The Nikon D4 flagship DSLR is shipping in the launch countries with a free 16GB Sony XQD memory card and reader, NikonRumors reported. This applies to those who pre-ordered the camera, and is estimated to be worth about $185. XQD cards haven't shipped yet, however, so the free storage might be included only with the first batch. The D4 is priced at $6,000 for a body only.
Sony has officially launched the first XQD flash memory card , a new high-speed format designed to replace CompactFlash cards. The new format is primarily aimed at high-end SLR cameras and uses the PCI Express serial communications link interface from computers to achieve transfer rates as high as 125MB/s initially.
A premature Wells Fargo wire release has unwittingly leaked the full details of the Nikon D4. The new full-frame flagship DSLR moves up cautiously to a 16.2-megapixel sensor but is a major leap in image quality over both the D3 and D3s. It doubles the maximum sensitivity to ISO 204,800 and shoots as low as ISO 50 (normally 100 to 102,400). An upgraded 51-point autofocusing system can focus at f8 (up from f5.6) with face recognition an option, and a new color matrix metering system samples from 91,000 pixels.
The CompactFlash Association on Wednesday brought out a true successor to its namesake card format. XQD sits between CF and SD cards in size but switches to the much more modern PCI Express interface to read data. Its switch should see real-world write speeds hit 125MB per second or higher, or enough to easily handle greater than HD video and burst shooting at very high still resolutions.
