SanDisk launches “world’s fastest memory card” with CFast 2.0
posted Friday, September 13, 2013 at 1:51 PM EDT
SanDisk has unveiled a new memory card that the company is billing as the fastest around, the SanDisk Extreme Pro CFast 2.0 memory card. With 450MB/s read speeds, and 350MB/s write, you can transfer a 100GB file in just four minutes.
The CFast standard is a variant of a traditional CompactFlash card that uses a Serial ATA bus for a speed boost. Despite this being the second generation of the technology, it's not as widely supported as CompactFlash, despite having support from Canon, ARRI and others. So far, the only cameras to support the CFast 2.0 spec are ARRI cinema cameras. According to a press release:
"The new documentary-style ARRI AMIRA will record to in-camera CFast 2.0 cards, and ALEXA XT camera users will be able to use a new CFast 2.0 adapter, allowing ALEXA XT cameras, as well as ALEXA Classic cameras upgraded with the XR Module"
Despite Canon officially supporting CFast, it hasn't made its way to any DSLRs to date.
The CFast 2.0 memory card is available in 60GB or 120GB, but the cost of these high-speed cards hasn't been revealed. They are "created to withstand real-world exposure to temperature, shock and vibration," and use a pinless design, which should reduce wear and damage from frequent card changes. Not only that, but each card has a unique serial number that can be registered with SanDisk.