Tech Shout!

Today, SanDisk announced the introduction of two new high-capacity cards- the 12 and 16 gigabyte Extreme III CompactFlash cards. Since one can never have enough storage capacity for one’s digital camera or camcorder, SanDisk’s latest introduction will be of great use to professional and amateur photographers alike. The company also mentioned that the 12 and 16 gigabyte Extreme III CompactFlash cards can also be used with the Grass Valley Infinity Series Digital Media Camcorder, which happens to be the first camcorder introduced in the broadcast industry that uses solid-state flash memory cards as recording and playback media.

The 12 and 16 gigabyte Extreme III CompactFlash cards will have a minimum write and read speeds of 20 megabytes per second. SanDisk also promises fast file transfers with these cards by means of the SanDisk-developed ESP (Enhanced Super-Parallel Processing) technology that combines advanced NAND flash memory chips and controller designs, 32-bit RISC processing and algorithms.

“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.”

Just as the title of the cards suggests, the SanDisk Extreme III cards claim to operate in extreme temperatures from a minus 25 degree Celsius to plus 85 degree Celsius. SanDisk’s 12 and 16 gigabyte Extreme III CompactFlash cards also include RescuePRO software that allows photographers to easily recover accidentally deleted images, lost digital images or data.

SanDisk plans to start shipping to photo retailers at the end of this year. SanDisk Extreme III cards carry a 10-year limited warranty in Europe, the Middle East and Africa but will have a lifetime limited warranty in the rest of the world. Pricing will be announced closer to the release date.