Thats 64 & 100 Gigabytes!

Press Release: (http://www.pretec.com/epages/Store.storefront/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Store.Pretec/Products/%22news-September%2023%2C2008%22)

Continuing the revolution in the field of flash memory card speed and capacity, Pretec today releases 64GB and 100GB, 233X CF cards with access speed of up to 35MB/s, overtaking the Pretec 48GB CF card, the previous world’s record holder for highest capacity CF card; and super high speed 333X 32GB and 50GB CF cards capable of running up to 50 MB per second of Read/Write speed, the highest speed CF card in the world.

Pretec CF 233X and 333X CF cards use metal housing and ruggedized construction to provide extensive ruggedness making the card resistant to impact and shock – at least 10 times more durable than a typical CF card. With the green concept of reuse, recycle and reduce in mind, Pretec 64GB CF cards can be configured or reused to make a 256GB SATA or IDE SSD, the highest capacity 2.5” SSD in the world so far, by using Pretec Q-SATA, a patent-pending technology of flexible, scalable and modular SATA/PATA design based on up to 4 CF cards. This technology provides ultimate flexibility and ease of use, especially for those needing both CF cards and SSDs.


Thats a lot of photos in your camera even in raw+jpeg format.
I have never heard of Pretec before, but other memory card brands can not be that far behind if you have the need to hold tens of thousands of photos on one memory card in your camera.

Pretec 233X 64GB and 333X 32GB CF cards with suggested retail price of $399 and $630 are slated to start delivery by Photokina 2008, and 233X 100GB and 333X 50GB are expected to start shipping by the end of 2008.
Those are US prices, no word yet on cdn pricing

Wow. That is pretty amazing!

Lose one CF card and you lose all your photos.
I think it is better to have several smaller capacity cards. I have 3 2GB and 1 8GB for my D-300.

Well, there is no question that the cost per GB is WAY too high for the average user but for the pro this is a godsend.

Lose one CF card and you lose all your photos.

Frankly you'd be pretty dumb to only keep your photos on one CF card regardless of capacity.

As far as pricing goes, I'm certain prices will continue to plummet on a per GB basis.

I don't think the market will be digital camera owners but video camera owners, portable media players or ultra-portable PCs. We already have 8 and 16 GB SD cards which can hold hundreds of raw images?

8GB cards cost well over 1000 dollars just a few years ago, now you can get them for under 60 (more if you wanter higher speed) so the price on these cards will also drop.
The highest capacity card I will use in my camera is 4gb because when you offload a full one it fits nicely onto one DVD for backup.

Oh, don't get me wrong.

These prices are not truly outrageous. They are just only for pros and RICH early adopters.

*shudders to think about it* I paid 260 dollars back in the day for a sony 128MB thats megabyte memory stick.
Of course on my 2mp camera it could hold over 100 photos.
Its amazing how far the sizes and very cheap prices have come in the past few years.

Still I dont see pro photogs using such a large memory card because of the whole all your eggs in one basket argument. Though like was said for video guys it will be an amazing advancement.
I would not use cards like this for a SSD (Solid State Drive) as the actual SSD are made for constant and hard read write cycles. Most CF or any other memory cards are usually only rated a few 1000 read write cycles.

CF cards have write cycles anywhere from 10,000 for the cheaper ones to 1,000,000 for higher end models.

Well thats good to hear, I always thought those numbers were rather low. Im sure ive written and read over 50,000 times to my memory cards and not had a single problem with them.

Still I dont see pro photogs using such a large memory card because of the whole all your eggs in one basket argument.

Oh I do.

I recently bought a camera with RAW mode and damn if it took pics as fast in RAW as it does in JPG, I would need a 64 GB card in a REAL hurry. Burst at say 3 fps when you are creating RAW files that are 20 MB and up, well that builds up REALLY fast. I LOVE burst shot as it makes for the best opportunity to get a good picture.

When I was in Florida in August, I took over 5 GB of pics and most of those were JPG. And I am just an amateur enthusiast photographer.

If I was toting an SLR, I would expect to need MANY GBs of storage or I would always have to have my laptop with me.

Well on a 100 GB card you could take over 25,000 jpgs on one card using a 10mp image at fine quality approx 4mb each.
About 8,000 raw and about 6500 raw+jpeg
Numbers could be higher or lower depending on what you take photos of in jpeg mode due to compression.
Wonder how long that would take to upload to ones computer.

que3jxp the answer to your shooting style and storage solutions should be coming soon to a store near you :)

Que3jxp,
I am sure that you are aware of devices smaller and more portable than a laptop to download your images.

I LOVE burst shot as it makes for the best opportunity to get a good picture.Ansel Adams is turning over in his grave! So much for actually composing a shot in this digital age. I can give you this gentle ribbing because I do the exact same thing - take as many pictures as I can, and perhaps I'll catch a good one! :D

Well on a 100 GB card you could take over 25,000 jpgs on one card using a 10mp image at fine quality approx 4mb each.
About 8,000 raw and about 6500 raw+jpeg
Numbers could be higher or lower depending on what you take photos of in jpeg mode due to compression.
Wonder how long that would take to upload to ones computer.

que3jxp the answer to your shooting style and storage solutions should be coming soon to a store near you :)
I would think that most people never take that many pictures in the life of their camera.

Well I take about 30,000 pictures a year.
Though I will stick to my collection of small 4gb and under cards.
Though im sure one day in the not to distant future the 4gb card will be tiny and go the way of the 128mb cards and ill have to get a 32gb card as that will fit nicely on a bluray disc haha :)

Que3jxp,
I am sure that you are aware of devices smaller and more portable than a laptop to download your images.

Yup. I just have too many gadgets already. I don't want to add any superfluous ones to the already superfluous collection of stuff that I have now! :p

Ansel Adams is turning over in his grave!

That made me grin. I still do put a lot of composition into most of my shots but I still prefer to have burst when there are moving objects as motion is always unpredictable and bursting allows for the capture of something that one otherwise would never have caught.

I would think that most people never take that many pictures in the life of their camera.

Those of us that have embraced the freedom that digital allows (My parents are still selective with their digital as they are conditioned by 40 years of cellulose) are highly likely to take a LOT of pictures. Most short outings, I take between 200 and 400 shots.

Well I take about 30,000 pictures a year...That has to be getting close to the life-expectancy of a camera's shutter, isn't it?

My Canon 30D and 40D both have a shutter life estimate of 100,000. So far no problems of any kind. If at some point they fail I will spend a couple hundred and get it replaced or upgrade the camera body entirely.