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R1 CFexpress Type B cards

  
 
dolina
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p.1 #1 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


A bit late to the party but I'm looking to buy 128GB CFexpress Type B cards for a R1.

As I'm the "don't put all your eggs in one basket" type I'm looking to get 128GB cards that has been my size standard since 2015.

I've narrowed it down to:

- $250 — Lexar DIAMOND 4.0 (LCXEXD4128G-RNENG) 3,200 MB/s
- $135 — Delkin POWER G4 (DCFXBP128G4) 805 MB/s
- $130 — ProGrade Gold (PGCFX128GBPBH) 250 MB/s

I'll be using this with mostly EF L lenses such as

- EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM
- EF 500mm f/4L IS USM
- EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
- EF 200mm f/2L IS USM

Thanks for the ffeedback.



Jan 29, 2026 at 01:14 PM
stanj
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p.1 #2 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Obviously the fact that your capacity limit hasn't changed in 11 years is a separate story.

In-camera you won't notice a difference. The CFe4.0 cards will download much faster if you have the appropriate reader and a destination that can handle the speed.

I use Lexar Gold CFe2.0 and 4.0 cards with great reliability and satisfaction.



Jan 29, 2026 at 01:45 PM
robert_in_ca
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p.1 #3 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Hands down go with a 4.0 card. I switch over to Nextorage cards from using Delkin Blacks. Specifically I use 165GB NX-B2PRO CFexpress 4.0 Type B and the sustained write speed is key. Have zero issues with getting warm/hot and thus no issue with my R1 at all.


Jan 29, 2026 at 02:09 PM
rscheffler
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p.1 #4 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Maybe buy some from a mix of brands so you also don’t have all your eggs stored in one brand and model of cards?

I’m also using Nextorage but the non-pro B3 model which is only available 500GB and larger. No problems in the R1s I’ve borrowed from CPS or my R5II.



Jan 29, 2026 at 02:59 PM
Vksrik
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p.1 #5 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Given today’s technology and the evolution of gadgets, I’d say 128 GB is perfectly fine for stills or landscape photography. However, if you’re using the R1, you’re likely shooting a lot of action and burst mode, and storage will fill up very quickly...especially with features like 6K 60 RAW, 4K 120 10-bit internal video, and up to 40 fps with Pre-Continuous Shooting. Because of this, I’d recommend considering 512 GB instead of 128 GB, particularly if you shoot a lot of action.


Jan 29, 2026 at 03:47 PM
EB-1
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p.1 #6 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Vksrik wrote:
Given today’s technology and the evolution of gadgets, I’d say 128 GB is perfectly fine for stills or landscape photography. However, if you’re using the R1, you’re likely shooting a lot of action and burst mode, and storage will fill up very quickly...especially with features like 6K 60 RAW, 4K 120 10-bit internal video, and up to 40 fps with Pre-Continuous Shooting. Because of this, I’d recommend considering 512 GB instead of 128 GB, particularly if you shoot a lot of action.


I've used about 100GB of files for just one landscape image. The smallest cards I use are 256GB from a few years ago. 512GB looks good for the low-res bodies like R1/R3. I'd rather not fill a card if not necessary.

EBH



Jan 29, 2026 at 05:31 PM
dolina
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p.1 #7 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Thanks all I really appreciate the perspectives.

For context my last body before this was a 5Ds R purchased at launch in 2015 so my entire digital workflow for almost a decade revolved around UDMA 7 CompactFlash (~160 MB/s, PATA-based). Jumping straight from that to a 2024 R1 has been a pretty abrupt lesson in how far storage tech and pricing has moved.

What’s been tripping me up isn’t capability so much as cost timing. In late 2025 a Delkin POWER 128 GB (min sustained write of 805MB/s) was ~$80. Today it’s ~$115. The ProGrade Gold 240 GB (min sustained write of 700MB/s) went from ~$98 in October to ~$170 in January. That kind of jump makes “buy once, cry once” a harder sell especially when the R1 still runs a CFexpress 2.0 bus.

