Sandisk Extreme IV 16GB cards land in Australia and NZ

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 15 October 2008 13:26

Opinion and Analysis

Professional photographers in Australia and NZ will likely be smiling at the availability of SanDisk’s Extreme IV 16GB card, matching SanDisk’s “Ducati Edition” in speed but doubling the capacity, although at AUD $450 a pop you’ll need to be a pro-photographer to pay for it!

Launched earlier this year at the Photokina photo show, SanDisk’s Extreme IV Compact Flash (CF) cards are now 5Mb/s faster than earlier versions, come in a 16GB size, have landed on Australian and NZ shores and are now available in retail stores.

Previously only available at 40Mb/s speeds, the new 45Mb/s (300x) cards are 12.5% faster, something that always makes pro-photographers with the latest very high megapixel cameras happy.

Fully compatible with all CompactFlash cameras (including the latest UDMA-enabled cameras), the Extreme IV’s have undergone internal tests with all the major DSLs, such as Canon’s EOS series, Nikon’s D300 and D3 cameras, the Sony Alpha A700, and the Olympus E500 and E3 cameras.

Although it will depend on the camera used, the Extreme IV’s faster speeds are designed to “help reduce the delay between shots”, which can mean more photos taken and a better chance of getting that perfect shot, while reducing workflow time with faster card-to-computer transfer speeds.

SanDisk is quoting pro-photographer and independent digital imaging reviewer Rob Galbraith who says his tests with the Extreme IV 16GB, the Nikon D700 and a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III show the card offers “the fastest write speed of any card at the 16GB capacity”. He adds that such top-line performance can be expected when using the card with most or all current Canon and Nikon digital SLRs.

Designed for photographers who take photos in RAW or RAW + JPG formats (which take up ten times the space of JPG images), they’re also designed for photographs who “regularly use burst or continuous shooting mode during high-action situations such as sporting, wildlife or fashion photography can also benefit from the increased capacity and performance.”

Susan Park, director of consumer product marketing for SanDisk’s performance cards said: “The new 16GB SanDisk Extreme IV CompactFlash card at 45MB/s demonstrates SanDisk’s commitment to providing serious photographers with the high performance they require. Our goal is to help photographers maximise their productive output by equipping them with cards that offer ample storage space and fast data transfer rates.”

Christian Poulsen, the CEO of Hasselblad also had nice things to say, remarking that: “Hasselblad and SanDisk have a long working relationship in advancing digital photography. The 16GB SanDisk Extreme IV card’s increased storage capacity and high speed deliver the performance required to optimise our Hasselblad digital backs and H3D digital cameras for professional-grade uses.”

SanDisk boasts its Extreme IV cards carry a “lifetime limited warranty and hold the industry’s widest guaranteed operating temperature range, from 13F (minus 25C) to 185F (plus 85C).”

There’s also a SanDisk Extreme FireWire reader for separate sale, which transfers files by FireWire at speeds of “up to 45MB/s”, something pro-photographers probably already have in their photographic arsenal of tech gear. 

The cost, as outlined above, is AUD $450, which is $50 cheaper than the 64MB card a professional photographer friend tells me he paid many years ago when 64MB cards ruled the roost!