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Lexar
Media: 1GB 32x JumpShot CompactFlash Card with Write Acceleration (WA) Technology
Ernest Lilley 2003/0603
With capacity equal to micro drives and Write Assist (WA) technology built in, CF cards are quickly replacing micro drives in photographers bags.
Model: Lexar Media 1GB 32x JumpShot CF Card with WA Technology
Product Website / Spec/PR / Availability: See Website / MSRP: $299.95 (B&H)
If you're going to take big pictures, you're going to need big storage. Though IBM Microdrives have been the default choice, the availability of high capacity CF Memory is attracting users with their lower power consumption, heat output, and lack of moving parts to wear out. We chose a Lexar 1GB card, with WA (Write Assist) technology designed to work with the !Ds and other high end digital cameras to speed up the write times of its large files.
Lexar's White Paper on WA explains that "Write Acceleration technology reduces the overhead associated with the cameras writing image data to CF cards using the ATA protocol resulting in improved throughput and more efficient use of the cards high write performance." Which means that by working with the camera manufacturer's they've managed to reduce bottlenecks in the process, sort of like by agreeing that when you drive to work, all the lights will happen to be green. You don't actually get to drive faster, but you save considerable time.
When I compared the write times of the 32x WA card, it took about 10 seconds to download a RAW image from the eleven megapixel Canon. Now, that may not seem speedy to you but my old reliable 12x Lexar 256MB took over 20 seconds in comparison. I don't think anyone will ever figure out what all those speed ratings actually mean, but I'd definitely recommend getting the WA cards for high resolution cameras.