I hear the point that in-camera performance will be essentially identical between good 2.0 and 4.0 cards and that the real advantage of 4.0 shows up during downloads with the right reader and fast storage. That makes total sense. I also appreciate the feedback on Lexar and Nextorage reliability especially regarding sustained write speed and thermal behavior during long bursts.

I get why several of you are suggesting 256–512 GB. With precapture, long bursts and the R1’s video features it’s easy to fill cards quickly. That said my usage is 99% would be <40fps high-speed stills, almost no video and I’ve intentionally stuck to 128 GB since 2015 as a risk-management choice. I’d rather rotate smaller cards and avoid having an entire shoot live on one volume. Even when writing to dual slots I’m still spreading exposure across multiple cards over the course of a day.

That said, the suggestion to mix brands and models resonates with me. That aligns with my “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” approach and probably makes more sense today than obsessing over 2.0 vs 4.0 on paper. I can also see the logic of keeping one or two larger-capacity cards around for edge cases: birds, extended precapture sessions or when I know I’ll be leaning hard on 40 fps.

And in hindsight I probably should’ve picked up the R1 (and my MBP) in 2024, before the April 2025 tariff + “AI tax” pricing shift. But here we are. 🤷🏻🤷🏻🤷🏻

Thanks again for the input this has been genuinely helpful.



Jan 29, 2026 at 11:01 PM
artsupreme
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p.1 #8 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


dolina wrote:
Thanks all I really appreciate the perspectives.

For context my last body before this was a 5Ds R purchased at launch in 2015 so my entire digital workflow for almost a decade revolved around UDMA 7 CompactFlash (~160 MB/s, PATA-based). Jumping straight from that to a 2024 R1 has been a pretty abrupt lesson in how far storage tech and pricing has moved.

What’s been tripping me up isn’t capability so much as cost timing. In late 2025 a Delkin POWER 128 GB (min sustained write of 805MB/s) was ~$80. Today it’s ~$115. The ProGrade Gold 240 GB (min sustained write of
...Show more

IMO, your theory about rotating smaller cards does not align with the R1. You have identical slots and it's nearly impossible to have 2 cards fail on the same day. I used to feel the same back in the DSLR days when cards were smaller, but I've been running 2TB cards for several years now and don't think twice about using large cards considering I'm backing up every day. For the R1, I say go for two matching 512gb cards which covers any worry about redundancy, and you can run them for many years to come. Just put them in, and forget about juggling multiple cards anymore. And you never know if you might upgrade to a higher resolution body in a few years, and who knows you might just get hooked on video after trying it out with a modern body.



Jan 29, 2026 at 11:30 PM
artsupreme
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p.1 #9 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Here's what I would buy if you could find them for a similar price:








Jan 29, 2026 at 11:40 PM
EB-1
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p.1 #10 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Why the Greens and not the Blacks?

EBH



Jan 30, 2026 at 12:18 AM
 


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artsupreme
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p.1 #11 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


EB-1 wrote:
Why the Greens and not the Blacks?

EBH


It looks like he’s on a tight budget and I was already blowing it out with the greens.



Jan 30, 2026 at 12:35 AM
dolina
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p.1 #12 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


artsupreme wrote:
It looks like he’s on a tight budget and I was already blowing it out with the greens.


More like I don't want to over buy by buying faster read speed CFe 4.0 cards whose sole benefit on a CFe 2.0 body like the R1 + EF L lens initial setup is ONLY faster downloading to my Mac. The cards being 128GB-only will not make me wait that long.

