Lexar ist gone, Lexar is dead!

[Frank Fremerey]

https://www.dpreview.com/news/3111535898/lexar-discontinued-micron-announces-the-end-of-lexar-memory-cards

[Fons Baerken]

No future for xqd cards.

[Fanie]

Just bought 2 Lexars today.

[Frank Fremerey]

I love the product. XQD are superb

I have to rush to buy some more

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Sony makes XQD cards as well.

Anyway some other company may buy the Lexar business and continue.

[Frank Fremerey]

Lexar is a Micron brand so other Micron brands  might step in??? I feel they make the best XQDs.

Just bought two 64gb. Now I have 5 which should last for a while

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I would not want to buy from a company who made the decision to discontinue the products - it would be like thanking them for the decision and giving them a gift. Sony XQD G series 2 seem to have similar speeds to Lexar.

I was just checking the wikipedia page on the card format standards by compactflash association. CFast is up to 600Mb/s with SATA bus, XQD is up to 1000MB/s using PCIe 2.0 and CFExpress is up to 7880MB/s using PCIe 3.0 (physical card dimensions as XQD). So it seems future high end card formats will be along the XQD chassis and PCIe buses, if I'm not missing something.

It is odd that Canon would choose to go with CFast, for now. It makes it harder for the industry to be forward thinking and standardize on a high end card format that would increase adaptation rate.

[Akira]

I don't think I have ever bought Lexar cards.  If I remember correctly, Lexar CF card had an incompatibility issue at the beginning of the history of CF card due to their "original" memory control.  I appreciate the originality of any artform, but not the industry standard.  Of course Lexar brand was bought to other company, again if I remember correctly, but the brand image of Lexar hasn't been favorable for me since.

[Frank Fremerey]

I hope they revise the decision. With XQD in one hand prices will rise. Sony cards are already slower and more expensive than Lexar.

I want to have enough cards for my next Nikon cameras, 8xx and possibly a used D5 if they become affordable...

[Akira]

Sony does make XQD card, but strangely doesn't seem to be enthusiastic about developing their own products compatible with XQD.  The new A9 has two card slots but uses SD cards.  I know they wanted to keep the camera as small as possible, but they made it bigger than the A7.  Apparently the FS7 series video cameras are the only Sony models that uses XQD cartds.

Nikon uses XQD cards only on two models, and D5 is the only one that is compatible exclusively with XQD.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

The Sony cards have the same speed as Lexar as far as I can find.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1261720-REG/sony_qdg64e_j_64gb_xqd_g_e_memory_card.html
400/440MB/ write/read

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1186720-REG/lexar_lxqd64gcrbna2933_pro_2933x_xqd_memory.html
Same nominal speed.

Also the 128GB cards from both manufacturers have the same read and write speed specs.

My cards are the earlier G series rated 350/400MB/s. These were a bit slower than current Lexar. I notice that the tests that I can find on D5 buffer were published in April 2016 which predates the current Sony cards (400/440MB/s) that came out around June or July 2016. My guess is that those tests use the 350/400 specified ones.

Sony uses XQD in FS7, FS7 II, Z100 and AX1 video cameras.

[Akira]

Sony uses XQD in FS7, FS7 II, Z100 and AX1 video cameras.

FS7 II is the replacement of FS7, and Z100 is discontinued.  So, only two product lineups support XQD at a time, which is too few for the originator.  The higher-end video cameras use faster and lager SxS or SRmemory cards.

Currently XQD seems to be too much for the most of the still cameras and too slow and/or small for the professional video cameras.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Well the D500 is the only one which has large mass market appeal.
Canon only uses CFast 2.0 in the 1DX II and some cinema models. Arri also use CFast 2.0.

I would guess because of the D500 that XQD should easily outsell CFast 2.0, unless filmmakers simply consume a whole lot more cards than still photographers?! Or do most D500 shooters just use the SD slot?

Since the future CFExpress appears to be basically a next gen XQD, it seems likely that in the future more camera makers will get on board, if resolution and speed keep increasing. Present day XQD is already a delight but no doubt with 100MP files it may start to feel a little sluggish. 

SxS seems to be of the same capacity and speed as current XQD. Sony do not seem to have any problem making different card formats for only 2-3 camera models at a time.

[Akira]

Well the D500 is the only one which has large mass market appeal.
Canon only uses CFast 2.0 in the 1DX II and some cinema models. Arri also use CFast 2.0.

I would guess because of the D500 that XQD should easily outsell CFast 2.0, unless filmmakers simply consume a whole lot more cards than still photographers?! Or do most D500 shooters just use the SD slot?

Since the future CFExpress appears to be basically a next gen XQD, it seems likely that in the future more camera makers will get on board, if resolution and speed keep increasing. Present day XQD is already a delight but no doubt with 100MP files it may start to feel a little sluggish. 

Ilkka, that's a very interesting info.  Thanks for that!  According to the news released in June 2016 that I found just now, Micron is also involved with the development of CFExpress technology.

Apparently that's one of the reasons for the departure of Micron from XQD, and XQD is following the same path as that of Memory Stick...

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I thought Micron is leaving the card and removeable storage business entirely (including SD, CF, Cfast, XQD, usb stick etc.)  I don't know what they're going to focus on as a more profitable business.