Customer Reviews

Lexar Media 256 MB 40x CompactFlash Pro

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

 

 

The 40X professional card is much faster than a standard 4X card when recording high-quality images. The last reviewer said it didn't improve the speed 40 times, well it's not supposed to be 40 times faster, rather 40 X 150KB/s = 6MB/s. Worth the premium price if you are taking high resolution images with large file sizes. Otherwise you can save the money. Oh, and don't forget to buy a USB 2.0 card reader so you can take advantage of the improved download speed too.

I just bought this so I don't have any performance feedback just yet, but...

They neglect to mention that a JumpShot media reader ships with this card. A nice surprise. Also included is card recovery/unerase/secure erase/test software (disk images on Card for MacOSX and for Windoze) called Image Rescue.

I just received this card and popped it into my Nikon Coolpix 3100. It definitely takes pictures much faster, which was one of the few complaints I had with this camera, the lag between pushing the shutter and getting the shot. If this continues to work as well as it has today, it was worth the few extra dollars.

Your camera may not support the higher speeds. I own a Nikon 4300 and the owner's manual lists the approved memory cards that includes the Lexar 10x USB series. I bought a Lexar 12x 128MB CF that works wonderfully with the Nikon and the Imation FlashGo! media reader. I don't know if the read speed is topping off at 10x, but it's surely faster than 4x.

Since the ratings box is a required field in order for me to submit this review, I provide a rating based upon the Lexar 12x 128MB USB CompactFlash.

I've bought several CompactFlash cards over the years, always going for the best value in a name brand. When I went shopping for a 256MB card I was pleased to see that the "premium" quality Lexar was not that much more than the standard ones. I was particularly drawn in by the claims of high write speed.
Comparing the speed of this card to my old SanDisk card I found it to be only slightly faster writing large files. An image that took about 3 seconds with the SanDisk takes about 2.5 seconds with the Lexar. Hardly 40X faster (not that I expected that much of a gain). My camera is a Nikon CoolPix 995. Perhaps other cameras can better utilize the Lexar speed.

The card was also supposed to come with "Image Rescue" software loaded onto it. The card was blank. After several frustrating attempts to contact Lexar both via web and phone I finally got the problem resolved and they are mailing me the software.
The card does include a USB reader, nice - but it ONLY works with Lexar cards.

(...) Lexar makes a very reliable card, and they do stand behind the product. However the Write-Acceleration (WA) technology this card uses to promise 40x write speed only works with a select few cameras. Otherwise it's about the same as a 12X. The bigger point is that these speeds are almost totally irrelevant unless you're a professional sports photographer. If the photo writes to your card in 2.5 seconds instead of 3.0, will it change your life? Also, the read speed (for viewing and downloading) is all about the same. There are three good reasons to buy this card:

1. Lexar is a very reliable name brand.
2. Price.
3. WA technology may be good to have in the future.

The card-reader bundled with this card works, but is cheap and not 100% reliable. Better to buy a nice multiple format card-reader if you want one. The Image Rescue software bundled with the card is okay, but similar (and slightly better) freeware is available on the Net.

I have the same experience as the above reviewer. I sent in all the required stuff for a $25 rebate but got rejected. I don't see this card faster than the one come with my Canon digital camera. (...)

I bought this card hoping to see a speed improvement between pictures. Careful experimentation showed only slight improvement for overall disappointing results.

Also, $10 rebate offer yielded a refusal. I could have gotten more flash memory for less money with the same overall results,
especially since rebate was not honored. (have found other reviewers complaining about lexmark rebate refusuals!)

Otherwise...card and software works.

I purchased this CF Card almost a year to this day. I bought this card for my Minolta DiMage 7Hi 5MP camera thinking it would increase the write speed. As several reviewers have pointed out, you will only see a performance increase if your camera supports the WA technology. 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


Lexar 256MB 40X CompactFlash Pro:

Current cameras supporting WA technology (as of this review):
- 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):
- 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

Didn't notice a speed increase, but I've had problems with my Kingston 256mb card. I lost images 3 times and had to run disk recovery software on the card. This Lexar card has been stable and reliable. Worth it to me.