Lexar CF 32GB 800X card (from MyMemory)

LongLensPhotography

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I bought one and it was really slow. I used USB 3.0 reader that works great with all other cards I own and the write speeds were below 30Mb/s and worse - read - 10-17MBs. Performance wasn't much better in camera - buffer full in less than 2 seconds; 600X old card performs notably better.

The first one got sent back and today I got the replacement. The new one is just as bad. Obviously this is going back for full refund now but what do you think is going on? A bad batch or a fake batch or what?
 
Just seen this, and I have the same cards. Mine seem to be fine, but I believe I bought mine from amazon. Not sure from which supplier.
 
Check the claimed Write speed - except I'm not sure Lexar actually quotes it! Tested card speeds never get anywhere near the claims, but pro-rata the differences should be easy to measure.

Fast Read speeds are no guarantee of fast Write speeds, and they can vary between identical cards of different capacity. I was looking at some Transcend cards the other day and their 800x (Read) card actually has a slower Write speed than my recently purchased Transcend 400x.

IMHO pick of the bunch for a fastish CF is currently Sandisk 32GB Extreme 120 MB/s Read, 85 MB/s Write* - £28 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00Q4X8O9Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

*16GB version is 60MB/s Write
 
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Check the claimed Write speed - except I'm not sure - actually quotes it! Tested card speeds never get anywhere near the claims, but pro-rata the differences should be easy to measure.

Fast Read speeds are no guarantee of fast Write speeds, and they can vary between identical cards of different capacity. I was looking at some Transcend cards the other day and their 800x (Read) card actually has a slower Write speed than my recently purchased Transcend 400x.

IMHO pick of the bunch for a fastish CF is currently Sandisk 32GB Extreme 120 MB/s Read, 85 MB/s Write* - £28 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00Q4X8O9Q?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

*16GB version is 60MB/s Write

Quite bizarre: The link is to a:-

SanDisk SDCFXSB-032G-FFP 32GB Extreme CompactFlash SDHC Card

which despite a photo of a 'CF' card, and the word 'compact flash' in the description seems to be a SDHC card when the descriptor is linked. There seems to be something amiss there? (The moment I perceive anything dodgy from Amazon sellers etc then I steer well clear). Normally Hoppyuk's opinions are good, so just wonder if the link has changed? Obviously a SDHC card is not a CF card.




 
Quite bizarre: The link is to a:-

SanDisk SDCFXSB-032G-FFP 32GB Extreme CompactFlash SDHC Card

which despite a photo of a 'CF' card, and the word 'compact flash' in the description seems to be a SDHC card when the descriptor is linked. There seems to be something amiss there? (The moment I perceive anything dodgy from Amazon sellers etc then I steer well clear). Normally Hoppyuk's opinions are good, so just wonder if the link has changed? Obviously a SDHC card is not a CF card.

It's a Compact Flash card. I bought from that link last week. And it's sold and supplied by Amazon, not through an Amazon Marketplace dealer. I wouldn't buy anything that might possibly be fake (memory cards, filters, batteries etc) from anything but a known reputable seller.
 
Can anybody tell me if you can test the read write speeds of CF and SD cards yourself?
 
Yes, you can. I use h2testw and it really shows up which are good, crap (Dane-Elec) or faulty. Make sure you have a USB3 reader on a USB3 port or you're introducing a low ceiling before you start. I think I need a new reader as mine doesn't make full use of UHS cards and I seem to have a limit of 75MB/s with 95MB/s cards. I haven't tried using the built-in readers on my laptops so that might be today's entertainment....
 
It's a Compact Flash card. I bought from that link last week. And it's sold and supplied by Amazon, not through an Amazon Marketplace dealer. I wouldn't buy anything that might possibly be fake (memory cards, filters, batteries etc) from anything but a known reputable seller.

Fair enough, but the link suggested a SDHC and that was suspicious enough to stop me in my tracks, regardless of whether it was Amazon or Amazon market place. (If you click through the link it still is not clearly a CF card other than the picture).


Incidentally for checking fakes, Mac/Linux users can use an alternative programme to h2testw called f3

http://oss.digirati.com.br/f3/
 
Interestingly, I have discovered that the 800x are not their most shining example
It seems the Write speeds are not up to the level you would expect.

I would avoid them
 
Yes, you can. I use h2testw and it really shows up which are good, crap (Dane-Elec) or faulty. Make sure you have a USB3 reader on a USB3 port or you're introducing a low ceiling before you start. I think I need a new reader as mine doesn't make full use of UHS cards and I seem to have a limit of 75MB/s with 95MB/s cards. I haven't tried using the built-in readers on my laptops so that might be today's entertainment....


Just tried to download h2testw and it got blocked as an unsafe download. Any links to a safe place to DL it from?
 
Can anybody tell me if you can test the read write speeds of CF and SD cards yourself?

It's easy enough, but no 'real world' test will get anywhere near the claimed Write speeds, more like half or less even with a high-end camera, so it's only helpful if you have a few cards to compare side by side. It's camera dependent, too. There are lots of reviews if you google around.

Shoot a constant scene (tripod, note the file size) and take say ten Raws in continuous drive mode. When the processing light comes on the back of the camera, start timing and stop when it goes out.

Edit: some cameras might not do ten Raws before filling the buffer, in which case shoot as many as you can before the camera shooting rate slows. With a lower-end or older camera, you might find that faster cards all come out the same, which probably means the camera's data transfer rate is the bottle-neck.
 
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