14 DAY TRIAL // Though already advancing faster than most other tech products, memory cards have accelerated in their evolution yet again, this time thanks to SanDisk, a company that just launched two new SDXC models.
It is safe to say that SanDisk has just made the day of professional photographers with no financial constraints.
After all, photo and video cameras/camcorders could always use better and faster storage.
More to the point, SanDisk launched a pair of SanDisk Extreme SDXC UHS-I memory cards.
Their capacities are of 64GB and 128GB, respectively, while their data speeds reach 45MB/s both when reading and when writing.
“Consumer video capture is driving user-generated content creation,” says Chris Chute, research manager, worldwide digital imaging solutions, IDC.
“This is the first year that more than half of all video captured will be in HD, and that number is set to reach nearly 80 percent in 2014. This trend highlights the need for memory cards that are fast enough to handle a massive data flow while offering enough capacity to store the resulting files.”
It should be a breeze to record video in full HD quality, even as advanced Error Correction Code (ECC) improves data integrity and reliability during read/write operations.
Also, the 128GB SanDisk Extreme SDXC UHS-I card is designed with the new Ultra High Speed (UHS-I) architecture, and surpasses the recording requirements for everything from home movies to high-quality 3D footage.
Obviously, the same goes for the 64GB SanDisk Extreme SDXC UHS-I card.
Unfortunately, the high capacity and performance definitely don't come cheap: the 64GB model has a price of $199.99 (156 Euro), while the 128GB version sells for $399.99 (313 Euro).
Mainstream photographers probably won't need either of them, but 3D shooters may as well buy one, considering how much larger their file sizes are compared to regular formats.
SanDisk has the cards on display at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and is already shipping them worldwide.