Photographer Joseph Nuzzo Rejects Expensive CFexpress Cards, Goes for the Homebrew Approach
Making use of the CFexpress Type-B standard's reliance on NVMe storage, Nuzzo's homebrew card is just as fast but less costly.
Photographer Joseph Nuzzo has responded to the high price of CompactFlash Express (CFexpress) cards in the only logical way: by building his own fully-functional 256GB CFexpress card for less than $100.
"The CFexpress card was created in part to unify existing standards by using widely adopted common technologies," Nuzzo explains. "Many of these technologies are already in place in the average computer. One would assume this would have made CFexpress cards very affordable, but so far it hasn’t worked out that way. Truth be told, it is hard to justify the price of a CFexpress card because they are so simple to build, anyone can do it."
Nuzzo's homebrew CFexpress card makes use of the fact that the commercial variants are built around existing ubiquitous technologies, in the same way as the original CompactFlash specification simply translated the existing Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) storage standard to a smaller form factor. Specifically, CFexpress Type B cards use a Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) drive internally — the same drive used in many desktops, laptops, and even tablets for high-performance solid-state storage.
Having picked an affordable 256GB NVMe drive and an off-the-shelf CFexpress adapter board with case, Nuzzo's build is as simple as slotting everything together. "First, apply a thin layer of thermal compound to the side of the NVMe drive that does not have the label on it," Nuzzo writes. "Next, place the NVME drive into the pin adapter that comes with the case."
"Now place the drive with the adapter into the case. The case is keyed so the drive can only be installed one way. Secure the top of the case with the four screws that come with the card adapter. That’s it. You have built a CFexpress card!"
The resulting card easily matches the performance of a commercial version, at a considerably lower price — though Nuzzo does warn of some drawbacks, including a higher operating temperature and the need to pull the card out of the camera rather than have it eject smoothly.
Nuzzo's full write-up, with links to the parts used, is available on Photofocus.