Memory Prices Spell Problems for Photographers in 2026 and Beyond.

[Richard CR]

The analysts at TrendForce have lately produced some analysis on the current trends in the DRAM and SSD prices, which is well above my pay grade. The detailed reports give us a good view of current DRAM and NAND pricing trends and just how much trouble we're actually in. As of January 2026, the data […]

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[XL+]

For an extended trip far from civilization this spring, I initially bought just one additional 512GB CFexpress card at the end of November. It cost just under €160 at the time. Two weeks later, I planned to buy three more cards, as I was satisfied with the performance, but the price had increased to over €360. Now it's back down to around €240. And I'm getting almost daily warnings from the shop where I bought it, urging me to buy quickly – the price is supposedly going to multiply in the coming days. To me, it seems like, in addition to the RAM shortage (which some people doubt), they're also deliberately creating scarcity of all similar products to maximize profits.

 

[GirlsAreBeautiful]

I just bought a couple of CFe used as new, the new prices have increased 25% compared to 3 months ago.

 

[SnowMiku]

I'm so glad and lucky I built a new PC for myself early last year, before the prices started going crazy!

 

[Canon Rumors]

I just bought a couple of WD8100 M.2 drives. Needed? Not really, but they'll be twice the price at some point this year. I'm glad my workstation, gaming machine and laptop can handle anything.

Consumers getting screwed by AI again. I do remember 4000 series nVidia cards going nuts because of mining.

 

[LSXPhotog]

Great article, SSD prices are a problem indeed. Since October and the late November sales, the prices have skyrocketed. I was able to procure 12 4TB drives for $250-330 each to last me through 2026. I may start backing up to spinning disks again because of this and I really don't want to do that. But I would suggest everyone buy a drive now before the prices get too high. It's not like it's a perishable item (to an extent) so you can comfortably use it when you need it.

 

[bobwilmes]

I bought some Crucial DDR5 6000Mhz DIMMs (2x32Gb) for
$199 in April 2025 to build a Windows PC with 128Gb RAM.
Now Micron is dropping out of the consumer memory business
in Q1 2026, and closing down Crucial. Those same DIMM’s
we’re selling on Amazon for over $600 USD before Christmas.
I bought some Crucial x10 Pro SSD’s during the Black Friday specials.

 

[Zadak]

Bought a 512GB CFExpress from ProGrade in May, now a 240GB version costs the same, so basically doubled in price.

 

[Brown]

Consumers getting screwed by AI again. I do remember 4000 series nVidia cards going nuts because of mining.

That was mostly the 30 series (Ampere), wasn't it?

 

[Brown]

SSD prices are a problem indeed.

Mostly because of OEM's attempts to use the awful M.2 standard in non-mobile applications.

 

[Brown]

How much RAM (in capacity) is used in cameras like the R1 and R5?

 

[LSXPhotog]

Woah! I just looked up the price of CFExpress cards. They went through the roof! The a 2-pack of Lexar GOLD 512GB cards were selling for $344.99 back in December. That same CFExpress B 4.0 2-pack is now $1199.99. The exact same cards.

 

[AJ]

Photographers change cards often; if you don't, then you should. If you have been listening to me, rotating your cards and continuing to put new cards into your rotation is something I've always recommended doing over time.

Pardon my ignorance, but why is it so important to rotate cards?

 

[john1970]

Glad I purchased a bunch of 1.3 TB CFE type B v 4.0 cards in the past year. I don't see any need to purchase more any time soon unless Canon changes the card formats.

 

[Richard CR]

Pardon my ignorance, but why is it so important to rotate cards?

ah, you've missed all my lectures on the subject!

Consider a card like a small SSD, there's a finite number of times that you can write to each cell before you start to get problems. and unlike SSD's where alot of the data on them is atypically static, cards typically get their entire contents flushed and re-written frequently. Also some cards have wear leveling, and some do not. it's not something they commonly mention either.

so it's just a bad idea to keep using the same few cards over and over, especially if you use your cameras frequently and take a ton of photos or video. To be fair, this is usually measured in years of use. it's not as if they'll die in 6 months, but if you tend to fill a card, wipe it and use it again, and do this over and over - just realize there are limits - especially with high capacity cards.

it's probably a good topic to discuss on it's own - sounds like an article in there. I may have to blow up a few cards to write it.

 

[mimbu]

Grateful to have bought 64GB of DDR5 last year before the prices went insane. Won't be buying memory or storage for a while.

 

[Richard CR]

Grateful to have bought 64GB of DDR5 last year before the prices went insane. Won't be buying memory or storage for a while.

yeah I have a secondary nuc that I was looking to toss Linux on and then went looking for memory. that was a "welp, nope" moment.

 

[AJ]

ah, you've missed all my lectures on the subject!

Consider a card like a small SSD, there's a finite number of times that you can write to each cell before you start to get problems... if you tend to fill a card, wipe it and use it again, and do this over and over - just realize there are limits - especially with high capacity cards.

Thanks for that. Indeed I do a lot of shoot, upload, wipe card, repeat.

 

[Brown]

Also some cards have wear leveling, and some do not. it's not something they commonly mention either.

I thought all cards with an integrated memory controller (everything after xD cards) employed wear-leveling.

 

[EricN]

I've seen predictions of "The AI Bubble Bursting." Assuming this does happen, wouldn't prices stabilize?