After years of downloading pictures from my DSLRs, I decided to try a card reader for my D850. In the early days, readers in most computers (and cheap add-on readers) worked fine if I wanted to take the card out of my D90. However, the XQD or CFexpress B cards my newer D850 uses (I use SD in the second slot) don’t have popularity enough to get a lot of built-in readers. I usually download from the cameras but felt it would be worthwhile to have an external reader for the XQD and CFexpress cards I put in the first slot. 

The XQD cards don’t download significantly faster in the reader than from the camera……however….. the CFexpress B card really downloads fast!!!!!! Of course professional photographers already know this. This is just a discovery as a hobby photographer. 

It is from Amazon, here is the description for it:

5 in 1 CFExpress/XQD/SD Card Reader – 10Gbps USB C&USB A CFexpress Type B Card Reader for CFexpress Type B+SD 3.0 Card+XQD Card Reader, CFexpress Adapter Memory Card Reader for Wins/Mac/Linux/Android

I have no idea of the brand, it is not on the reader and I didn’t look for one on Amazon, and I am sure there are others that serve just well. I chose this particular one because it does both XQD and CFexpress. This replaces a couple I bought that do one or the other which did not perform anywhere as well as this one. It’s nice packing one reader instead of two now. this also handles SD cards, so every card I use is covered. the body is aluminum and has a heat sink design. The design looks nifty, and probably gives some heat sink function. I have a power supply for one of my ham radio setups with the same stubby radiator design that does very well (it has an internal fan that runs when needed). So, I have faith that the design has at least marginal functionality.

Here’s hoping it is well made and doesn’t damage the contacts on the cards.