Customer Reviews

Lexar Media 2 GB 80X Pro Series Compact Flash Card with Write Acceleration Technology (CF2GB-80-380)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There seems to be quite a bit of hand-wringing and warnings about the fact that only certain cameras support the WA technology right now, including a review from someone who left identical "reviews" across the whole Lexar line and probably doesn't even own any of the cards. What people aren't taking into account is how the card actually performs in non-WA cameras.

I have put about 2000 pics through this with my Canon EOS 20D and I must say that I'm rather impressed. The only time I have ever wanted to shoot more pictures and not been able to is when I've run into the EOS 20D's limit of 6 continuous RAW shots which has nothing to do with the CF card itself. Neither the refresh rate nor the rate of which I can get data from the camera to the computer is an issue.

For those of you who like tests and numbers consider this, according to the numbers found at http://robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007 the 2GB Lexar card comes in as a close second to the Sandisk Extreme III. The numbers actually are almost identical with the Lexar card having approx 99% of the speed for JPEG and 94% for RAW. [...]

One last thing to note is that there is a possibility for non-WA cameras such as mine to become WA capable in the future through a firmware upgrade which means I could get an unexpected performance boost later.

Overall: Great card at a nice price that has worked flawlessly, I'm happy!

[...]

Lexar's 80x Pro CompactFlash cards are fast, especially if you use them with digital cameras that are compatible with Lexar's "write acceleration" (WA) technology. While popular dSLRs like the Canon Digital Rebel and EOS 10D and 20D and the Nikon D70 do not take advantage of the WA technology, they still benefit tremendously from Lexar's high-speed architecture. In fact, in order to use the dSLR's burst modes, you need a high-speed CF card like this.

If you happen to own an camera (Kodak, Sanyo, some Nikons, etc. - check Lexar's website) that's WA-compatible, you'll see even greater speed boosts. From my in-store testing (since I can't afford to buy all these dSLRs!) it was hard to see the difference between WA-enabled vs. WA-disabled, since the cameras were all different. Other reviews (not that guy Brent's generic "how many pictures on a card" crap) have claimed WA does make a difference. To tell the truth, I wouldn't concern myself with this WA thing; I think it's more a marketing gimmick then real technology. Luckily, Lexar works very fast even in non-WA-compatible cameras.

Should you get a Lexar or Sandisk? I think it's toss-up. In the old days (read, a couple years ago) Sandisk had some serious QA problems, leading to tons of defective memory cards, but that seems a thing of the past. My recommendation: buy whichever that's cheaper.

If you own a Canon camera, Canon does NOT support WA (Write Acceleration) feature of Lexar's high-speed cards:

http://www.lexar.com/digfilm/wa_cf.html

Current camera partners supporting Write Acceleration Technology:

-Kodak Professional
-Nikon
-Sanyo
-Sigma
-Pentax
-Olympus

Before you purchase this card, make sure that your camera supports the Write Acceleration Technology. I purchased Lexar's 40x 256MB card (with Write Acceleration) about a year ago for my Minolta DiMage 7Hi camera, and realized my camera did not support the new technology. The CF card still worked, but there was no increase in speed over other cards.

I checked Lexar's website, and it said that my camera does not support the Write Acceleration technology. The link is here: http://www.lexar.com/digfilm/wa_cf.html

Current (as of this review) cameras supporting WA technology:
- All Kodak Professional cameras and pro camera backs, such as the DCS Pro Back 645, DCS Pro Back Plus, DCS 720x, DCS 760, DCS 760m and DCS 14n
- Nikon D1x, D1h, D-100 (Requires camera firmware upgrade by Nikon. See Nikon's web page for more details) and D2h
- Sanyo DSC-MZ3
- Sigma SD-9
- Sigma SD10
- Pentax *ist D
- Olympus E1

Lexar USB Card Reader (included... note: this was with my 40x card. you may or may not experience the same issue.):
- Works only with Lexar CF Cards. Attempted to use with SanDisk and Kingston CF Cards but did not work. Should not be a problem if you only use Lexar products. However, if you do, consider buying a separate card reader.


For a full breakdown of how many pictures you can take with different card capacities, go to http://www.lexar.com/digfilm/capacity_chart.html

There's really not much to say about a CF card. I chose solid state over microdrive because it's less likely to fail if dropped. I went with the name brand for peace of mind (and lifetime warranty) and speed. Unfortunately, the write acceleration technology doesn't work with all cameras. For the most realistic speed information, go to robgalbraith.com and check their CF performance database for your camera. I wish this card didn't cost so much, but when your camera is generating 8+ megapixel files, there's no getting around the need for large, fast storage. This one does the job.

I have to admit I was skeptical about this "write acceleration" and was leery because of the price (I bought the 4G).
You do need to check compatibility with your camera. I tested in on my Nikon D1 and saw no difference over the standard Sandisk. On my D2X it wrote substantially faster. For 22 fine quality pictures it took 1:33 for standard Sandisk and 20 seconds for this device. Also tested an IBM microdrive which scored worse than the standard flash.

This card really screams when used with a WA camera. My D2x writes 12mb raw files and, with this card, they are written to the card almost as fast as you press the button.

Great product. Best on the market (I think). Never had any problems with Lexar (I have many).

I have two old lexar compact flash and never had a problem with them,so I bought this 2GB cf,80X and I used it 3 times and last time I tried to see the pictures I had there,it said in the camera screen that the compact flash was corrupted and the pictures were lost!.I checked on the lexar website and it says there that there is a problem when using this memory card on a Canon XT digital camera,I wish I knew this before!.Now I have to send the memory card to them so they can recover the images and if not,then they will send a replacement.
DO NOT USE THIS MEMORY CARD ON A CANON XT!

I purchased this compact flash card a few weeks ago. My camera, D70, is several years old and I needed more flash memory. I looked at several online photography stores and found an explosion of different kinds of flash cards and I was fearful of any purchase. After finding a compatibility chart, I found this card sold at Amazon by a dealer with 5 stars and for a very reasonable price. I figured it was worth a shot - and I am so pleased. I have used the card on two one-day trips and it functions just as if it were new.