Lexar 2GB and 4GB 32x CompactFlash cards unveiled

Lexar have announced Professional Series CompactFlash cards with 2GB and 4GB capacity cards, speed rated at 32X. 32X speed is capable of a minimum sustained write speed of 4.8MB/s, with 1X equal to 150Kb/s. The new 2GB and 4GB CompactFlash cards are especially suited for professional digital photographers who prefer shooting in large file formats like TIFF and RAW.

"The trend is toward greater capacity memory cards to accommodate the image files generated by high resolution cameras and allow for more continuous shooting. With 2MB and 4MB cards, professional photographers will appreciate the ability to shoot RAW and TIFF files without concern and forego the interruption associated with changing cards mid-shoot," said Ron Glaz, Program Research Manager, IDC.

"Many professional photographers depend on the high-speed performance of our cards and have asked for higher capacity cards," said Tessa Board, Managing Director, Lexar Media Europe. "We are pleased to be the first company to bring 4GB CompactFlash to market, which is made possible by our advanced controller technology and the new industry leading 4-gigabit quad die pack flash memory from Samsung. The close Lexar Media and Samsung relationship allows us to collaborate to optimize our controller with the Samsung 4-gigabit flash memory device and deliver the largest CompactFlash available."

In addition to their large capacities, these cards are capable of a minimum sustained read and write speed of 4.8MB per second. On top of that, both cards are also equipped with Write Acceleration technology (WA), which further increases write speed performance in enabled cameras including the Kodak 14n and other Kodak Professional cameras, Nikon D1x, Nikon D1h and Nikon D100.

Write Acceleration technology is the result of a Lexar Media proprietary high-speed flash memory controller and the cooperation of major digital camera manufacturers to increase write-speed performance by simplifying the way a camera and card talk to each other. With WA, the camera can transfer more data, which reduces the command overhead. A significant performance advantage can be seen in high-resolution cameras that produce large image files and the increase in write speed becomes even more noticeable when several images are shot in burst or continuous mode. Actual performance data will vary between cameras, resolution and shooting modes.