CFexpress Data Recovery
Type A and Type B NVMe Memory Cards
CFexpress card not recognized? Showing 0 bytes or asking to be formatted? These cards are NVMe SSDs in a compact form factor. Consumer card readers and recovery software cannot access a failed NVMe controller. We connect directly to the controller through PC-3000 SSD to recover your photos and video.
No Data, No Charge. Free evaluation for all CFexpress card types.
What Is CFexpress Data Recovery?
CFexpress cards are NVMe solid-state drives built into a CompactFlash form factor. Unlike SD cards, which use a simple SPI or UHS-II bus, CFexpress cards communicate over PCIe lanes using the NVMe protocol. When a CFexpress card fails, it requires the same controller-level recovery tools used for NVMe SSD recovery, not a USB card reader and file recovery software.
We use PC-3000 SSD with NVMe adapters to communicate directly with the card's controller, read firmware modules, repair translation tables, and image the NAND. This is the same workflow we use for M.2 and U.2 NVMe drives, adapted for the CFexpress pin configuration.
Type A vs. Type B vs. Type C
CFexpress comes in three form factors. Each uses different PCIe lane configurations, pin layouts, and controllers. The form factor determines which cameras accept the card and which adapter we use for recovery.
| Spec | Type A | Type B | Type C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe Gen3 x1 | PCIe Gen3 x2 | PCIe Gen4 x4 |
| Size | 20 x 28 x 2.8mm | 38.5 x 29.8 x 3.8mm | 54 x 74 x 4.8mm |
| Max throughput | ~1,000 MB/s | ~2,000 MB/s | ~8,000 MB/s |
| Cameras | Sony A1, A9 III, FX6, FX3 | Canon R5, R3, R1; Nikon Z9, Z8; RED Komodo-X | Not yet in consumer cameras |
| Recovery adapter | Type A to NVMe adapter | Type B to NVMe adapter (XQD-compatible slot) | Standard NVMe M.2 adapter |
Type B is the most common format for professional stills and cinema work. Sony's Type A cards share a hybrid slot with SD cards on Sony mirrorless bodies, making them popular with Sony shooters who want both card types in one body.
Common CFexpress Failures
CFexpress cards fail differently from SD cards. No moving parts, but the NVMe controller, NAND flash, and PCIe pin interface are all failure points.
Card Not Recognized After Firmware Update
Camera firmware updates can change NVMe initialization sequences or trigger controller panic modes. A card that worked before the update may stop being detected by the camera and by standard card readers if the controller entered a safe mode.
Recovery approach: Connect the card to PC-3000 SSD via NVMe adapter. If the controller is in safe mode, reload its microcode and repair the translation layer. If the card mounts normally in a standard reader, image it directly.
Power Loss During Write
Camera battery dying mid-burst or a cinema camera losing power during a long take leaves the card in an inconsistent state. The NVMe controller may have uncommitted writes in its DRAM cache, and the flash translation layer (FTL) may be partially updated.
Recovery approach: Read the FTL journal from the controller's firmware area using PC-3000 SSD. Reconstruct the translation table to its last consistent state and image the logical volume.
Controller Failure from Thermal Stress
Cinema cameras like the RED Komodo and Canon C500 Mark II run CFexpress cards at sustained write speeds during long recording sessions. The card's controller can overheat and lock up, especially in hot outdoor environments. Repeated thermal cycling weakens solder joints between the controller die and the BGA substrate.
Recovery approach: If the controller responds to PC-3000 SSD commands, we access it in technological mode to bypass normal operation and read NAND directly. If the controller is dead, we attempt board-level repair to restore controller communication. Chip-off (desoldering NAND) is a last resort and only viable when the controller does not use hardware encryption.
Physical Pin Damage
CFexpress Type B cards have two rows of gold PCIe contact pins. Inserting the card at an angle, debris in the camera slot, or a bent pin can break the PCIe link. The card may work intermittently or not mount at all.
Recovery approach: Inspect under magnification for bent, cracked, or corroded pins. If the damage is on the card's contact pads, we solder jumper wires to restore the PCIe connection. If the internal connector is damaged, we access the NAND directly.
Why Consumer Recovery Software Does Not Work
Most data recovery software (Disk Drill, Recuva, PhotoRec) is designed for USB mass storage class devices. CFexpress cards use the NVMe protocol, which is a completely different command set. Three problems arise:
- No NVMe support. Many recovery tools cannot see a CFexpress card at all, even in a working reader. They scan for USB or SATA volumes and skip NVMe namespaces.
