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Lexar's new CFast 2.0 cards boast SSD speeds, but no cameras support them yet
Lexar has just announced new CompactFlash cards using the CFast 2.0 SATA tech format to greatly improve speeds and maybe steal back some thunder from SDHC. The cards, ranging in size from 32GB to 256GB, support a mind-boggling max read speed of 500 MB/s, bettering earlier models from SanDisk. That's easily enough to keep up with even RAW 4K images, let alone the 65 MB/s barrier required for the VPG-65 performance guarantee standard. Don't get too excited yet, though. First off, so far the company has only released engineering samples to help camera manufacturers. Secondly, there aren't actually any cameras that support CFast 2.0, and the format isn't backwards-compatible whatsoever with current CompactFlash tech. Still, combined with Lexar's Professional Workflow CFast 2.0 USB 3.0 reader -- also just announced -- you'll be able to get superfast speeds on your desktop when it starts shipping sometime in Q1 2014. And when it does get supported by the likes of Arri's Amira and other new cameras, it'll be nice to know you won't need to cram an SSD into your camera to capture 4K.
Intel outs SSD 510 Series with 6Gbps SATA interface, 500MBps transfer speeds
We didn't think the previous generation of SSDs, topping out at around 280MBps read speeds, were in any way hampered by their celerity, but Intel's bringing the future to us whether we like it or not with its new 510 Series SSDs. These Marvell-controlled flash storage drives will zip data to your processing unit at a rate of 500MB per second and write anything you send back at a clip of 315MBps. That's mostly thanks to the 510 being one of a new breed of consumer SSDs with a 6Gbps SATA interface, which has effectively removed a bottleneck from the performance equation and uncorked the extra vroom now contained within. When bought in bulk, a 250GB SSD 510 will cost you $584, while the slightly slower (450MBps read, 210MBps write) 120GB model will set you back $284. Full press release after the break.
