A new memory card format, courtesy of Sony

 A new memory card format, courtesy of Sony. It's the XQD card, and it comes in 16GB and 32GB capacities. Sony is also offering USB 3.0 and ExpressCard adaptors. Sony claimed the XQD format can deliver data transfer rates of up to "1Gbps (125MB/s) write and read" through the PCIe interface. That enables "stable continuous shooting of RAW images", Sony said, with an XQD memory card writing "approximately 100 frames in RAW format in continuous shooting mode".

XQD's write speed is 1.4 times that of a Compact Flash A card, Sony said. The 16GB XQD costs $130 (£84) and the 32GB card is priced at $230 (£148). The XQD memory card format was only announced last month, but already we’ve got a camera that uses it – in the shape of Nikon’s D4 DSLR - and a 16GB and 32GB cards from Sony.  What we do get is a new USB 2.0/3.0 Sony MRW-E80 XQD card reader and a QDA-EX1 XQD ExpressCard Adapter for your ExpressCard 34 slot, to help you get your images and footage off the card.

The 16GB Sony QD-H16 card will be priced at $129.99, while the 32GB QD-H32 will be $229.99. The MRW-E80 USB card reader will be $44.99, as will the QDA-EX1 ExpressCard Adapter. The 16GB Sony QD-H16 card will be priced at $129.99, while the 32GB QD-H32 will be $229.99. The MRW-E80 USB card reader will be $44.99, as will the QDA-EX1 ExpressCard Adapter. Sony said Friday it will begin selling memory cards with write speeds of 125Mbps, the fastest in the industry, from February.