- Controller-level failure is invisible to software. If the NVMe controller has locked up or its firmware is corrupted, the card does not enumerate on the PCIe bus. No software can access a device that the operating system cannot see.
- Controller-managed encryption on some cards. Some CFexpress cards apply controller-level data scrambling or encryption. Even if you could image the raw NAND, the data may be encrypted with a key managed by the controller. Recovery requires accessing the controller in its vendor-specific service mode to retrieve decryption parameters.
What NOT to Do
- ✗Do not format the card when your camera or computer prompts you
- ✗Do not insert the card into multiple cameras or readers
- ✗Do not shoot new footage to the card
- ✗Do not run chkdsk or fsck on the card
- ✓Remove the card, label it, and send it for professional evaluation
CFexpress Cards We Recover
ProGrade Digital
Cobalt, Gold (Type B)
Sony
Tough (Type A), CEA-G series
SanDisk
Extreme Pro CFexpress (Type B)
Lexar
Professional CFexpress (Type B)
Delkin Devices
Power CFexpress (Type B)
Angelbird
AV Pro CFexpress (Type B)
This list covers the most common cards. We recover all CFexpress cards regardless of brand, capacity, or firmware version.
Camera Compatibility Reference
CFexpress cards are used in professional stills and cinema cameras. The camera model determines whether the card is Type A or Type B. We recover cards from all of these systems.
Type B Cameras
- Canon
- EOS R5, R5 Mark II, R3, R1, C500 Mark II, C300 Mark III
- Nikon
- Z9, Z8, Z6 III
- RED
- Komodo-X, V-Raptor, V-Raptor XL
- Panasonic
- Lumix S1, S1R (XQD/CFexpress slot), GH6
Type A Cameras
- Sony
- A1, A9 III, A7S III, FX6, FX3
Sony Type A cards share a dual-format slot with SD cards. The camera auto-detects which card type is inserted. Both card types from the same camera are recoverable.
CFexpress Recovery Pricing
CFexpress recovery uses the same pricing tiers as NVMe SSD recovery. The cost depends on the failure type, not the card brand or capacity.
| Service Tier | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Simple CopyLow complexity | $200 | Your drive works, you just need the data moved off it Functional drive; data transfer to new media Rush available: +$100 |
| File System RecoveryLow complexity | From $250 | Your drive isn't showing up, but it's not physically damaged File system corruption. Visible to recovery software but not to OS Starting price; final depends on complexity |
| Circuit Board RepairMedium complexity – PC-3000 required | $600–$900 | Your drive won't power on or has shorted components PCB issues: failed voltage regulators, dead PMICs, shorted capacitors May require a donor drive (additional cost) |
| Firmware RecoveryMedium complexity – PC-3000 required | $900–$1,200 | Your drive is detected but shows the wrong name, wrong size, or no data Firmware corruption: ROM, modules, or system files corrupted Price depends on extent of bad areas in NAND |
| Advanced Board RebuildHigh complexity – precision microsoldering and BGA rework | $1,200–$1,500 | Your drive's circuit board is severely damaged and requires advanced micro-soldering Advanced component repair. Micro-soldering to revive native logic board or utilize specialized vendor protocols 50% deposit required upfront; donor drive cost additional |
Hardware Repair vs. Software Locks
Our "no data, no fee" policy applies to hardware recovery. We do not bill for unsuccessful physical repairs. If we replace a hard drive read/write head assembly or repair a liquid-damaged logic board to a bootable state, the hardware repair is complete and standard rates apply. If data remains inaccessible due to user-configured software locks, a forgotten passcode, or a remote wipe command, the physical repair is still billable. We cannot bypass user encryption or activation locks.
All tiers: Free evaluation and firm quote before any paid work. No data, no fee on all tiers (advanced board rebuild requires a 50% deposit because donor parts are consumed in the attempt).
Target drive: The destination drive we copy recovered data onto. You can supply your own or we provide one at cost. All prices are plus applicable tax.
Data Recovery Standards & Verification
Our Austin lab operates on a transparency-first model. We use industry-standard recovery tools, including PC-3000 and DeepSpar, combined with strict environmental controls to make sure your hard drive is handled safely and properly. This approach allows us to serve clients nationwide with consistent technical standards.
