Lexar to Release XQD Memory Cards

[Guest]

Lexar confirmed that it will be offering XQD memory cards. XQD was first announced by SanDisk, Sony and Nikon in 2010 and later released as a specification by the CompactFlash Association.

Lexar to Release XQD Memory Cards : Read more

 

[mayne92]

Around $7- $8 a GB...nice.

 

[warmon6]

Man, these make ssd's look cheap!

 

[thecolorblue]

these fail so hard it is hilarious...

the people who need such high data transfer rates are those shooting in RAW at very high resolutions and want to shoot continuously multiple frames back to back to back... such as sports photographers

the 32gb size is too small to be useful for that purpose unless photographers are expected to carry a handful around in their bags... lower the price

 

[Camikazi]

[citation][nom]thecolorblue[/nom]these fail so hard it is hilarious... the people who need such high data transfer rates are those shooting in RAW at very high resolutions and want to shoot continuously multiple frames back to back to back... such as sports photographers the 32gb size is too small to be useful for that purpose unless photographers are expected to carry a handful around in their bags... lower the price[/citation]
At 18MP a RAW (14 bit) file is about 30MB at the high end, that is about 1,100 shots per 32GB drive, I think saying you would need a handful of these is a bit of an overstatement. Even at a sporting event 2 of these cards would be way more then enough for any photographer.

 

[shqtth]

Compact flash hits 533x-566x-666x, so what is the point of these?

Might as well just use msata devices then.


Pros need 64GB+. I filled up 16GB really quick using my alpha.

 

[sr20den]

Photogs don't usually take excessive amounts of pictures. And in most cameras, that hold one card at a time, they prefer smaller card sizes that forces them to spread the photo shoot over a few different cards. That way, if one card goes bad it isn't the end of the world.

 

[Camikazi]

[citation][nom]shqtth[/nom]Compact flash hits 533x-566x-666x, so what is the point of these?Might as well just use msata devices then.Pros need 64GB+. I filled up 16GB really quick using my alpha.[/citation]
I believe CF cards are based on IDE which means their transfer speed is limited, with MP and ISO getting higher on cameras the file sizes will get bigger and eventually CF will hit a wall. These new cards offer much faster transfer speeds to keep up with the bigger file sizes that will come up in the future.

 

[CaedenV]

At $1/GB why not just have an internal SSD, or even RAID a few SSD units? It would be cheaper.

 

[fb39ca4]

Cameras need 1.8" SSD bays.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]CaedenV[/nom]At $1/GB why not just have an internal SSD, or even RAID a few SSD units? It would be cheaper.[/citation]
Because it's a camera, not an ATX tower case
...
And as far as cost if you are prepared to spend $6000+ on a camera then you really shouldn't be penny pinching about the memory cards

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]Because it's a camera, not an ATX tower case...And as far as cost if you are prepared to spend $6000+ on a camera then you really shouldn't be penny pinching about the memory cards[/citation]

if you only shoot from a tripod, having an external connection to a laptop for file storage would probably be better, however if you shoot hand held, the ssd raid could actually be designed as a counter weight. i know that in the 1000 to 10000 range, people get these cameras and also use them for video, so a counter weight system, along with higher higher capacity ssd kind of makes sense...

than again, these use pcie for transfer, so they may be at ssd speed already, making the file transfer time almost a non issue for people doing video.

 

[alextheblue]

[citation][nom]back_by_demand[/nom]Because it's a camera, not an ATX tower case...[/citation]I think they should have adopted ExpressCard SSDs, based on a new ExpressCard interface that is smaller and supports newer PCIe standards. They could have integrated it into laptops, existing ExpressCard has fallen by the wayside due to being large and outdated. Something smaller and faster might make sense, could integrate interface into laptops and even desktops.

With the right planning it could be used for interfacing with external graphics more effectively than current setups, whether directly (PCIe graphics card "power box") or via a dock. That would also help boost its popularity among laptops. But I guess it's just a pipe dream, and the only new laptop interfaces capable of such things will probably be proprietary and costly.