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Compact Flash Speed Ratings
4x, 12x, 16x, 40x, what does it all mean?

The above numbers relate to the write speed the card is capable of. For example, all other things being equal, a 12x card will write 3 times as fast as a 4x card and so on. What does this mean for you the consumer? Well, for example, if you have to wait 4 seconds between digital camera shots because the camera is writing to the card, replacing your card with a higher speed one may mean you only have to wait for 1 second before being able to shoot again.

1X speed is equivalent to .15MB/Sec. Transfer Rates. Thus, a 16X Card will read/write at 2.4MB/Sec, whilst a 60X Card will read/write at 9MB/Sec. Put simply, the faster the card, the faster you will be able to shoot, view and delete images. And if your camera has a video mode, you will want a 50X Card or faster to shoot smoothly in video mode. A fast card will not help the so called 'shutter-lag' however. That is the time it takes for the camera to take a shot after you depress the shutter release button. Your camera manual should also offer more info on these issues.

You see, not all Memory Cards are created equal. Most e/retailers do not state what speed of cards they sell. This is because they generally sell generic non-branded flash memory cards. As a result, most consumers simply find the size (density, e.g. 64MB/128MB etc.) of card they want and then buy the lowest price card they can find in that size. While this serves a purpose, and while retailers will tell you which of their cards is the cheapest, what they don't tell you is that those cards are also usually their slowest cards. There are still many retailers selling slower 4x cards when we sell a minimum of 12x Speed Rated Compact Flash Cards. So, while our prices might be slightly higher (they usually aren't anyway), with Flashcards.co.nz you get superior products at discount prices.

The other thing to bear in mind is "failure rate." Failure Rate refers to cards that must be returned because the memory fails for some reason. Many of the generic brands have much higher failure rates than the name brands. This is because they use lower quality memory and controller chips inside. This is why the flash is so much cheaper. Always ask how long the warranty of the flash memory is.

Before you buy, compare all facets and performance of the product before spending your hard earned cash. We sell high quality, high speed products on our site. Browse and compare, you will see the difference.