sandisk

DL Cade

SanDisk’s New CFast 2.0 Card Clocks in as the World’s Fastest Memory Card

SanDisk made it clear last September that it would not be pursuing the XQD memory card format, but instead would focus its energies on CFast 2.0, the then newly-announced high-speed CompactFlash spec.

Almost a year later, SanDisk has finally debuted the fruits of that decision: a card that is both the world's first CFast 2.0 card, and the world's fastest memory card of any kind.

Michael Zhang

Beware Counterfeit Memory Cards Being Shipped From Amazon Warehouses

Check out the two memory cards above. One of them is a counterfeit card while the other is a genuine one. Can you tell which is which? If you can't, we don't blame you. Japan-based photography enthusiast Damien Douxchamps couldn't either until he popped the fake card into his camera and began shooting. The card felt a bit sluggish, so he ran some tests on his computer. Turned out the 60MB/s card was actually slower than his old 45MB/s card.

While it's not unusual to come across counterfeit memory cards -- it's estimated that 1/3 of "SanDisk"-labeled cards are -- what's a bit concerning is how Douxchamps purchased his: he ordered the cards off Amazon -- cards that were "fulfilled by Amazon."

Michael Zhang

XQD a No-Show at Photokina, SanDisk Opts to Avoid the Format

When XQD memory cards were announced in December 2011, the CompactFlash Association touted the format as the successor to CompactFlash cards. We definitely seemed to be moving in that direction at first: one month after the unveiling, Nikon's flagship D4 DSLR was announced with XQD card support. The day after that, Sony became the first major memory card maker to announce a line of XQD cards. Six months later, Lexar also announced its intentions to join the party.

Since then, things have died down to the point where you can hear grasshoppers chirping. Not a single XQD-capable camera was announced at Photokina 2012 this past week. Despite being the first to make them, Sony strangely decided to leave the cards out of its top-of-the-line cameras as well.

Michael Zhang

Insane Discounts on SanDisk Compact Flash Cards at B&H

In the market for memory cards? B&H is currently offering SanDisk Compact Flash cards at crazy prices. They're listing Extreme Pro cards at less than 50% of the price offered at other retailers. For example, a 16GB Extreme Pro card currently costs $60 (with free shipping in the US) from B&H but $130+ at most other places.

Michael Zhang

One-Third of the SanDisk Memory Cards on Earth are Counterfeit

Did you know that a third of the SanDisk memory cards being used on Earth are actually fake? A SanDisk engineer recently shared this startling fact with a reader over at The Online Photographer:

[...] at any given time, approximately a third of the SanDisk memory cards (made by Toshiba) being used out there in the world are counterfeit. As in, not SanDisk memory cards at all—some other kind of cards dressed up as lookalikes.

Thirty percent, was the number quoted. A third, more or less.

To make sure you're getting the real thing, always purchase your memory cards from reputable dealers.