Assuming a standard 10Gbps USB-C Reader to a 2024 MBP 16"

- Lexar DIAMOND 4.0 @ 3,400 MB/s ~1,050 MB/s (Bus limited) is ~2 min 10 sec
- Delkin POWER G4 @ 1,780 MB/s ~1,050 MB/s (Bus limited) is ~2 min 10 sec
- SanDisk Extreme Pro @ 1,700 MB/s ~950 MB/s is ~2 min 25 sec
- ProGrade Gold 128GB @ 1,700 MB/s ~950 MB/s is ~2 min 25 sec

I could spend $100+ on a specialized USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 reader (like the ProGrade Digital USB4 Reader), the Lexar Diamond 4.0 can finally "stretch its legs."

- Lexar Diamond 4.0 + USB4 Reader: You can hit ~3,000 MB/s done in ~45 seconds.
- Delkin Power G4 (2.0) + USB4 Reader: It’s a 2.0 card, so it caps at ~1,700 MB/s done in ~1 min 20 sec

My R1 use case is >99% stills + <1% video.

These are the data throughput per lens + R1 for photos

- RF Lens-only can easily do 40fps @ 1.1GB/s RAW or 500MB/s C-RAW
- EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM caps @ 30fps ~825 MB/s RAW or ~375 MB/s C-RAW
- EF 800mm, EF 500mm, EF 200mm f/2.0 caps @ 20fps ~550 MB/s RAW or ~250 MB/s C-RAW

So a use case of a max sustained write speed of between 550-825 MB/s is more than sufficient with CFe cards with min sustained writes of 700-805MB/s.

TL;DR: Bottlenecks are more EF L lenses and I've learned to go beyond "spray then pray". I've watched reviews on the R1 and it's AF system is heads and shoulders about whatever I've been using from 2003-2023. I've been aware off this bottleneck since the 2020 EOS R5 Mark I.

When I decide to get the RF 1200mm, RF 600mm & rumored RF 300mm f/2.0 or do 6K resolution video then I'd go with CFe 4.0 cards.



Jan 30, 2026 at 01:33 AM
rscheffler
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p.1 #13 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


dolina wrote:
What’s been tripping me up isn’t capability so much as cost timing. In late 2025 a Delkin POWER 128 GB (min sustained write of 805MB/s) was ~$80. Today it’s ~$115. The ProGrade Gold 240 GB (min sustained write of 700MB/s) went from ~$98 in October to ~$170 in January. That kind of jump makes “buy once, cry once” a harder sell especially when the R1 still runs a CFexpress 2.0 bus.


As you noted, it's the 'AI tax' causing these prices. That Nextorage 500GB card I bought just back in November for $140 on sale is now $246. In hindsight, I should have bought several, haha.

As suggested by others, you can shoot to two big cards. Another option is one big card in slot 2 and rotate your 128GB cards through slot 1.

IMO the greater danger is likely something to happen to the card(s) outside the camera before/after use. It could be theft, damage, failure. Do you carry all your cards together, both sets? Personally, I try to keep one set physically on my at all times until I'm able to download and backup. And even then, if not home, I'll carry at least one copy of the backup drive at all times. You never know what might happen with cards/drives left in luggage in the car, in 'secure' storage, etc.



Jan 30, 2026 at 03:38 AM
dolina
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p.1 #14 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


I struggle to fill 128GB CF cards with a 50.6MP RAW camera image.

What more 1/2 that at 30fps or even 20fps at 24.2MP. If by some miracle I am able to fill it up to the brim then buy more cards



Jan 30, 2026 at 09:14 AM
artsupreme
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p.1 #15 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


dolina wrote:
I struggle to fill 128GB CF cards with a 50.6MP RAW camera image.

What more 1/2 that at 30fps or even 20fps at 24.2MP. If by some miracle I am able to fill it up to the brim then buy more cards


Think about the extra storage as a use for an extra backup copy too. You literally double your backup count while traveling (2j on computer or ssd (maybe back at camp) and then you have (2) extra copies with you until you “fill” 4x of your 128gb cards by using 512gb cards. All while not worrying about managing/handling extra cards like rscheffler mentioned (dropping, losing, theft, spilling, etc).

