Comments on: UDMA and photography http://terrychay.com/blog/article/lexar-udma-deals.shtml You tell that other boy, not to touch the woodwork... Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:41:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: web2.0 http://terrychay.com/blog/article/lexar-udma-deals.shtml#comment-414164 web2.0 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:26:20 +0000 http://terrychay.com/blog/?p=702#comment-414164 [Comment from 76.14.57.215 deleted. Please use a real e-mail and homepage.] [Comment from 76.14.57.215 deleted. Please use a real e-mail and homepage.]

]]> By: tychay http://terrychay.com/blog/article/lexar-udma-deals.shtml#comment-409757 tychay Sun, 20 Apr 2008 06:24:40 +0000 http://terrychay.com/blog/?p=702#comment-409757 Someone asks if I really think the Ducati edition are faster than Extreme IV’s or if it is just a branding thing. The answer, according to Rob‘s tests, is yes, they really are faster. And that SanDisk media is significantly faster for JPEGs. I’m not too sure why. I think it may be a yield thing, like in the processors. SanDisk, unlike others, manufactures their own flash memory. This allows them to do things that the others can’t (Canon and dSLR sensors). If it is a yield thing, then during testing they can sort and tweak the cards for better performance. Note that since I wrote the article on “Compact Flash Madness,” Lexar was purchased by Micron Technologies, a well known manufacturer of RAM and flash memory engaged in a joint venture with Intel. (Why is Intel relevant? Many patents in flash memory are held by Intel and AMD.) We are seeing some of the power of the purchase already as Lexar media is now cheaper than SanDisk. Longtime digital photographers know this was never the case before. I wonder if Lexar/Micron will engage in “Ducati” style branding? In any case, the benefit of the Lexar/Micron war with SanDisk appears to be us, the photographer. To think that I can purchase 4GB UDMA CF cards for < $35! I haven’t had to purchase <a href="http://www.thinktankphoto.com/ttp_product_PxlPcktRckt.php" rel="nofollow">a memory card wallet</a> since 2002. Back then, I was shooting 32MB SmartMedia and 64MB Compact Flash—how times have changed. :-) Someone asks if I really think the Ducati edition are faster than Extreme IV’s or if it is just a branding thing. The answer, according to Rob‘s tests, is yes, they really are faster. And that SanDisk media is significantly faster for JPEGs.

I’m not too sure why. I think it may be a yield thing, like in the processors. SanDisk, unlike others, manufactures their own flash memory. This allows them to do things that the others can’t (Canon and dSLR sensors). If it is a yield thing, then during testing they can sort and tweak the cards for better performance.

Note that since I wrote the article on “Compact Flash Madness,” Lexar was purchased by Micron Technologies, a well known manufacturer of RAM and flash memory engaged in a joint venture with Intel. (Why is Intel relevant? Many patents in flash memory are held by Intel and AMD.) We are seeing some of the power of the purchase already as Lexar media is now cheaper than SanDisk. Longtime digital photographers know this was never the case before.

I wonder if Lexar/Micron will engage in “Ducati” style branding?

In any case, the benefit of the Lexar/Micron war with SanDisk appears to be us, the photographer. To think that I can purchase 4GB UDMA CF cards for < $35! I haven’t had to purchase a memory card wallet since 2002. Back then, I was shooting 32MB SmartMedia and 64MB Compact Flash—how times have changed. :-)

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