Other World Computing (OWC) has announced a new “Core” branded, 256GB memory card designed to blend high-speed with affordability.
As the global flash shortage drives up the price of memory, photographers have felt the pinch through increased SSD and memory card prices. OWC’s new Core memory card looks to be an answer with a mix of a $280 asking price, but without dropping performance too far to get there.
“The Atlas Core memory card, intended for professional and hobbyist photographers, videographers, and content creators, delivers essential speed and the highest level of reliability at an unbeatable price,” the company says.
The card promises up to 3571MB/s read, 2227MB/s write, and 368MB/s sustained write speeds going beyond the VPG200 certification — which it holds — and is fast enough to handle high-resolution burst photography, 4K video, and up to 8K compressed video without dropping frames.
“Most photographers and creators don’t need the most expensive card on the planet. They need the card they can trust when the moment actually matters,” Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO of OWC, says. “Missed shots don’t care about marketing claims. Whether you’re shooting a wedding, a client project, a travel vlog, or your kid scoring the winning goal, you need media that keeps up, stays reliable, and just gets out of your way. Atlas Core was built for that real-world creator who wants professional confidence without paying for speed they’ll never fully use.”
VPG 200 is as fast as most mirrorless cameras that use CFexpress Type B realistically need, even in the more demanding capture modes. Considering that the highest-performing memory cards don’t even work at their maximum capability in cameras yet, finding a more economical middle ground in a time when memory is as expensive as it is makes a ton of sense.
OWC says its new Core card is designed to work with Canon R-series, Fujifilm GFX, Nikon Z, and Panasonic S-series mirrorless cameras, plus Nikon DSLR users who are upgrading from XQD.
The Core cards work with OWC’s Innergize software (for card health monitoring and firmware updates) and are backed by the company’s three-year warranty.
The OWC Atlas Core CFexpress 4.0 Type B 256GB memory card is available starting today for $280, which puts it squarely in competition price-wise with Lexar’s Gold series, SanDisk’s Extreme Pro series, Glyph’s Capture+ series, and Nextorage’s B3SE series cards. At the time of publication, OWC is only offering one capacity option in the Core line.
Image credits: OWC
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