The xD Picture Card - Innovative, Adaptive, and the next Standard

The two major benefits to an xD, “extreme Digital” Picture Card is their size and their battery efficiency.

I recently purchased this 512MB xD card to use in my Fuji FinePix A330 . I am planning on taking this camera on the Appalachian Trail, so I needed a camera that was lightweight and had a card that did not run batteries down after a heavy day of taking pictures. Fuji had just what I was looking for.

The xD card was developed by Fujifilm and Olympus and manufactured by Toshiba. You can find xD cards around from other names, but the developers still hold the majority of the market.

SIZE
The xD card is 20.0mm x 25.0mm x 1.7mm and only weighs 2 grams. This small card makes it easier for the camera companies to make even smaller cameras and make significant modifications that were held up by larger cards (a CF Card is 4x the size of an xD card!).

CAPACITY and COST
The xD card is currently at capacities of 512MB. Based on Fuji’s news release a year back, they are planning on releasing a 1GB card soon followed by capacities that reach 8GB. My 512MB card can fit the following picture qualities:

3MP Fine – 403
3MP Normal – 888

A 16MB card comes with cameras you purchase so moving up to the other cards will be an additional purchase. The 512MB will cost $70-80 if you go online.

SPEED
Off of a digital camera resource page (http://www.dcresource.com/forums/archive/index.php/), a moderator informs consumers that the xD Card writes at 3MB/s whereas the Sandisk and Lexar type CF Cards I and II respectively write at 9 and 12MB/s. For someone like me, I don’t have a clue what I am missing when I am taking amateur pictures. I imagine you are not missing a thing unless you are trying to take pictures at the track or you get paid to take pictures.

HOW TO USE ON YOUR COMPUTER
You can use your camera to upload to a computer just like you would with any other memory stick by just plugging it into the USB port. What I like with the xD card is that you can place the card into a jump drive just the size of a cigarette lighter. You cannot do this will a CF card and I have not seen such a reader for a Sony SD Card.

Many consumers can get 12 in 1 readers that read all types of memory, however, if you are on the move and you desire to stay light, the xD card is the way to go. I have an Olympus MAUSB-100 Jump Drive xD card adapter that weighs only a 1/2 ounce and that includes the sturdy plastic shell. No card is going to let your be as “on the go” as this card. If you are just sitting at home or will never find yourself away from a personal computer, this might not be as important. However, if you are traveling and just want to upload pictures on a rented computer or at a library, think about getting a portable device.

OVERALL
The xD card is a wonderful new piece of technology. There is no smaller card and the power consumption cannot be beat. I have taken a couple hundred of pictures and taken video using my card and I have not even come close to using up the 2 lithium AA batteries I purchased.

The xD Card allows converts into a CF Card or a jump drive if you have the adapters.

I am more than happy with my purchase and I hope you are as well if you make the extreme digital jump.

RELATED REVIEWS:
Olympus MAUSB-100 Jump Drive
Fuji FinePix A330