The memory crisis is showing no signs of stopping. For photographers and tech consumers alike, it’s an alarming time. I bought a Nintendo Switch 2 this month; I’d been mulling over the idea for a while, but an impending price increase strong-armed my decision. Then a colleague of mine bought an Apple MacBook Neo for his daughter’s birthday, and I was surprised to find it had increased by $100/£100.
All across the consumer tech industry, prices are increasing. And although the memory crisis isn’t solely to blame – tariffs, component shortages, and a rising cost of living – it’s having a huge impact. As a photographer, it’s especially worrying because we rely heavily on storage. Memory cards and SSD drives were expensive enough – now they’re through the roof!
But a strange byproduct of all this is that I now find what I once considered aging tech – the humble SD card – to be an absolute lifesaver. Don’t get me wrong, many SD card prices have risen exponentially, too. But they still pale in comparison to XQD and CFexpress prices.
Thankfully, all but the very pro-tier, flagship cameras tend to have either an SD card slot or a dual SD and CFexpress slot. And I have to wonder if that trend will continue as long as the memory crisis. It seems remarkable to me now that Nikon launched its full-frame mirrorless Z mount back in 2018, with two cameras that only contained a single XQD/CFexpress slot.
I mean, cameras are expensive enough as it is, but now the camera and the lens and the spare battery aren’t enough. You’ve got to spend $100/£100+ on a CFexpress card. Don’t get me wrong, CFexpress cards are certainly preferable to their SD card counterparts. They’re faster, more robust and more reliable. But they’re also a lot more expensive.
There is another angle, and that’s built-in storage. I’ve just recorded another episode of Bokeh Face: The Digital Camera World Podcast, and in our Gear Up section we talked about the Sigma BF. Not only is it a gorgeous-looking camera with some impressive specs, but it also doesn’t have a memory card slot. Instead, it has 230GB of internal memory.
Don’t get me wrong, a device with built-in memory isn't immune to the memory crisis, but at least you don’t have to worry about buying a collection of cards. And in 2026, a few CFexpress cards could set you back $400/£400+. That’s madness!
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