Report: Nikon firmware for using CFexpress Type B cards with D5, D850 and D500 will arrive ‘before the end of 2020’

Back in February 2019, Nikon announced it was working to develop a firmware update for its D5, D850 and D500 DSLR cameras that would bring support for using CFExpress Type B memory cards. Since then, we haven’t heard a word about these development from Nikon, but Nikon Rumors says it ‘can confirm’ the much-anticipated firmware update will arrive before the end of the year.

According to Nikon Rumors’ report, the firmware update will arrive ‘before the end of 2020.’ Nikon Rumors says Nikon ‘may say something about [these updates]’ this coming week when it launches its Z6 II and Z7 II mirrorless cameras.

Image credit: B&H Photo

Despite promising a firmware update, Nikon never confirmed the details of what kind of performance we can expect from CFExpress Type B cards when used with its D5, D850 and D500 DSLR cameras. While CFExpress Type B support will make it easier to use the open and more popular format — not to mentioned larger maximum capacities, since XQD cards top out at 240GB compared to the current 1TB maximum capacity of CFExpress cards — it doesn’t necessarily we’ll expect improved speeds over using XQD cards when using them inside the camera. However, you will see improved speeds over XQD cards when importing the cards to your computer if you’re using a CFExpress Type B memory card reader.

We contacted Nikon for a comment on the updates on Friday October 9, but haven’t received a response. We will update this article if we get any further information from Nikon.