The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Five new cards were put through their paces, yielding two worthy contenders, two also-rans, and a Crap List awardee. Read the scoop below.
Lexar’s new top-of-the-line Professional 600x card led this group and took its place among the elite cards, while Transcend’s new middle-ground 400x card turns in good performance as well. Super*Talent has released a pair of barely distinguishable cards with grossly overstated 600x and 533x ratings, while Calumet’s 420x ProSpec card (which I strongly suspect is actually produced by Delkin) is a Crap List-worthy disaster.
Performance Summary: JPG Results
Lexar Professional 600x: A (98)
Transcend UDMA 400x: B (88)
Super*Talent 600x: D (66)
Super*Talent 533x: D (65)
Calumet ProSpec 420x: F (59)
Buy Lexar Pro 600x cards from Adorama: 8GB, 16GB, 32GB
Transcend 32GB Compact Flash (CF) 400X Flash Card
Performance Summary: RAW Burst Test
Lexar Professional 600x: 6.7 fps – 31 MB/sec
Transcend UDMA 400x: 5.5 fps – 25 MB/sec
Super*Talent 600x: 4.5 fps – 16 MB/sec
Super*Talent 533x: 5 fps – 16 MB/sec
Calumet ProSpec 420x: 3 fps – 11 MB/sec
Flashpoint Vertical Battery Grip for the Nikon D300/700 SLR Camera with remote 
5 responses so far ↓
1 Jared Chapin // Jan 17, 2010 at 6:09 pm
I love that you have tested the Calumet Cards. The guys at Calumet will tell you that they among the best & I knew they that couldn’t be true.
2 Jared Chapin // Jan 17, 2010 at 6:27 pm
http://www.hoodmanusa.com/prodinfo.asp?number=RAW6%2DCF8GB
Would love to see if these stack up to Lexar & Sandisk Pro 600X cards
3 The Sports Photo Guy // Jan 17, 2010 at 6:32 pm
Based on my past experience with Hoodman, I doubt it seriously. But I will take a look.
4 Alan Cormier // Mar 2, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I recently tried 2 Kingston Elite Pro 133x 8GB cards and both failed in fewer than 100 files on the D300s yielding the flashing CHR message.
5 The Sports Photo Guy // Mar 4, 2010 at 7:55 pm
I used Kingston Elite Pro cards in my D2H days, and they were always very reliable. Sorry to hear about your experience.
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