Lexar is offering its 80X Professional Series CompactFlash cards in five different capacities, including 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB and 4GB. Lexar Media today also announced a 8GB 40X Professional Series CompactFlash card, extending the company’s CF line with the highest capacity CompactFlash card on the market.

Lexar’s new 80X CF cards include an enhanced version of Write Acceleration technology, which optimizes the cards’ firmware to reduce overhead associated with transferring data from the camera to the memory card, and improves in-camera performance in high-resolution CompactFlash based cameras. In addition, Lexar’s new Write Acceleration provides a larger controller buffer to accommodate transferring up to 32 sectors of data to the card in one command, in cameras supporting this feature. CompactFlash cards without Write Acceleration typically transfer only one sector of data at a time.

“Our new 80X speed-rated cards will satisfy the needs of professional photographers who crave speed,” said John Omvik, Director of Professional Products Marketing, Lexar Media. “Professional photographers can’t afford to miss important images because their memory cards can’t keep up. With Lexar’s new 80X cards, they won’t.”

The new cards include a free copy of Lexar’s award-winning Image Rescue 2.0™ software to recover seemingly “lost” or deleted images from memory cards. Image Rescue 2.0 now recovers images from any memory card format or brand, and for added convenience, can be used with all mass storage compliant card readers – including USB 2.0, USB 1.1 and FireWire readers.

“Lexar Media does more for serious photographers than any other memory card manufacturer,” said Jeffrey Aaronson, internationally recognized photojournalist. “These new cards are exceptionally fast and with dedicated support for professionals, plus their image recovery software, Lexar’s Pro CF cards are professional photographer’s ideal choice.”

Lexar Media’s new 80X speed-rated Professional Series CompactFlash will be available in photo specialty stores beginning May 2004. The 80X cards will be offered in 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities, with expected retail prices of $99.99, $199.99 and $399.99, $699.99 and $1,499.99, respectively. They include a lifetime warranty, unlimited access to Lexar Media’s dedicated technical support team for professional photographers, and a free trial version of Photo Mechanic image management software.