Rob Galbraith DPI: Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro

November 1, 2004: The S2 Pro section of the database is no longer being updated, as we no longer have access to this camera.

The data in the table below was derived by timing how long it took the Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro to write out 8 Fine JPEG and 7 RAW .RAF photos to the card. Timing commenced when the camera's card status light illuminated, and stopped when the light went out. Each test cycle was performed 3 times (if the card's capacity allowed for that) to ensure accurate results.

Note: Because the S2 Pro isn't capable of writing to cards that have been FAT32-formatted, only cards whose capacity is 2GB or less have been tested in this camera.

Card-to-card speed variation within the same brand and model, photographing scenes of varying detail and at different ISO settings - these and other factors may slightly alter write speed performance. As a result, write speed differences of 5% or less from card to card in the table below should be considered insignificant. If one card's write speed is within 5% of another's, the two cards will offer effectively the same performance. Similarly, it's unlikely that most photographers would notice a difference between the fastest card and one that was up to 10% slower.

The results are arranged in the table from fastest to slowest (based on JPEG write speed). The top 10% (based on JPEG write speed) are marked in blue.

Brand and Model (Card Identifier)¹	Key Components Source²	Card Type³	Date Added or Updated	Write Speed - Fine JPEG⁴	Write Speed - Raw .RAF⁴
Lexar 2GB 80X Write Acceleration second edition¹²	Lexar	I	2004/7/29	1.746MB/sec	1.949MB/sec
Sandisk Extreme 2GB	Sandisk	I	2004/3/20	1.741MB/sec	1.908MB/sec
Sandisk Ultra II 2GB	Sandisk	I	2004/3/20	1.726MB/sec	1.903MB/sec
Lexar 1GB 80X Write Acceleration second edition¹²	Lexar	I	2004/7/29	1.719MB/sec	1.943MB/sec
Sandisk Extreme 1GB (Edge stamp: BB0307VZ CHINA)	Sandisk	I	2003/8/28	1.715MB/sec	1.942MB/sec
Sandisk Ultra II 1GB (Edge stamp: BB0306VZ CHINA)	Sandisk	I	2003/8/28	1.709MB/sec	1.939MB/sec
Ritek/Ridata 52X/PRO. 2GB (Edge stamp: U3F06116)	unknown⁸	I	2004/3/20	1.636MB/sec	1.808MB/sec
Lexar 1GB 80X Write Acceleration first edition¹²	Lexar	I	2004/7/29	1.632MB/sec	1.839MB/sec
Sandisk "new" Ultra 1GB (Edge stamp: BB0303TV CHINA)	Sandisk	I	2003/7/14	1.631MB/sec	1.832MB/sec
Hitachi Microdrive 1GB	Hitachi	II	2002/10/28	1.621MB/sec	1.846MB/sec
Lexar 1GB 40X Write Acceleration new and improved¹¹	Lexar	I	2004/3/20	1.609MB/sec	1.793MB/sec
Delkin Devices PRO 640MB (Label: CFPRO-640D)	For Delkin⁶	I	2003/2/25	1.599MB/sec	1.773MB/sec
Kingston Elite Pro 1024MB (Edge stamp: THNCF1G02CA)	Toshiba (SLC)⁵	I	2004/7/29	1.585MB/sec	1.746MB/sec
Microtech (Pexagon) X-treme 1GB (Edge stamp: THNCF1G02CA)	Toshiba (SLC)⁵	I	2004/3/20	1.583MB/sec	1.745MB/sec
Lexar 2GB 40X Write Acceleration	Lexar	I	2003/7/14	1.579MB/sec	1.749MB/sec
Sandisk Extreme 512MB (Edge stamp: AX0310WJA CHINA)	Sandisk	I	2004/3/20	1.557MB/sec	1.698MB/sec
Transcend 1GB 45X (45X on front label)	Transcend	I	2003/8/28	1.554MB/sec	1.689MB/sec
Sandisk Ultra II 512MB (Edge stamp: AX0308VZ CHINA)	Sandisk	I	2004/3/20	1.554MB/sec	1.688MB/sec
Lexar 1GB 40X Write Acceleration (Edge stamp, first two digits: 38; WA on front label)	Lexar	I	2003/8/28	1.552MB/sec	1.732MB/sec
Delkin Devices PRO 512MB (Label: CFPRO-512D)	For Delkin⁶	I	2003/2/25	1.550MB/sec	1.686MB/sec
Lexar 1GB 32X Write Acceleration (Edge stamp, first two digits: 38)	Lexar	I	2003/4/1	1.548MB/sec	1.721MB/sec
Delkin Devices PRO 320MB (Label: CFPRO-320C)	For Delkin⁶	I	2003/2/25	1.547MB/sec	1.688MB/sec
Ritek/Ridata 52X/PRO. 1GB (Edge stamp: S4N88116)	unknown⁸	I	2004/3/20	1.534MB/sec	1.679MB/sec
