That’s right, ladies and gentlemen who speak fluent nerd. The SD memory card format has just made the jump to light speed. (And indeed, I’m sure it wasn’t anything like dusting crops…)

Geeky details:

2,000 GB capacity,

104 MB/sec transfer speed by end of 2009,
300 MB/sec transfer speed possible in future.

Can store 480 hours of HD movies, or,
136,000 high-res JPG images, or,
4,000 high-res RAW images…

Uses Microsoft’s exFAT file system and NAND flash memory technology.

…Can I just say, WOW!

Here we were, thinking that 32 GB and 300X compact flash cards were huge. (300X = ~40 MB/sec?)

So, a few things:

1.) The iPhone / G-phone had BETTER start coming with an SD card slot, or I absolutely do not see one in my future at all… (But this blog is about cameras!!!)

2.) This totally changes the game for photographers, especially professionals who shoot with dual-card slot cameras like the Canon 1-series flagships. Imagine leaving one memory card in your camera for an entire year, knowing that every single photo you take is backed up in the purest original form in case your other memory cards, or computer / DVD archive system fails. Or, even if you don’t have dual card slots in your camera, imagine simply carrying around an SD card in your pocket on a keychain that has a backup of your entire year’s work. And if the price is right, you could have multiple copies all over the place…

3.) Speaking of “if the price is right”… What if the per-gigabyte cost was affordable enough to consider permanent archival? I dunno how much space 2 TB worth of DVD’s would take up, but I’d hate to find out… I already have 100-200 GB worth of DVD’s sitting here and it’s already a major pain to find stuff… Imagine archiving years / decades worth of images in, well, a memory wallet… However, a 2 TB SDXC card won’t be cheap, I presume. Only time will tell, though! (And maybe, just maybe, we’ll see a CF card that goes to 1 PB, eh?)

=Matt=

Canon released a firmware to hopefully correct the issues with little black dots and plaid banding.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0901/090108025d2firmware.asp

Lemme know if it works, all you 5D mk2 shooters out there!!!

(In other news, I’ve heard almost nothing but good things about the 5D mk2′s performance in general. As we know the big debate was between Canon and Nikon’s tactics of leaving out or putting in fully professional features. The D700 for example sporting the full 51 point AF system and flagship-grade weather sealing, in addition to almost completely identical ergonomic controls. But like I said, the verdict is in- For wedding and portrait photography at least, and obviously for landscape photography, the 5D mk2 is working well.

I’d say at this point you can safely consider buying one if you are a Canon user on the fence. Of course I still maintain that if you’re a Nikon user there’s almost zero reason to switch, and if you’re not tied to any brand ywr then you really owe it to yourself to take both Nikon and Canon for a spin. Depending on your lens / flash needs, Nikon or Canon could be a no-brainer choice…

(I’ll blog again soon about how ridiculously amazing the D3X is turning out to be, and how soon we MIGHT see a D3X sensor in a D700 body…)

=Matt=