Lexar vs. SanDisk Ultra

[sjms]

as long as the card works baseline for all cameras that should not be a concern. the marketing aspect of the additional capabilities is up to the individual consumer.

i didn't buy lexar for the WA feature (none of my currently owned cameras support it). i bought it for the general guarenteed compatability, the warranty, and the way they back it up

[folmonty]

While shopping for new memory last week I considered Lexar but bought SanDisk Ultra due to the significant savings. SanDisk also came with a lifetime warranty but since it worked out of the box it's yet to be tested.

Basic compatability would seem to make sense for the CF mfg.. Why would they want to alienate customers? That is unless, they wanted to add SKU's to the retailer shelves? They wouldn't do that would they?

[folmonty]

Adding to this discussion - two weeks ago I bought my father a digital Olympus 3 mega pixel starter camera thinking I could give him some of my Smart Media used in my old C-2020 in the bargain. Was surprised to see that Smart Media is all but toast in the Olympus line-up. Those new cards are sure small.

[sjms]

sandisks products are good. compatability is generally not an issue here either. my issue with them is communications. check out the website for service. its all email based and sometimes that can take as long as snailmail depending on the system load. the ultra and extreme lines are great products.

the issues of compatability are primarily with ebay type noname "real deal" brands. if you purchase a cf from a "dealer" and that dealer goes belly up or changes their persona 5-6 times your "warranty" is all but non existant.

one Oz dealer- "power by numbers" is a good outfit. they back their products generally without question. there is another problem there. the cost/time to get returns round trip with them. after all Australia isn't around the corner or across the country for most of us. even with that hurdle they try hard.

[folmonty]

Originally Posted by sjms

my issue with them is communications. check out the website for service. its all email based and sometimes that can take as long as snailmail depending on the system load.

My posts from last week can verify what you're saying. Been there recently so I know from where you speak. Sent a crashed 128 Mb card to Vox in the UK to see if he can revive it. Should be receiving it soon and can't wait to see if he'll be successful?

[Marty1]

I have the Fuji 602 Zoom. The Lexar Pro 40X is much faster, and allows me to fill up the card with 1 AVI file. The Sandisk Ultra's buffer fills after 22 seconds and stops recording. Plus, with the Lexar card, I can continuously shoot at the 6 megapixel JPG setting at approximately 1 frame per second. Sandisk's new line of cards are suppose to be twice as fast as the Ultras....probably similar in price to the Lexar 40X.

[sjms]

just to get back about the lexar firmware update. i received them back on that friday for a total turn around of 3 days. all updated and ready to go.

service is good

[APhool]

Have both and the SanDisk has not given me any trouble at all.

I've had one problem with the Lexar where several images were lost. While Lexar support was unable to retrieve the images, they did replace the CF card promptly. Their online chat support is nice too.

[koruvs]

Comparing a Lexar 40x to a SanDisk Ultra is a tad unfair. The Ultra is about 18x I believe. I would, however, spend the few more dollars to get a Lexar

Here is an old test I did;

3 JPEG pics on each card at 2560x1700 (3:2 ratio) on my 5700;

Nikon 32MB 4x (Stock) CF card: 8 to 9 secs.
SanDisk Ultra 256MB CF card: 3 secs.

I'll do a RAW format test later...

[voxmagna]

If it's not a dumb question (as nobody seems to have asked it). Say the camera doesn't make much of the extra card speed, but on a really big card now, filled with pics, how do the file transfer speeds compare using say a USB2 reader?? VOX