I’m a little confused because you had a Lexar 4.0 $128gb card in your final selection for $250, but I suggested a Delkin 512gb 4.0 card that’s 4x as big as the lexar for less ($236) and you say you aren’t interested in 4.0 cards? .50 cents per gb is a pretty good deal for these cards < 512gb. I highly suggest Delkin for the lifetime warranty as well.



Jan 30, 2026 at 09:46 AM
dolina
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p.1 #16 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


artsupreme wrote:
Think about the extra storage as a use for an extra backup copy too. You literally double your backup count while traveling (2j on computer or ssd (maybe back at camp) and then you have (2) extra copies with you until you “fill” 4x of your 128gb cards by using 512gb cards. All while not worrying about managing/handling extra cards like rscheffler mentioned (dropping, losing, theft, spilling, etc).

I’m a little confused because you had a Lexar 4.0 $128gb card in your final selection for $250, but I suggested a Delkin 512gb 4.0 card that’s 4x as big as the
...Show more

As the conversation has progressed I considered other people's PoV, learned something new and adjusted accordingly.

I suspect many persons replying to me are using RF L lenses with their R1 so they really need >1GB/s min sustained write speeds and the need >3GB/s min sustained read speed because they're using 1-2TB cards so I had to explicitly mention I was still using EF lenses. This bottlenecks me to <1GB/s cards.

Another would be how much storage I'd use. I'd struggle to fill it over a long weeend before I need to swap out a battery.

If the R1 proves me wrong then buy a better card and use what I bought as a backup.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's feedback. Wish I bought this 1st 6 months of availability.



Jan 30, 2026 at 09:58 AM
EB-1
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p.1 #17 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Why does the lens matter in ES mode? I normally shoot at 30FPS with the R5 II and EF teles. However, the throughput to the memory card is bottlenecked by the processing pipeline, not the lens or CFe card.

EBH



Jan 30, 2026 at 11:26 AM
rscheffler
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p.1 #18 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


dolina wrote:
As the conversation has progressed I considered other people's PoV, learned something new and adjusted accordingly.

I suspect many persons replying to me are using RF L lenses with their R1 so they really need >1GB/s min sustained write speeds and the need >3GB/s min sustained read speed because they're using 1-2TB cards so I had to explicitly mention I was still using EF lenses. This bottlenecks me to <1GB/s cards.

Another would be how much storage I'd use. I'd struggle to fill it over a long weeend before I need to swap out a battery.

If the R1 proves me wrong then
...Show more

I don't believe any of the current Canon cameras write anywhere near 1GB/s to CFe. I recently did some tests with the R5II to determine buffer capacity at 30fps and write throughput speed. I'd have to dig it up, but I don't think write surpassed around 500MB/s on average, but I have no way of determining if the cameras have a certain sustained write speed or if they write in faster bursts interspersed by pauses or slower speeds.

dolina wrote:
These are the data throughput per lens + R1 for photos

- RF Lens-only can easily do 40fps @ 1.1GB/s RAW or 500MB/s C-RAW
- EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM caps @ 30fps ~825 MB/s RAW or ~375 MB/s C-RAW
- EF 800mm, EF 500mm, EF 200mm f/2.0 caps @ 20fps ~550 MB/s RAW or ~250 MB/s C-RAW


What is the source for these numbers? I'm only asking to better understand this aspect of e-shutter performance. I've read a few comments over the years that old EF lenses (pre 2010-2012) may slow down e-shutter, but never saw concrete numbers stated. The EF lenses I still use, such as 85/1.4L IS and 200-400 are in the most recent and most compatible category when adapted to RF and I have not noticed frame rate decrease on the R1, R5II or R6II. That said, I also have not tested to confirm they actually hit maximum the frame rates of each camera.

With regard to going with many smaller cards vs. a few larger ones, I wasn't really saying one approach was better than the other. Each has advantages and disadvantages and will probably depend a lot on personal preferences.