Lexar 512MB 40X Write Acceleration (Edge stamp, first two digits: 38)	Lexar	I	2003/4/1	1.529MB/sec	1.659MB/sec
Lexar 512MB 80X Write Acceleration second edition¹²	Lexar	I	2004/7/29	1.518MB/sec	1.677MB/sec
Sandisk "new" Ultra 512MB (Edge stamp: AX0303TV CHINA)	Sandisk	I	2003/7/14	1.518MB/sec	1.654MB/sec
Core Micro 1GB (Edge stamp: 72688 KTN3 1GCP 0313 QC:5F)	Transcend	I	2003/7/14	1.511MB/sec	1.659MB/sec
Lexar 512MB 24X (Edge stamp, first two digits: 38)	Lexar	I	2002/10/28	1.484MB/sec	1.636MB/sec
Lexar 512MB 24X Write Acceleration (Edge stamp, first two digits: 38; WA on front label)	Lexar	I	2003/2/25	1.438MB/sec	1.610MB/sec
SimpleTech PRO X 1GB (Internal: STI/FLASH 1T)	SST	II	2003/4/1	1.429MB/sec	1.596MB/sec
Kingston Elite Pro 512MB (Edge stamp: 1GC5121MY0-2EA00)	Samsung	I	2004/7/29	1.422MB/sec	1.536MB/sec
Delkin Devices PRO 256MB (Label: CFPRO-256C)	For Delkin⁶	I	2003/2/25	1.416MB/sec	1.554MB/sec
Ritek/Ridata 512MB	unknown⁸	I	2002/10/28	1.389MB/sec	1.504MB/sec
Transcend 512MB (30X label on packaging)	Transcend	I	2003/2/25	1.385MB/sec	1.527MB/sec
Delkin Devices 512MB (Edge stamp: THNCF512MAA)	Toshiba (SLC)⁵	I	2002/10/28	1.385MB/sec	1.496MB/sec
Microtech (Pexagon) X-treme 512MB (Edge stamp: THNCF512MCA)	Toshiba (SLC)⁵	I	2004/3/20	1.381MB/sec	1.509MB/sec
SimpleTech PRO X 512MB (Internal: STI/FLASH 1T)	SST	I	2003/4/1	1.379MB/sec	1.536MB/sec
Microtech 512MB (Internal: TOSHIBA THNCF512MAA)	Toshiba (SLC)⁵	I	2002/10/28	1.372MB/sec	1.501MB/sec
Sandisk "original" Ultra 512MB (Edge stamp: AX0211RX CHINA)	Sandisk	I	2003/2/25	1.338MB/sec	1.466MB/sec
Lexar 256MB 24X (Edge stamp, first two digits: 38)	Lexar	I	2002/10/28	1.337MB/sec	1.459MB/sec
Lexar 256MB 24X Write Acceleration (Edge stamp, first two digits: 38; WA on front label)	Lexar	I	2003/2/25	1.316MB/sec	1.433MB/sec
Apacer Steno Pro 256MB (Edge stamp: 83.29040.410 2002401-00006)	SST	I	2002/10/28	1.305MB/sec	1.419MB/sec
Ritek/Ridata 256MB	unknown⁸	I	2002/10/28	1.281MB/sec	1.385MB/sec
Transcend 256MB (25X label on packaging)	Transcend	I	2002/10/28	1.272MB/sec	1.369MB/sec
Microtech 256MB (Internal: TOSHIBA THNCF256MAA)	Toshiba (SLC)⁵	I	2002/10/28	1.268MB/sec	1.351MB/sec
Delkin Devices 256MB (Edge stamp: THNCF256MAA)	Toshiba (SLC)⁵	I	2002/10/28	1.251MB/sec	1.348MB/sec
Pretec 1GB (Label: P/N: CFP01G)	Pretec	I	2003/2/25	1.222MB/sec	1.360MB/sec
Lexar 256MB 12X (Edge stamp, first two digits: 37)	Lexar	I	2002/10/28	1.187MB/sec	1.294MB/sec
Transcend 256MB (30X label on packaging)	Transcend	I	2003/2/25	1.167MB/sec	1.252MB/sec
Lexar 256MB 4X	Lexar	I	2003/2/25	1.152MB/sec	1.257MB/sec
Kingston Memory 1024MB (Edge stamp: THNCF1G02MA)	Toshiba (MLC)⁵	I	2002/10/28	1.152MB/sec	1.160MB/sec
Think Perfect Pix 320MB (Label: USA DEM LX-FLASH 320MB)	Lexar	I	2002/10/28	1.128MB/sec	1.196MB/sec
Viking 512MB (Edge stamp: THNCF512MMA)	Toshiba (MLC)⁵	I	2004/3/20	1.112MB/sec	1.196MB/sec
SimpleTech 512MB (Internal: STI/Flash 5.1.0)	Hitachi	I	2002/10/28	1.073MB/sec	1.135MB/sec
Lexar 160MB 10X (Edge stamp, first two digits: 35)	Lexar	I	2002/10/28	1.067MB/sec	1.145MB/sec
Pretec 512MB (Label: P/N: ACH512-P)	undisclosed⁷	I	2003/2/25	1.056MB/sec	1.124MB/sec
Sandisk "original" Ultra 256MB (Edge stamp: ARO110MQ USA)	Sandisk	I	2002/10/28	1.041MB/sec	1.124MB/sec
Kingston Memory 512MB (Edge stamp: THNCF512MMA)	Toshiba (MLC)⁵	I	2002/10/28	1.032MB/sec	1.079MB/sec
Sandisk Standard 1GB (Edge stamp: BB0205NK CHINA)	Sandisk	I	2004/3/20	877K/sec	974K/sec
Kingston Memory 256MB (Edge stamp: THNCF256MMA)	Toshiba (MLC)⁵	I	2002/10/28	829K/sec	851K/sec
SimpleTech 256MB (Internal: STI/Flash 5.1.0)	Hitachi	I	2002/10/28	811K/sec	849K/sec
Sandisk "standard" 512MB	Sandisk	I	2002/10/28	760K/sec	800K/sec
Hitachi Microdrive 4GB	Hitachi	II	2004/3/20	n/a⁹	n/a⁹
Lexar 4GB 40X Write Acceleration	Lexar	II	2003/8/28	n/a⁹	n/a⁹
SimpleTech 1GB (Internal: STI/Flash 5.1.0)	Hitachi	II	2002/10/28	error¹⁰	error¹⁰

