Lexar 1000x and SanDisk Extreme Pro

Just got a bunch of new cards from B&H for my 5D Mark III (and in preparation for the upcoming 6D). The set consists of two 32GB Lexar Professional 1000x CompactFlash cards and two 32GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC cards. The Lexars will replace the 16GB SanDisk Extreme Pro and a bunch of 8GB Extreme IVs I used in the 5D3 since I bought the camera (actually the Extreme Pro will remain in use, as “emergency” storage).

Here are my initial observations.

Man, these Lexars are blazing fast! I can shoot god-knows-how-much frames before the camera starts to slow down. Then the buffer is emptied to the card in just a few seconds after I release the shutter. They are noticeably faster than the SanDisk Extreme Pro was. This is the speed I always wanted to have!

Forget about using SD cards in the 5D Mark III, however. They are that slow. I have a 32GB SanDisk in the SD slot for situations when I don’t have time to fiddle with swapping the CF (think action). I hope the the 6D will drive these cards faster.

Btw, you can find some numbers on the performance of these cards in Rob Galbraith’s now abandoned CF/SD performance database. According to his measurements the Lexar is 36% faster than the SanDisk Extreme Pro I used. My observations are completely in line with these numbers.

So if you have a 5D3, then these Lexars are the way to go, period. And B&H has an attractive price tag on the 2-Pack.