ProGrade Digital CFexpress Type B & SDXC Card Reader USB 3.2 (PG05.5)

This Digital dual slot card reader has been a solid addition to my workflow. It handles both CFexpress Type B and SD UHS II cards smoothly, making it easy to offload files from different cameras without swapping readers. Transfer speeds are fast and consistent, which is especially important when working with large photo and video files. The build quality feels premium and dependable, and the reader stays stable on the desk during use. Overall, this is a well designed and efficient card reader that fits perfectly into a professional photography or filmmaking setup. It delivers reliable performance and convenience for demanding content creation workflows.

For some reason my Nikon won't connect to my iMac to transfer my photos from the new Z8 memory stick I got, the CFExpress. So I had to buy a card reader. I wasn't going to go for a cheap one because I'm sick of things being cheap, but this was affordable with the right reviews for me. It only took about 15min to transfer 2400 photos into my Lightroom. And I checked the heat on the reader, and it's not too hot. It's warm, but not enough to burn you and complain on Amazon about it. It is an excellent purchase and well worth the money. I figured it would've taken an hour to import, but no. 15min is nice. Don't know what other readers do and how long it would've taken, but for how many photos I took (including a couple video files!) I'd say if you're on the fence, get this. The one con is the magnet doesn't help us Mac users as there's nothing to use the magnet on. But that's okay cuz it's only temporary and I can put it away when done.

PROS: -The reader has a magnetic base which I love. This means that the reader isn't just dangling from the end of a cable and can be loaded/unloaded with one hand while firmly mounted on a PC case. -Reads SD cards. -Has a heavy build and manages heat well. The unit itself does not overheat but the Sandisk 256GB Extreme Pro CFexpress card gets almost too hot to touch at 400MB/s. I think this is a mostly a limitation of the card's heat management not the reader's. I can't imagine how hot the card would get if writing files at the card's advertised write speed of 1200 MB/s. Again, I presume this is a limitation of the card and not the reader firmware design. -The reader mounts the XQD card (status light comes on) but so far does not recognize it in Windows 10. I am hoping that this functionality will be added to the reader with a firmware update by Prograde. There is really no reason that it shouldn't since the Nikon D850 camera can now read both cards. CONS: -I cannot get the reader to recognize the NIKON XQD 120GB card which is the same form factor as the CFexpress card. Hopefully this functionality will be added by Prograde with a firmware update. -Copying 130GB of random photographs from an M.2 drive folder to the reader on a USB C SS10 3.1 (red) port took about 5 minutes. The highest transfer speed was about 400 MB/s. -The CFexpress card gets almost too hot to touch at 400 MB/s write speed. I mostly blame this on the card since the reader stays cool. -The CFexpress card stays almost too hot to touch even when sitting idle in the reader. That is pretty typical behavior of many USB thumbdrives when plugged directly into a workstation port but I'd think that the reader firmware should be able to put the card on idle to avoid this. I count it as a CON unless proven otherwise. Leaving the card in the reader for an extended period of time will damage the card. -I can't really imagine this unit transferring files anywhere near the advertised card write speed of 1.25 GB/s. That is about 3x the speed that I reached but it may be possible for short periods or for a single large file. Also I imaging the heat production in the card would be much higher which is just not healthy for the card.

Good, fast and Solid.

So I've had this card reader for four years and have used it exclusively since switching to a Canon mirrorless system, which uses CFexpress. The Card Reader works every single time without issue. It reads the files perfectly. Never had corrupt files, and there have been no issues whatsoever. It just works and it's fast. I take off a star because it gets so hot I'm worried it could legitimately start a fire if it were against something flammable. I was also worried that it would damage my cards. That has not happened.

works great

I recently rebuilt my photography post-processing PC for something "more modern" in the Windows 11 space. One of the things my previous computer had was a built-in card reader, so I found myself looking for a new one. This has been absolutely awesome! It's connected to a USB 3.2 USB-C bus on my external disk enclosure unit and just "feels" rock solid in the hand. It has a magnetic base (not stuck to the disk enclosure FYI) that holds it steady on my monitor base and reads both the CFexpress Type B and UHS-II cards I use in my cameras quickly and effortlessly. It's quick enough that, when needed, I'll plug in a CFexpress card I learned (after the fact) won't work in my camera but WILL work as a 128gb SSD that just happens to be removable. It's a great way to use my investments!

Quality product

Works great, having both memory types in one reader is very useful. Transfer speeds are also top notch.

De card reader is binnen twee jaar defect net zoals al twee cf kaarten van Prograde digital maar de service is geweldig na deze melding contact met Prograde digital en kreeg na vermelding van de serie nummers kosteloos een nieuwe reader en card op gestuurd Grote klasse en geweldige aftersales complimenten

There are always pros and cons... Changing from GH5 to GH6 cameras meant CFe-B cards and a new reader - I bought the generic one in the pic - from Amazon. It was great - then it was horrible - extremely slow. So, I bought a new one and because I like PROGRADE cards I bought the PROGRADE reader - it is excellent - really fast. THEN I thought - maybe?... and I tested the 'Generic' using the PROGRADE cable - it was great again - a shade faster the the PROGRADE. I did some tests... First CrystalDiskmark - results in the pics. The slowest one is the Generic reader with a 'generic' usb C cable from my charging station (this is why I was getting really frustrated) The '1039' image is the PROGRADE reader with the included cable and the ever so slightly faster '1043' image is the Generic reader with the PROGRADE cable. I shoot video as 3 camera setups and with a 4th as Run & Gun usually between 50GB and 100GB per camera. I used the Run & Gun cards for the tests. There was 50GB data in 234 files on the cards I tested, my 'work' drive is a 2TB Pcie NVMe card in a Dell Precision 3650 with 64GB ram. * The 'Generic' CFe B card reader with the PROGRADE cable transferred in 1min 23secs * The PROGRADE CFe B card reader with the PROGRADE cable transferred in 1min 57secs So, even in the real world the 'Generic' shades it. The next test I did was with SDXC UHSii cards - this time it was the PROGRADE reader Vs an Integral reader. This was using the same file set (I shoot the Run & Gun stuff to both cards in the GH6) * The Integral card reader transferred in 3mins 31secs * The PROGRADE card reader transferred the files in 4mins 4secs The BIG lesson for me in all of this is that not all cables are equal and I need to find the cables that came with the 'Generic' reader and stop using what I have just lying around!!! Despite discovering my foolishness I'm very happy to have made the purchase. The PROGRADE reader is well built, the cables are the correct connectivity, it looks as if it will be durable. I'm also happy that is says PROGRADE on it - emotions eh!? Once I find the other cables I'll have two fast CFe readers and get the ingests done in half the time - always assuming the usb busses on the PC aren't using the same channels... hope this helps

This reader stopped working after 1 month, how do I get a replacement, very unhappy.

Fast and design to meet its expectations! I’m using with both, SD card & CFexpress Type B to move large files. Working perfectly and love the magnetic option as well.