If you shoot professionally, or even as a weekend prosumer, chances are you’ve experienced problems with your media card not being able to keep up with the action. You know it right away. You press the shutter and nothing happens. Your card is busy writing those last shots and you can’t take another until it clears its memory. With Lexar XQD, that should be a problem you’ll rarely ever see again.

Lexar 2933x XQD 2.0 Card

If you are upgrading to one of the latest DSLR or HD Camcorders, chances are you’ll be able to take advantage of this newest media format. I just recently switched to a Nikon D500, and couldn’t wait to try out the XQD card. There’s no turning back for me now.

Approximately the same width and height as an SD card, the XQD format is much thicker.  It’s also much sturdier in my opinion, and for a working professional, much less subject to accidental damage – which is a huge benefit. It provides protection against water, vibration, shock and temperature. No more of those fragile, exposed brass contacts and slide lock switches.

Smaller than compact flash cards, the XQD cards seem to be the perfect solution for today’s high-definition camcorders and ultra-resolution DSLR’s. Whether you are shooting 4K video or 36-megapixel images, you know you are creating very large files for each shot, and that takes time to write to your card. That’s where these latest Lexar XQD cards really shine.

With the fastest transfer rates on the market, the 2933x XQD card writes data incredibly fast. Bottom line, you can keep shooting more shots with your DSLR or longer videos with your HD camcorder.  Add that to a limited lifetime warranty, and this is definitely my choice going forward.

Lexar offers the XQD cards in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB sizes. I’m shooting with the 128GB size, and even though I’m shooting 21-megapixel images, I can get over 2,000 pictures on one card.

Lexar XQD 2.0 USB 3.0 reader

Once the shooting is over, you need to get your images to your computer. If you are on a deadline, or if you’re just impatient to see your masterpieces, you know you don’t want to wait.

With the Lexar XQD 2.0 USB 3.0 reader, (Part #LRWXQDRBNA ) you’ll be transferring those files at 440MB per second.

The Lexar Professional Workflow XR2 (XQD 2.0 USB 3.0 reader) is compatible with both the Professional Workflow HR2 (Thunderbolt(TM) 2/USB 3.0 reader and storage drive hub) and Professional Workflow HR1 (USB 3.0 reader and storage drive hub).

At a recent event, I was able to download almost 700 hi-res 21 megapixel RAW files, and with Photo Mechanic, cull them for the best 100 keepers in less than 30 minutes. That’s how professionals earn their money.

Check out the entire Lexar Professional Workflow line here.

Disclosure:  We were provided with XQD products by Lexar so that we could evaluate them for this review.