4GB SD, 16GB CF media at Photokina

Both SanDisk and Kingston today announced high-capacity 4GB Secure Digital High-Capacity (SDHC) cards. SanDisk's announcement came from the Photokina trade show, boasting write speeds of 9MB/sec and read speeds of 10MB/sec for the new portable storage card. Sandisk said the cards target digital photography enthusiasts with 5 megapixel or higher resolution digital cameras, and promised to bundle its MicroMate USB 2.0 card reader with the cards ($220) when they ship in October. Kingston announced that it will begin producing its new SDHC Class 2 card ($200), and enhance the functionality of its existing 15-in-1 Reader to support growing storage demands. Kingston will back its new card with a lifetime warranty, promising transfer speeds up to 480Mbps.

In addition, SanDisk today introduced the 12GB and 16GB SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash cards. The new high-performance, large-capacity cards are ideal for professional photographers who shoot RAW or high-resolution JPG files and need the performance, reliability and capacity to capture these large files, according to the company. The new SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash cards can also be used with the Grass Valley Infinity Series Digital Media Camcorder, the first camcorder introduced in the broadcast industry that uses non-proprietary, removable, solid-state flash memory cards as recording and playback media.

"The beauty of using large capacity cards like the 12- and 16GB SanDisk Extreme III cards is the freedom to shoot without worrying about filling up the card,” said Jonathan Torgovnik, contract photographer for Newsweek magazine and international freelance photographer. "I shoot in RAW mode almost exclusively and the large files can fill up a card very quickly. Having a large capacity card lets me focus on what I love to do—take pictures."

SanDisk says its Extreme III cards have the industry’s widest guaranteed operating temperature range from a -13°F (-25°C) to a 185°F (85°C). The cards also include RescuePRO software that allows photographers to easily recover accidentally deleted images, lost digital images or data.

The company said that the new cards will have minimum write and read speeds of 20MB/sec and will ship to photo retailers by the end of the year for $1050 (16GB) and $780 (12GB).

In addition, SanDisk debuted its new Extreme USB 2.0 reader, which will be available in November for $25.

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