Toshiba Launches Exceria Pro CompactFlash Cards for Ultra-Fast DSLR Performance
Toshiba announced the launch of a new line of CompactFlash (CF) memory cards, the Exceria Pro series, specifically targeting the DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) market. The new cards are compatible with CF Revision 6.0 and promise performance even higher than the XQD format, previously developed by Nikon and Sony as a proprietary standard.
The initial lineup of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models was scheduled for release in Q2 2013 and boasted the world’s highest read speeds (up to 160MB/s) and write speeds (up to 150MB/s) at the time. Exceria Pro was designed to meet the growing demands of the high-end DSLR market, including high-resolution image capture, sustained continuous shooting, HD video recording, and rapid transfers to other devices.
Fully compliant with the UDMA7 high-speed interface, these CF cards deliver the speed required for professional DSLRs and video applications. Users working with VPG-20 standards for video capture will particularly benefit from this increased performance.
Market analysts at the time predicted that the CF card market would grow by as much as 50% between 2012 and 2015. With such momentum, Toshiba’s Exceria Pro stood as a well-positioned choice for professionals seeking speed and reliability. For production environments, this high-speed card also paired naturally with equipment like the Nexcopy CF Duplicator, offering an efficient way to manage bulk content loading.
Where Toshiba’s Exceria Pro CF Cards Stand Today
Toshiba’s Exceria Pro CompactFlash line landed in 2013 with headline numbers—up to 160 MB/s reads and 150 MB/s writes—that squarely targeted pro DSLR shooters. A decade later, the ground has shifted. The CompactFlash ecosystem has largely given way to CFexpress and fast SD variants, and Toshiba’s original CF product pages have disappeared in favor of newer media under the Kioxia brand (the company that now houses Toshiba’s former memory business). You can still find Exceria Pro CF cards through third-party sellers and residual retail listings, but there’s no evidence of active, first-party promotion or ongoing line refreshes. In other words: the product survives as legacy stock for customers keeping older bodies and workflows alive, not as a current strategic focus.
Sales mirror the broader media transition. As camera makers moved high-end bodies to CFexpress for 4K/8K video and faster burst buffers, demand for new CompactFlash SKUs shrank. That shift doesn’t render existing Exceria Pro cards useless—far from it. For studios and institutions running dependable CF-based bodies, the cards remain serviceable and appropriately quick for stills and 1080p/early-4K pipelines. But the growth energy in removable media has moved on, and most procurement today prioritizes CFexpress, UHS-II SD, and the reader infrastructure that goes with them.
A quick corporate note helps explain the branding changes. Toshiba’s flash memory unit—historically the inventor of NAND—was spun out and sold to a Bain-led consortium, then rebranded as Kioxia in 2019. Kioxia and Western Digital continue to co-produce NAND and set the pace on next-gen nodes; the Toshiba Corporation that remains is now a privately held conglomerate after delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2023. Practically, that means legacy “Toshiba” memory cards you see today represent earlier eras of the portfolio, while new removable media and SSDs arrive under Kioxia or partner labels.
For readers who track the business side: Toshiba no longer has a public ticker after the 2023 buyout. Kioxia—the memory company that evolved from Toshiba Memory—now trades in Tokyo. As of September 22, 2025, Kioxia Holdings (TYO:285A) last changed hands at ¥4,820. Treat that as a snapshot, not advice. If you’re deciding between buying remaining Exceria Pro CF cards and migrating to newer standards, the practical test is your camera roadmap. If you’ll keep CF bodies in service for years, stocking a small cache of known-good CF cards and a reliable UDMA-7 reader is sensible. If a body upgrade is on deck, step into CFexpress or high-end UHS-II and avoid sinking costs into a format that the market has moved past.
