Nikon has just announced that it is producing its own line of memory cards: the Nikon MC-CF660 CFexpress Type B. With so many brands hopping on the (what seems to be, at least) future dominant memory format, what does Nikon's card have to offer?
The Nikon MC-CF660 is up against stiff competition from the best CFexpress cards (opens in new tab) on the market, especially with well-established brands like ProGrade and SanDisk offering premium performers – and with Nikon itself telling us that the Delkin Power CFexpress card gives the best performance on the Nikon Z9 (opens in new tab).
So let's take a look at the specs. Nikon's high-capacity card packs a whopping 660GB of memory, with a maximum read speed of 1700MB/s and a maximum write speed of 1500MB/s. With that kind of storage and speed, this is obviously designed with powerhouse cameras like the Z9 in mind.
How does that shape up against the competition? Well, let's take Nikon's personal recommendation first. The Delkin Power maxes out at 2TB, and racks up read and write speeds of 1730MB/s and 1540MB/s respectively – all of which outgun the Big N's card.
If you're looking for even speedier performance, the Delkin Black CFexpress cards (opens in new tab) can clock up to 1760MB/s and 1710MB/s for reading and writing, though it's limited to 512GB. The Integral UltimaPro X2 isn't quite as speedy as the Black, with reading at 1700MB/s and writing at 1600MB/s, but it does hit 2TB in the capacity stakes.
In all, then, Nikon's first-party card strikes an impressive balance of speed and capacity – at least, on paper. We will, of course, have to give it a proper road test for ourselves to see if it meets those claims.
The Nikon MC-CF660G CFexpress Type B card goes on sale in June in the US, with a retail price of $729.95 (worldwide pricing and availability will be announced at a later date).
Read more:
Best memory cards (opens in new tab)
Best memory card readers (opens in new tab)
ProGrade Digital Cobalt CFexpress Type B card review (opens in new tab)
Delkin Devices Black CFexpress Type B card review (opens in new tab)
Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Gold Series card review
(opens in new tab)SanDisk Extreme Pro CFexpress Type B card review
(opens in new tab)Manfrotto Professional CFexpress Type B card review (opens in new tab)