(1) To help determine whether the card you purchase is substantially similar to the one tested, the card's description includes an identifier - series number, internal name or other unique value - where possible and applicable.
(2) Many companies sell CompactFlash media; relatively few actually design and manufacture the key internal components, including the controller and flash memory. This column lists the manufacturer of the controller.
(3) Type I CompactFlash cards are 3.3mm in thickness; Type II, 5.0mm.
(4) K/sec = Kilobytes per second (1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes); MB/sec = Megabytes per second (1 megabyte = 1024 kilobytes).
(5) Companies that source CompactFlash cards from Toshiba may opt for either the faster single level cell (SLC) or slower (but less expensive to manufacture) multi level cell (MLC) arhictecture. The Kingston cards tested were MLC; the company does, however, offer SLC-based CompactFlash cards on special order. Kingston's SLC-based cards have "-S" appended to the end of their part number, ie CF/512-S. Not all of Kingston's distributors will have the SLC cards listed among the products they can ship to dealers. For more information, contact Kingston.
(6) Delkin has not revealed the design and manufacturing partner for their Pro line of CompactFlash cards.
(7) Pretec has not disclosed the source of the controller in the Pretec 512MB card tested.
(8) These cards contain controllers from an unknown manufacturer, likely of Taiwanese origin.
(9) All cards over 2GB must be formatted FAT32, a variant of the FAT file system that this camera doesn't support.
(10) The S2 Pro would not recognize this card.
(11) This card, which began to ship in mid-March 2004, contains faster memory than the original 40X card. Lexar has revamped their entire 40X Pro Series lineup, from 256MB to 4GB, with the faster memory, though we've only tested the 1GB model. The packaging for the revamped 40X doesn't indicate that the card inside is different from an original 40X, though the card itself does: if the series number stamped on the card's edge ends in C977, it's a revamped 40X.
(12) Lexar began shipping their 80X line of cards in late June 2004. The card marked *first edition* in the table is a production model representative of the 80X lineup that began shipping in late June 2004. For now, it's safe to assume that any 80X card available at dealers until at least the middle of October 2004 (and perhaps beyond) will be a first edition model. Lexar promises that second edition models will be readily identifiable as such when they hit store shelves, with details on how to distinguish them from first edition cards forthcoming at the time of their release. Note that the first edition/second edition designation is our own, and is not how Lexar plans to distinguish the original and revamped 80X line.