ProGrade Digital, a new company founded by former Lexar executives, recently announced a new line of products designed to uniquely fill the needs of today’s high-end DLSRs, camcorders and digital cinema cameras. Memory cards will reportedly be offered in a variety of formats and industry-leading capacities. According to the press release, the company will also design and market a selection of card readers, starting with a CFast & SD Dual Slot Workflow Reader that boasts a USB 3.0, Gen. 2 transfer protocol. ProGrade Digital’s new memory cards and card readers will become available in the month of February on their own website as well as some online shopping websites like Amazon.com and B&H Photo and Video.
ProGrade Digital was founded by former executives from Lexar who held management or technical leadership positions at the company which worked in memory card development for digital photography. The team reportedly has more than 60 years of combined experience in the design, development and manufacture of memory cards gained while working for Lexar, SanDisk and other firms. The company stated that leveraging its experience and industry relationships, the team will focus exclusively on developing and marketing memory cards, card readers and software optimized for use within professional cinema and photography markets.
“Our goal is to be the professional’s source for top performing, professional grade memory cards and workflow solutions,” says Wes Brewer, founder and CEO of ProGrade Digital. “We will be committed to focusing our efforts on the digital imaging pro who is meticulous about his equipment and workflow-delivering the best service, plus best product quality and reliability.”
Memory Card Key Features
Professional-level capacities for CFast 2.0 and SDXC UHS-II memory cards
Optimized controllers specifically designed for use in professional-grade cameras
Rigorous full-card testing with serialized tracking of key components and manufacturing data for the highest quality control
Component-level testing down to individual memory chips for optimal quality
3-year warranty
Card Reader Key Features
Dual slot reader for CFast 2.0 and SDXC UHS-II card formats
USB 3.0 Gen. 2 transfer speed of up to 10Gb/second
Supports concurrent full-speed flow of data from cards in each slot
Portable and compact
Includes two 18″ connection cables: one for Type A to Type C and one for Type C to Type C
Magnetized reader bottom firmly connects reader to laptop (using included metal mounting plate)
2-year warranty
| Card Format | Speed | Capacities | Pricing | |
| CFast 2.0 | 550MB/sec | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | $229.99, $349.99, $699.99 | |
| SDXC UHS-II, Class U3 | 200MB/sec | 64GB, 128GB, 256GB | $54.99, $94.99, $189.99 | |
| Reader | Supported Media | Interface | Speed | Pricing |
| CFast & SD Dual Slot Workflow Reader | CFast 2.0, SDXC | USB 3.0 Gen. 2 | Up to 10Gb/sec | $79.99 |