Open-drive work is performed in a ULPA-filtered laminar-flow bench, validated to 0.02 µm particle count, verified using TSI P-Trak instrumentation.
Transparent History
Serving clients nationwide via mail-in service since 2008. Our lead engineer holds PC-3000 and HEX Akademia certifications for hard drive firmware repair and mechanical recovery.
Media Coverage
Our repair work has been covered by The Wall Street Journal and Business Insider, with CBC News reporting on our pricing transparency. Louis Rossmann has testified in Right to Repair hearings in multiple states and founded the Repair Preservation Group.
Aligned Incentives
Our "No Data, No Charge" policy means we assume the risk of the recovery attempt, not the client.
Technical Oversight
Louis Rossmann
Louis Rossmann's well trained staff review our lab protocols to ensure technical accuracy and honest service. Since 2008, his focus has been on clear technical communication and accurate diagnostics rather than sales-driven explanations.
We believe in proving standards rather than just stating them. We use TSI P-Trak instrumentation to verify that clean-air benchmarks are met before any drive is opened.
See our clean bench validation data and particle test videoTechnical Recovery Workflow
NVMe Controller Access via PC-3000 SSD
CFexpress cards use NVMe controllers from Phison (PS5021-E21T for newer Type B cards, PS5013-E13T for earlier models), Silicon Motion, and proprietary designs from ProGrade and Sony. PC-3000 SSD communicates with these controllers using vendor-specific NVMe commands to enter service mode, read firmware modules, and access the flash translation layer (FTL) directly.
In service mode, we read the FTL mapping tables that translate logical block addresses (LBAs) to physical NAND page locations. A corrupted FTL is the most common cause of a card showing 0 bytes; the data is on the NAND, but the controller has lost track of where it is. PC-3000 SSD rebuilds the FTL from the journal logs stored in a reserved area of the NAND.
Firmware Module Repair
CFexpress controllers store their firmware in a reserved partition on the NAND, not in a separate ROM chip. Firmware corruption, often caused by power loss during a firmware-managed garbage collection cycle, can leave the controller in a boot loop. It powers up, fails to load its firmware, and the card appears dead.
PC-3000 SSD loads a known-good firmware loader into the controller's SRAM, allowing it to boot in a limited service mode. From there, we can read the NAND contents even though the card's own firmware is broken. This avoids chip-off and preserves the original FTL mapping.
Chip-Off: When It Works and When It Does Not
Many modern NVMe controllers apply hardware-level AES encryption to all data written to NAND. On cards with hardware encryption enabled, desoldering the NAND yields ciphertext. Chip-off is not viable for these cards. Recovery must happen through the controller, either by repairing it or booting it in service mode.
On cards without hardware encryption (older firmware revisions, some Angelbird and Delkin models), chip-off remains an option. We desolder the NAND BGA packages from the card's PCB and read them with PC-3000 Flash. After reading the raw NAND, we apply ECC correction, reverse the XOR scrambling pattern, and reconstruct the logical block layout. The exFAT file system is then mounted from the reconstructed image.
exFAT File System Reconstruction
All CFexpress cards use exFAT. Cameras write files into a DCIM directory structure with sequential numbering. When the exFAT allocation table is intact, file recovery is straightforward. When it is damaged (common after power-loss events), we carve files from the raw image using CR3, NEF, ARW, ProRes, and R3D file signatures.
Professional RAW files and video containers have well-defined header structures, which makes carving reliable. CR3 files use the ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF) container with a "ftypcrx " signature. NEF files use standard TIFF headers. ProRes RAW uses a known four-byte frame header. These signatures let us locate and extract files even from heavily fragmented NAND dumps.
CFexpress Recovery: Common Questions
Can you recover RAW files (CR3/NEF/ARW) from a corrupted CFexpress card?
How long does CFexpress recovery take?
Is my data safe if the card shows 0 bytes?
What's the difference between CFexpress and XQD recovery?
Can you recover video footage (ProRes RAW/BRAW) from cinema cameras?
Why can't data recovery software read my CFexpress card?
Looking for SD Card, MicroSD, or CompactFlash Recovery?
SD, MicroSD, and CompactFlash cards use different interfaces and controller architectures. If your failed card is not CFexpress, see our dedicated SD card recovery, MicroSD recovery, or CompactFlash recovery pages.
CFexpress card not working?
Free evaluation. No data, no charge. Mail-in from anywhere in the U.S.