Axtremex 800x CompactFlash couples high capacity, impressive speed claims
posted Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 3:10 PM EDT
The latest generation of professional digital SLRs are really starting to push performance of CompactFlash cards to their very limit, and to get their maximum benefit, you need a really fast card to match. At its highest full-resolution rate, the Nikon D4 can capture almost 180 megapixels per second, and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV comes close, at over 160 megapixels per second. Even as compressed JPEG files, that's a lot of data being thrown around, and in raw format it's a truly staggering amount. (A single D4 raw file can top 25MB or more.).
Flash card heavyweight Lexar has a solution on hand, in the form of its Professional 1000x CompactFlash card lineup that was announced back at the Consumer Electronics Show. Testing recently by our friends over at Rob Galbraith Digital Photography Insights found the 32GB variant to offer 129MB/second real-world read speeds, and write speeds just over 65MB/second. (Lexar suggest a maximum sustained read of 150MB/second, and doesn't state a sustained write speed in their literature.)
Right now, the Professional 1000x lineup tops out at a 64GB capacity, though, trading one problem for another. You can write data to flash really quickly, but the lower capacity means you'll capture fewer shots before you need to change cards. (There's a 128GB variant on the way, but it's not slated to ship until May, with a price tag around US$900.)
UK-based Axtremex Technology has just announced the release of an alternative that sacrifices nothing in terms of capacity, and comes with a significantly more affordable price tag. The Axtremex 800x CompactFlash card line have claimed transfer rates of 120MB/second read and 95MB/second write, while the 800x Plus line has a claimed 120MB/second for both read and write, although the company doesn't state whether these are burst or sustained speeds. The company's US distributor, nanoFlash.net, is now offering the 800x variant at US$400 for a 128GB card. That's quite a savings over the Lexar card that's on the way, although we've yet to see how the Axtremex card's performance bears out in testing.
More details in the press release below, and on the Axtremex website.
Press Release
Axtremex Technology: 800x CompactFlash
(London, March 21, 2012) Axtremex Technology is proud to announce the release of their 800x and 800x Plus Compact Flash cards. These new high performance cards showcase Axtremex Technology’s continuous efforts to deliver high performance, high quality and reliable products at reasonable prices.
The Axtremex Ultra DMA 7 800x Compact Flash card supports up to 120 Megabytes per second Read Speed and up to 95 Megabytes per second Write Speed. The 800x Plus Compact Flash card supports up to 120 Megabytes per second Read Speed and up to 120 Megabytes per second Write Speed.
The Axtremex 800x and 800x Plus CF card is available in 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB capacities and are CFA 6.0, VPG Profile 1 compliant. These cards support the Video Performance Guarantee (VPG) at 20 Megabytes per second, which is currently the highest rating.
They also include additional features such as the TRIM and Sanitize commands. These Compact Flash cards are also backward compatible with all previous CFA specifications and Ultra DMA modes to ensure compatibility with a wide range of devices.
The Axtremex Compact Flash cards are built using premium memory chips and can be used in a wide variety of professional devices, such as audio recorders, video recorders, still cameras, and other devices.
The new 800x and 800x Plus CF cards are available from www.nanoFlash.net for USA and international customers. For UK customers, the new CF cards are available from CCK Media Technologies and other authorised dealers.