CODEX is a name anyone shooting ARRI has known for twenty years: their drives are what you hold in your hand when you offload an ALEXA. As of 1 September the British brand has stepped outside the high-end fence and launched a full line of CFexpress Type A and Type B cards, plus a USB4 reader. In plain terms: the reliability you used to pay for on Compact Drives now fits inside an FX6 or a BURANO.

What CODEX announced

Two families, two tiers. Excel is the working line, Elite adds endurance and higher VPG certification — meaning guaranteed sustained writes even when the card is hot and nearly full.

  • Type B Excel (VPG400): 512GB, 1TB and 2TB, with a rated sustained write of 1,750MB/s on the smaller capacities and 3,000MB/s on the 2TB.
  • Type B Elite (VPG400/VPG1600): 1TB and 2TB, 1,800 and 2,800MB/s.
  • Type A Excel (VPG400): 256GB, 512GB and 1TB, from 800MB/s up to 1,650MB/s on the largest.
  • Type A Elite (VPG400/VPG800): 256GB, 512GB and 1TB, 1,750MB/s across the range.

Type B covers Canon EOS R, Nikon Z, Blackmagic, LUMIX, Fujifilm and the Sony BURANO; Type A is aimed squarely at Sony, so a1, a9 III, a7S III, FX3 and FX6. Inside are CODEX’s own technologies — FastLane, HeatControl and ByteGuard — which in practice mean thermal management and data integrity checking, the two places where a cheap card leaves you stranded.

The prices, no dancing around them

On the CODEX site, Type B Excel starts at 463.95 euro for the 512GB and reaches 1,153.95 euro for the 2TB; Elite sits at 689.95 euro (1TB) and 1,331.95 euro (2TB). Type A Excel runs from 285.95 to 642.95 euro, Elite from 321.95 to 916.95 euro. The Type B reader is 237.95 euro. The whole range is on pre-order for now.

The reader is the part we care about most

USB4 at 40Gbps, up to 5,000MB/s, aluminium housing, 128 grams, a three-year warranty with registration and Type A compatibility through an adapter. CODEX claims 1TB read off a Type B Elite in under five minutes, at 3,500MB/s. If you have ever waited on a backup at wrap with the crew already in the van, you know what that number is worth.

Buy or rent: doing the maths

Here is where it hits home for us. A pair of 2TB Type B Elite cards is over 2,600 euro in media alone — more than renting a high-end camera body for a full week. In our view, buying only makes sense if you shoot the same format on the same body every month. For a three-day commercial, a short film or a seasonal documentary the numbers do not add up: take the camera and the media together, and the reader comes with it.

It is the same reasoning we go through whenever someone asks us for the Sony BURANO for an 8K shoot: media costs as much as a whole department on the budget, and tying that money up for a single production makes no sense. Same story with the Sony FX6 and the Sony FX3, where Type A cards cost a disproportionate amount next to the body.

Three practical notes

  • Look at the VPG rating, not the big number on the sleeve: some Sony bodies only unlock the top formats above a minimum certification. Peak speed does nothing for you, sustained speed does.
  • Never fill a card past about 80% in a day: that is where sustained write falls off and the codec starts to complain.
  • Always rotate two cards and back up twice while you shoot. That is what a fast reader is for — not for staying up late.

In our equipment inventory, cameras go out with media already matched to the format you picked, tested and formatted. Call us before you buy cards: nine times out of ten renting them is the better call.

Sources: CODEX (official product page) and Newsshooter.