale and/or where is the best place to purchase them

Thanks

Chuck

Nicholas J DeSciose

They never go on sale

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

charlienow wrote:

I just bought a used Nikon D500…Now I need to purchase an XQD Card…do these cards ever go on sale and/or where is the best place to purchase them

Thanks

Chuck

I have not seen them on sale. You can upgrade your D500to accept/use CFExpress cards-faster cards. I use Sony Tough cards 128 gig.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

I've had pretty good luck on Ebay, but B&H/Adorama has 'em for sure. I just saw a CF Express type B 64GB for 99 bux (Sandisc) on B&H (this type is faster than XQD and works in the XQD slot). I've only used Sony 64GB cards in my D500 since I bought it (2017)...you'll need a reader, too, to take advantage of the speed when you remove it from the camera, I suppose you could get by using your SD gear.

Alphabravo2020

Make sure to check/update the firmware. Nikon updated the firmware about a year ago on the D850 and maybe others as well. It was a pretty major change that enabled CF Express Type B (and I think also enabled card sizes up over 1 TB). I haven't found that CF cards are cheap but they are larger and more available than the XQD. I got mine on sale during Black Friday but it was still like $1.30 per GB.

User ID

Sinewsworn wrote:

I have not seen them on sale. You can upgrade your D500to accept/use CFExpress cards-faster cards. I use Sony Tough cards 128 gig.

Same here. Although there’s never any sales, Express type B gets you more for your money.

Got mine at B&H. 128GB plus a reader, $240. Having filled that up in a 24MP camera, I’m about to order a 256 for a new 45MP camera.

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

User ID wrote:

Same here. Although there’s never any sales, Express type B gets you more for your money.

Got mine at B&H. 128GB plus a reader, $240. Having filled that up in a 24MP camera, I’m about to order a 256 for a new 45MP camera.

I just bought a few more cards when my D850 arrived.

Alphabravo2020

I got mine from Amazon. You can check this site to see the price history of the 256GB CFe, for example. It looks like prices have dropped recently and there are definitely sweet spots throughout the year to buy. I would look to pay about $1/GB if I was buying in the near future.

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B085DBCJTG

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I use SD cards. For both my D500 and my D850. Don't see any need to go with anything else. At least until the other ones become affordable.

phot0n0ob

Retired CPO wrote:

I use SD cards. For both my D500 and my D850. Don't see any need to go with anything else. At least until the other ones become affordable.

The XQD and CF express cards have a much higher write speed, which could be important depending on what you shoot. I just did a - not very scientific - test and found that with an SD card the buffer of my D850 fills after 28 shots (at 7 fps). With an XQD on the other hand its 58 photoz until the camera's buffer is full. With a CF express it was 60 fps, since the camera cannot utilize the much higher write speed of CF express. I did find though that with CF express the buffer "recovers" faster than with XQD.

Also, I found a card reader that accepts both XQD and CF express cards, so I only need one reader.

Alphabravo2020

phot0n0ob wrote:

Also, I found a card reader that accepts both XQD and CF express cards, so I only need one reader.

That's a unicorn. Where did you find it?

therwol Loc: USA

Alphabravo2020 wrote:

Make sure to check/update the firmware. Nikon updated the firmware about a year ago on the D850 and maybe others as well. It was a pretty major change that enabled CF Express Type B (and I think also enabled card sizes up over 1 TB). I haven't found that CF cards are cheap but they are larger and more available than the XQD. I got mine on sale during Black Friday but it was still like $1.30 per GB.

Yes. Let me say that again. The last firmware update for the D500 allows one to use CF Express cards Type B instead of XQD. These are the latest and fastest cards to use in your camera.

User ID

Alphabravo2020 wrote:

That's a unicorn. Where did you find it?

At BH a unicorn was $160 but a type-B-only was $80. I went with $80 cuz I had jumped directly from SD to type-B.

charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA

Thanks everyone for your input. I did learn a lot in this thread. Didn’t know about a substitute for xqd cards.

I ordered a card reader that will read all three types of cards my camera will use. Thanks for the heads up on this.

Does anyone use ritz gear CFexpress cards. If so any problems. They are cheaper that other brands.

Oh yes I was planning on updating the firmware so went ahead and did it tonight.

Thanks again

Chuck

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

User ID wrote:

Same here. Although there’s never any sales, Express type B gets you more for your money.

Got mine at B&H. 128GB plus a reader, $240. Having filled that up in a 24MP camera, I’m about to order a 256 for a new 45MP camera.

...check out Angel Fire, got a 256 for 180 and it seems to work just fine! (...actually just checked and that price applies to the 512 also at Adorama, doesn't make sense...).