Kingston 8GB Ultimate 266x CompactFlash Card Review

Image Capacity, Write Complete and Speed Testing

Picture Capacity:

When it comes to storage capacity it varies greatly due to what setting you use and what the Megapixels are of the camera. We took the 5MP Canon Powershot S60 and the 10.1MP Canon EOS Rebel XTi and used 2GB, 4GB and 8GB memory cards to see what the capacity would be with the cards totally empty. The cameras were both set to full auto and super fine at the highest resolution that each could take, which is 2048 x 1536 on the S60 and 3888 x 2592 on the XTi.

	Canon Powershot S60 5MP	Canon EOS Rebel XTi 10.1MP
2GB CF	786	447
4GB CF	1597	897
8GB CF	3158	1775

Here you can see what a difference the memory card plays when it comes to storage capacity. The 2GB CompactFlash card can store 786 pictures on the 5MP camera, but with 10.1MP and a higher resolution, the same card stores just 447 images. The 8GB capacity card can store an amazing 3158 pictures with the Canon Poweshot S60 and 1775 pictures with the Canon EOS Rebel XTi. This is a little more storage that what we are used to having with the 4GB CompactFlash card on the Canon Powershot S60, so while we went from a 4GB card to an 8GB card the storage is about the same since the images are larger and have better quailty.

Write Complete Speed Testing:

When it comes to the speed of the Kingston Ultimate CompactFlash series we used a stop watch to record the time it took for 10 pictures to be taken in the sports mode in rapid fire. For this test we compared our two year old Kingston 4GB Ultimate Compact Flash card (Ultimate was 100x back then) to the new Kingston 8GB Ultimate 266X CompactFlash card.

A difference was actually noted when looking at the time it took for the write to complete between the 100x and 266x cards! The Kingston 8GB Ultimate 266X CompactFlash card completed writing the data 22% faster than the Kingston 4GB Ultimate 100X CompactFlash card that we have been using for the past couple years.

Media Card Reader Testing:

The Kingston 8GB Ultimate 266x CompactFlash card comes with transfer rates of 45MB/sec. read and 40MB/sec. write, but that doesn’t mean you will hit them. In a recent article on the Kingston 19-in-1 media reader we tested this memory card on three readers and got very different results. We found that none of the readers we looked at were able to reach the cards rated transfer speeds.

The best read speed we could pull off was 31MB/Sec and the write seed was just 23MB/Sec, which is shy of the 45MB/Sec read and 40MB/Sec write that we wanted to see. All card readers are different though, so be sure to use a good reader if you get an Ultimate card!

Final Thoughts and Conclusions:

The Kingston 8GB Ultimate 266X CompactFlash card is one fast memory card and it is obviously designed for professionals that have the latest in digital SLR cameras. We did notice faster write complete times with the Canon EOS Rebel XTi when taking a series of burst shots and it was hands down faster than the older CompactFlash cards that we have been using the past couple of years. The Kingston 8GB Ultimate 266X CompactFlash card comes backed by a lifetime warranty, 24/7 live technical support and knowing that if something fails that Kingston will take care of you. The price on the Kingston 8GB Ultimate 266X CompactFlash that we looked at today can be found for under $175 shipped to your door, so keep that in mind when you are looking for your next memory card!

Legit Bottom Line: The Kingston 8GB Ultimate 266X CompactFlash card is the fastest CompactFlash memory card we have ever tested and is ideal for professionals looking for a reliable and fast storage solution.