So I got a pack of 2S 32GB Lexar 1000X UDMA 7 cards that were on sale (saw the deal here). The cards came and they were fast but they failed after 2K shots in a middle of the shoot yesterday. I was using the MK4 and they gave up after a few deep bursts with "Err1 can0not write to card in slot 1". Probably won't fail in single shot or low speed shooting. Normally I would just attribute this to bad luck but given that both failed and also another friend of mine who is a great photographer mentioned his failed in the middle of a function, I wanted to raise caution since many people probably got the same "deal". Perhaps it was bad batch with low yield and therefore the "deal".
Nothing is worse than the camera locking up in the middle of action...I am sending the cards back for refund. Have to go back to my trusty SanDisk.
speedmaster20d wrote:
So I got a pack of 2S 32GB Lexar 1000X UDMA 7 cards that were on sale (saw the deal here). The cards came and they were fast but they failed after 2K shots in a middle of the shoot yesterday. I was using the MK4 and they gave up after a few deep bursts with "Err1 can0not write to card in slot 1". Probably won't fail in single shot or low speed shooting. Normally I would just attribute this to bad luck but given that both failed and also another friend of mine who is a great photographer mentioned his failed in the middle of a function, I wanted to raise caution since many people probably got the same "deal". Perhaps it was bad batch with low yield and therefore the "deal".
Nothing is worse than the camera locking up in the middle of action...I am sending the cards back for refund. Have to go back to my trusty SanDisk.
Ha!!! I had one fail on me in the 1DX last week and it also corrupted many images with pink lines through them.....then, same thing on the MkIV.....Lexar FAIL!
Interesting, I have put a couple thousand images on one of my 32GB cards with the 1D IV with no problems so far, hoping the second card holds up too. Haven't used the second one much.
Well, the three good ones have about 50,000 frames on them combined, spread across the 1DX and 5D3. The fourth one started showing signs of corruption right away.
Vivek wrote:
Does anybody know if these are the new 20nm MLCs or are they still SLC? Hmmm wonder if those MLCs are not so good after all...
Pretty much all NAND that's out there is and has been MLC for a while and it's all fab'ed by SanDisk/Toshiba, Intel/Micron or Samsung. It is perfectly reliable. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if Lexar bought their NAND from SanDisk. The difference in SanDisk vs. Lexar is not the memory cell, but the packaging and memory controller and the logic that runs the controller.
Given the intermittent nature of error I think it's a soft error coming from the controller/logic as opposed to NAND cells.
SanDisk is a technology giant who develops and manufactures cutting edge NAND. Lexar is just a re-brander that buys NAND and controller from 3rd party and puts their logo on it. kind of like IBM vs. Dell. So it's not surprising that their CF cards are not rock solid.
I think the reason SanDisk extreme pro cards are not as fast as the Lexar's is that they are more conservative with testing and reliability. They still haven't come out with UDMA7 controllers except for their 128GB cards.
I remember I had a 1GB Lexar card for my 20D back in 2005 which also failed after a few months. They sent me a replacement but I never used it. I thought they had improved in the past few years but apparently not enough...
speedmaster20d wrote:
it would be fun if someone opened a poll to see what's the relative figure of Sandisk vs. Lexar CF card failure.
i've actually had one sandisk 12GB card fail and that is the only card I have ever had fail so far, mostly a mix of sandisk and lexar, with a couple others mixed in
Like others, I have used SanDisk for years without problem.
I bought a twin pack of Lexar 32 GB 1000x cards, and one of them had a hard failure. Nothing would even see the card, not the camera, nor any card reader - even after spending an hour with Lexar Tech Support (they were very good).
Lexar replaced the card. And with Lexar Professional cards, they attempt image recovery. In my case, they got all the images back.
Subsequent to that, I had a Lexar 16GB 600x card experience a similar hard failure where nothing could see the card.
In fact it wouldn't surprise me if Lexar bought their NAND from SanDisk. The difference in SanDisk vs. Lexar is not the memory cell, but the packaging and memory controller and the logic that runs the controller.
SanDisk is a technology giant who develops and manufactures cutting edge NAND. Lexar is just a re-brander that buys NAND and controller from 3rd party and puts their logo on it. kind of like IBM vs. Dell. So it's not surprising that their CF cards are not rock solid.
I think the reason SanDisk extreme pro cards are not as fast as the Lexar's is that they are more conservative with testing and reliability....Show more →
Lexar manufacturers their own memory wafers at a Micron plant in Lehi, Utah. Lexar/Micron is also a 'technology giant' in dfeveloping and manufacturing memory technology. See this video:
JimboCin wrote:
Lexar manufacturers their own memory wafers at a Micron plant in Lehi, Utah. Lexar/Micron is also a 'technology giant' in dfeveloping and manufacturing memory technology. See this video:
(I am not sure who makes their controller chips).
For a view of Lexar testing, see:
It's actually Micron, Micron bought Lexar in 2006. The video shows Micron facility, they fab the wafers. I think Lexar was originally a part of Cirrus Logic then they spun off.... but yes Micron is big and now they have a joint venture with Intel too.
I'm surprised pros still trust Lexar to be honest. They have had issues in the past, which is nigh inexcusable given their premium price tag. Sandisk cards have never let me down and I won't be buying another brand any time soon.
There are plenty of reports of card failures of both Sandisk and Lexar available on the Internet.
Given the large number of cards that are manufactured, and the relatively small number of problems that occur and the even smaller number reported on the Internet - I consider the information I read on the Internet to not be statistically valid.
I believe the only people that actually have statistically valid data on card failure rates are the card manufacturers - and they aren't telling
We have 8 Lexar 1000x 32gb cards between us all bought before the sale. The cards went to Alaska and was used with 1Dmk4's with high speeds. The eight used had no problems. Cards have been used since with no errors.
We do have 2 more 2 packs on order with B&H but supply is not there yet. Maybe the next batch will be different??
