Lexar Professional 1066x 128GB VPG-65 CompactFlash card (Up to 160MB/s Read) w/Free Image Rescue 5 Software LCF128CRBNA1066

So I got this card and it was immediately apparent that it was faster than my older 400x cards. I guess that is to be expected. Anyway, I started to wonder just how fast it was. I guess it’s pretty new, there were no official reviews on the internet of this card

I did find this thread on the Fred Miranda Forum. […]. Unfortunately there was no data available for this particular 1066x card. So, I decided I’d add my own. (I’m vw151 on FM) Here is what I found.

1DX
17-40L @ 24mm
F/5.6
1/4000th
ISO100
fresh battery
manual focus
12FPS
RAW

Lexar 32 GB UDMA 7 1066x ————156 shots in a 30 sec burst

I did the test 2x got 155 once, 156 once

Another metric I thought might be useful in this thread was total size of the files produced to account for the difference in file size made by different cameras. The 1Dx vs the 1D4 for instance.

Anyway in both cases, my combined total file size was about 3.19GB Do the math and that works out to about 106MB/second. File sizes are about 21MB per image. I think the frames recorded plus this data gives a clear picture of the card’s performance.

I have 2 cards. I’m gonna run the test 2 more times with the other card.

********************************************

OK

I did 4 more tests on the 2nd card but changed up the parrameters in the 2nd 2 tests.

155 shots 3.23GB RAW 12FPS Avg. 5.16 FPS 107.67MB/sec
148 shots 3.11GB RAW 12FPS Avg 4.9 FPS 103.67MB/sec

312 shots 1.57GB JPEG 12FPS Avg. 10.4 FPS 52.33MB/sec
324 shots 1.63GB JPEG 14FPS, Mirror Locked Avg. 10.8 FPS 54.33MB/sec

The interesting thing was, Jpeg @ 12FPS, It didn’t sound like I ever got off the buffer but Jpeg @ 14fps it got into the buffer hard at about 10 seconds in. but it still made more pictures in 30 seconds.

I also see file transfer rates from the card to an SSD or RAID0 at around 115MB/sec.

Please keep in mind these are real world benchmarks, not lab tests. None the less, if I reproduced the test on the FM forum reasonably well it seems the write speed in a 1DX is no better than the 1000x which the tester managed 160 shots in 30 seconds. Nothing wrong with that as the 1066x is just the successor to the 1000x and it seems we are reaching the maximum of the CF interface with these cards.

This review is from my perspective as a photographer.
So there are times when “it’s happening” (I shoot mostly concerts) and I cringe when the buffer on my camera fills and the shutter stalls and I see “that shot” being missed. If you have a camera that can take advantage of UDMA 7 (I shoot a Canon 5D Mark III and it can) and you need to make sure you get “that shot”, then spend the dough and get this card.
It writes to the card fast enough that you can shoot full speed continuously – forever.
Spending thousands on a better lens doesn’t mean a thing if the shutter doesn’t click when you need it to.

I wish I never had to leave bad reviews but I got really disappointed with Lexar’s quality control as well as customer service.

As a freelance photographer, I was planning to start using CF cards in addition to SD cards so I decide to get the Lexar 32 GB CF card from Amazon. I put the CF card into my Canon 5D Mark III CF card slot, and guess what, an error message showed up after I turned on the camera. So I took the CF card out and surprisingly found that one pin inside my 5D’s CF card slot was bent (see pic). I checked the CF card and noticed one of the 50 holes seemed smaller than the others.

So I sent an email to Lexar, talked to at least 3 representatives but still couldn’t get in touch with a supervisor/manager. The only response I got was to send the CF card to them for inspection and they will decide whether or not to give me a new card, and they will not take any responsibilities for the bent pin. Now I have to spend several hundreds out of pocket to fix the CF card slot that was damaged by a $30 defective CF card. Totally not worth it. If you are going to buy this CF card, please make sure to inspect the card carefully before inserting it to your camera. Make sure to return the defective card before it hurts your camera and your wallet.

This is an excellent CompactFlash card. I only use either Sandisk or Lexar since I am a professional photographer and I cannot trust my images to off-brand media. I first purchased one of these 1066x cards to test it out. The transfers were very fast and without any issues. I just purchased a two-pack of these cards as I really need more than one for my work. One tip…I prefer to use smaller cards such as this 32 instead of 64 or 128 mb cards. The reason is that in the unlikely event that a card fails, it will not have as many images on it as a larger card. But in my 47 years as a pro photographer, with perhaps 20 years shooting digital, I had only one card failure. That was early on, and most of the images were recoverable using software. In any event, I highly recommend these cards. One more thing…as with any memory, the prices vary almost daily. I picked up a two pack today because the cost was as low as I’ve seen it. Keep your eye on the prices and then be ready to purchase when the price drops.

As a photojournalist in Houston, I’ve used Lexar Professional CF cards for many years. In 2009 I bought Lexar Professional 300x CF cards and in 2013 I bought Lexar Professional 1000x UDMA 7 cards. With my most recent camera upgrades I upgraded to these Lexar Professional 1066x UDMA 7 CF cards. These 1066x cards have been around for a long time time and appear well-established and reliable.

I’ve shot thousands of editorial assignments, hundreds of thousands of frames, sometimes under difficult circumstances, and I have never lost or corrupted a single image using Lexar CF cards. I have nothing against the SanDisk Extreme Pro cards, in fact my SD cards are SanDisk, but I’ve got an almost religious attachment to a product with a perfect track record.

So, five stars. If I ever have a problem, you can be sure I will update this review!