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Lexar Media 256 MB 40x CompactFlash Pro

Lexar Media 256 MB 40x CompactFlash Pro

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Reliable Card, Speed Irrelevant
Review: (...) 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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Speed Increase Not Noticeable
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: How many pictures will it store?
Review: How many pictures will it store? It is the most commonly asked question from digital camera enthusiast but usually the question that is the most difficult to get a straight answer about. Well, considering I worked in the memory industry for over 7 years I can help clarify this perplexing question and do so unbiased as I have since changed industries.

The Lexar Media 256MB 40x CompactFlash Pro, like most 256MB cards, will store on average 284 pictures when used with a 2 megapixel camera, 213 images when used with a 3 megapixel camera, 128 pictures when used with a 4 megapixel camera, 102 images when used with a 5 megapixel camera, and 80 pictures when used with a 6 megapixel camera. These numbers are based off the assumption that you are going to shoot your images at the highest quality JPEG setting available for the camera and understand that they are estimates and may be off by as much as 10 percent due to numerous factors including the complexity of the scene being shot and the compression algorithm used by your specific camera.

I truly hope this review was helpful to you in determining whether this card is the right capacity for your specific needs.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: speed improvement not seen - advertised rebate refused
Review: 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.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lexar 256mb 40x w/Nikon D100
Review: I have always found Lexar to be a good product.
But! the 40x may just be hype. The write speed of my Nikon D100
did not increase.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Rebate not granted as advertised
Review: 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. (...)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't Forget The JumpShot
Review: 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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Much Faster
Review: 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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: My experience...buyer beware
Review: 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 camera partners supporting WA technology: Kodak Professional, Nikon, Sanyo, Sigma, Pentax, Olympus

- Current 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):
- 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

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: No Speed Demon with my Nikon
Review: 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.


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