XQD or CFExpress card for D850: Howdy Hogs, I have a D850 and have only used SD cards. Would like to purchase either an XQD or CFExpress card and see if I find it useful. I’m not...

MattW1 Loc: Baton Rouge

Howdy Hogs,
I have a D850 and have only used SD cards. Would like to purchase either an XQD or CFExpress card and see if I find it useful. I’m not certain the CFExpress is compatible.
Hoping for recommendations. I would most likely want 64 or 128gb.
Thank y’all for any help,
Matt

Leitz Loc: Solms

MattW1 wrote:

Howdy Hogs,
I have a D850 and have only used SD cards. Would like to purchase either an XQD or CFExpress card and see if I find it useful. I’m not certain the CFExpress is compatible.
Hoping for recommendations. I would most likely want 64 or 128gb.
Thank y’all for any help,
Matt

The compatible cards are listed in the user’s manual.

MadMikeOne Loc: So. NJ Shore - a bit west of Atlantic City

MattW1 wrote:

Howdy Hogs,
I have a D850 and have only used SD cards. Would like to purchase either an XQD or CFExpress card and see if I find it useful. I’m not certain the CFExpress is compatible.
Hoping for recommendations. I would most likely want 64 or 128gb.
Thank y’all for any help,
Matt

The D850 has 2 slots - 1 takes an XQD card and the other takes an SD card. Use the cards with the fastest WRITE speeds possible. That won’t be cheap, but IMHO, it’s the way to go, especially if you shoot wildlife and BIF.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

MattW1 wrote:

Howdy Hogs,
I have a D850 and have only used SD cards. Would like to purchase either an XQD or CFExpress card and see if I find it useful. I’m not certain the CFExpress is compatible.
Hoping for recommendations. I would most likely want 64 or 128gb.
Thank y’all for any help,
Matt

D850 is not compatible with CFE yet, although Nikon has promised a firmware update at some time to allow CFE to work in D850, D500, and D5

Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx

If you are using CL or CH or are shooting video you will want a fast XQD card. If you take one shot at a time, it probably won't matter to much to you.

MattW1 Loc: Baton Rouge

Leitz wrote:

The compatible cards are listed in the user’s manual.

CFE cards weren’t around when the owners manual was written. I had seen something in the past about an update from Nikon but wasn’t sure if that had occurred.

MattW1 Loc: Baton Rouge

MT Shooter wrote:

D850 is not compatible with CFE yet, although Nikon has promised a firmware update at some time to allow CFE to work in D850, D500, and D5

Thanks MT Shooter. That’s helpful. I can disregard them at this time

MattW1 Loc: Baton Rouge

Strodav wrote:

If you are using CL or CH or are shooting video you will want a fast XQD card. If you take one shot at a time, it probably won't matter to much to you.

Use both CL & CH
Thanks

Leitz Loc: Solms

MattW1 wrote:

CFE cards weren’t around when the owners manual was written. I had seen something in the past about an update from Nikon but wasn’t sure if that had occurred.

Is this current?
https://www.exibartstreet.com/news/nikon-releases-supports-for-cfexpress-cards-and-raw-video-for-z6-and-z7-cameras/
Edit: Oops! Not for the D850.

mainebrien

I bought an XQD card when I bought the Nikon D850 almost 3 years ago. It's very fast, reliable, and, more expensive than SD cards. Totally worth the price IMHO.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

MattW1 wrote:

Howdy Hogs,
I have a D850 and have only used SD cards. Would like to purchase either an XQD or CFExpress card and see if I find it useful. I’m not certain the CFExpress is compatible.
Hoping for recommendations. I would most likely want 64 or 128gb.
Thank y’all for any help,
Matt

I had a 64gb XQD card in my Z7 and ran out of space focus stacking macro shots, (200 shots per stack), so I upgraded to a 128gb CFExpress. Only problem now is I have to hook up the camera to download the images. My XQD card reader won’t work! Not a huge deal. I still use the read and the 64gb XQD cards in my D500. For now you still need XQD in the D850. They are faster than you can shoot. I would recommend 128gb with the D850 file sizes.

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

mainebrien wrote:

I bought an XQD card when I bought the Nikon D850 almost 3 years ago. It's very fast, reliable, and, more expensive than SD cards. Totally worth the price IMHO.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

MattW1 wrote:

Howdy Hogs,
I have a D850 and have only used SD cards. Would like to purchase either an XQD or CFExpress card and see if I find it useful. I’m not certain the CFExpress is compatible.
Hoping for recommendations. I would most likely want 64 or 128gb.
Thank y’all for any help,
Matt

because I shoot at 9fps with my D4s batteries on my D850 I use the faster XQD CARDS. I use either 64 or 128.

In-lightened Loc: Kansas City

MattW1 wrote:

Howdy Hogs,
I have a D850 and have only used SD cards. Would like to purchase either an XQD or CFExpress card and see if I find it useful. I’m not certain the CFExpress is compatible.
Hoping for recommendations. I would most likely want 64 or 128gb.
Thank y’all for any help,
Matt

If you use a grip and EN-EL18 battery to get to 9 fps, you would want to use the XQD since they are faster. The higher fps is important for BIF and some types of wildlife activity.

photoman43

In my D850 I use 64 GB XQD cards from Lexar or Sony. I much prefer XQD over SD. XQD cards have fast read and write speeds. And they seem to be more durable over SD cards.