I Made Made My Own 256gb CFExpress Type B Memory Card!

My “homemade” CFExpress Type B 
memory card.  Works great!

Many of the newest digital cameras being introduced require the use or partial use of the relatively new CFExpress memory card.  Because it is very, very fast for reading and writing data as well as being pretty new, the cost is relatively high as compared to the older SDXC cards we have come to know and love.

A few weeks ago, I was watching a YouTube video by an Austrailian photographer by the name of Matt Irwin and he presented some information on how to make your own CFExpress card at much lower cost than buying one 'off the shelf', so to speak.  That intrigued me so I set out to see if that was something I wanted to try to do.  I figured even if it was slower than the best CFExpress cards on the market, it still is 256gb of good memory that I can utilize in my camera or just as memory to plug into a card reader.

Toshiba (Kioxia) NVME M.2 30mm
256gb SSD.

Irwin gave the website of a Chinese company that provided the CFExpress Type B 'shell' but I wanted to find out if there was something like that available in the U.S. because shipping of the Chinese card would take three or more weeks.  I searched Amazon and found a card made by a company called Sintech. (It still took 3 weeks and was twice the price.  Lesson learned!)  

I then found an NVME M.2 256gb 30mm SSD circuit board from Toshiba.  

Finally, just for insurance, I bought a small tube of thermal paste made by Arctic to ensure any excess heat was adequately dissipated.  The shell came with a small piece of thermal pad, but I wanted a little more insurance.  I have very little knowledge of these types of things so if I err, I wanted to err on the side of less heat.  

Altogether the three items cost $99.29 US.  Amazon has 256gb CFExpress Type B cards listed for between $140 (Pro Grade Gold) and $289 (Delkin Power). The DIY price is not so bad, if it works! Lol

Arctic Thermal Paste compound.

The components were very easy to assemble, even with no instructions.  Just by examining the CFExpress shell and the memory circuit, it was fairly easy to figure how they went together.  I placed a bit of thermal past using the spatula onto the back of the circuit board, plugged it into one half of the shell, then attached both sides of the shell together.  They snapped together.  All in all, it took me about 5 minutes to figure it out and complete the process.

Well, the newly made CFExpress card works and it works fine.  I formatted it in my Z7II and it functions as any other card.  I really don’t know how fast it is compared to other CFExpress Type B cards out there by various manufacturers but I have little need for extreme speed anyway.

What is the down side?  If it fails, there really isn't a company I can send it back to for a refund or replacement and I'm out a hundred bucks.  Not a big deal.  Those are the chances I'm willing to take for a little exercise like this.  So far, so good.

Sometimes it’s fun to take on a little DIY project.  I’ve gained a little satisfaction from sourcing and assembling the pieces as well as saving myself a bit on money.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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