You generally will pay more for smaller cards than larger ones, on a per GB basis and some smaller capacity cards are slower than larger versions in the same product line, due to how speed sometimes scales with the number of memory chips, allowing parallel read/write in larger capacities. While you're often managing more cards when dealing with smaller capacities, and this can result in loss, theft, etc., of individual cards. When something like that does happen, to lose a smaller segment of a total shoot would be preferable over losing all or most of a shoot. At least from one backup set because you should at least have two.

What I have done in the past, if not lugging around a laptop and external backup drives, is to each day or each event, safekeeping the mirrored card and in-camera, using its image copy features, to write the day's or event's contents to a second back up card. Usually it would be a larger capacity card that would carry multiple days or events worth of images, strictly as a second back up.

A downside of huge cards, and filling them with tens of thousands of images, is that it can affect certain aspects of camera performance. Start up and ready time can be delayed because the camera 'polls' the cards to determine the contents and available space. The more files on a card, the longer this will take. In this respect, 128GB cards might be better. With the R6II, I frequently shot large events to dual 256GB cards, which would hold about 16-18,000 CRAW images. And this definitely impacted start up times, like when I would have to change batteries at suboptimal times and then have to wait through a longer start up process before the camera would be ready again. Some of this delay would be reduced by the faster performance of CFe in the R1 compared to SD in the R6II. Both are 24MP cameras and I'd think you'd get around 10,000 CRAW images on a 128GB card. The most I ever shot in one go with the R1 was around 22,000 to 500/512GB cards and I don't recall if the start up time was affected much. It's definitely not an issue during use, but if you routinely turn off the camera between uses, it might be a factor.



Jan 30, 2026 at 04:51 PM
dolina
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p.1 #19 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


Gents, I really appreciate the detailed technical pushback. It’s exactly why I posted in FM. Dealing with people who have been in the EOS ecosystem since the early 2000s helps me verify if my DSLR-brain is making the right jump to the R1.

EB-1: Regarding the "pipeline vs. lens" bottleneck: I dug into the documentation and while you're right that the card speed is a pipeline issue the input into that pipeline is physically gated by the lens. I found the official Canon Supplemental Compatibility list: https://cam.start.canon/ky/H001/supplement_0080.html

It confirms that while my 2011 EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM is a "Category A" lens (40fps) my 2008 EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM, 1999 EF 500mm f/4L IS USM and 2008 EF 200mm f/2L IS USM are notably absent. On the R1 if the lens isn't on that list the camera throttles the electronic shutter to 20fps (the drive icon actually changes from Green to White to warn you). So for the majority of my "Big White" glass I physically cannot generate 1GB/s of data even if the card could take it. The "bottleneck" starts at the AF motor before it even hits the buffer.

rscheffler: Your point about startup lag and polling is the "Aha!" moment for me. I’m a "power off between sets" shooter to save battery so if a 512GB card full of 15,000 CRAWs makes the R1 sluggish to wake up when a bird takes flight or a volley starts, that’s a dealbreaker. 128GB/165GB seems like the "Goldilocks" zone for keeping the UI snappy.

Also your observation that the R5II doesn't seem to write much past 500MB/s in real-world testing aligns with what I'm reading online. If the camera’s internal controller is the ceiling, then CFexpress 4.0 cards like the Lexar Diamond (3,000MB/s) is effectively "buying a highway for a golf cart" unless the concern is how fast I can transfer images to my Mac.

If I find myself "egg-less" and filling cards too fast I'll buy a 512GB "big basket" later this year. Thanks for the feedback everyone.



Jan 30, 2026 at 09:02 PM
EB-1
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p.1 #20 · R1 CFexpress Type B cards


I don't think it is the AF motor, but the communication (SP1) ran at different speeds in the past.
It's pretty amazing that we can use the IS II and other 10+ YO lenses at 40FPS. Canon was very forward thinking with the EOS system.

EBH



Jan 30, 2026 at 09:35 PM
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