I am sure others are interested in this as well, but does anyone know if there is a reason other manufacturers of SD and Compact Flash card media aren't making SxS cards so that competition can help drive the monopolistic prices down?

Even with the relatively limited ownership of cameras that use the cards, one would think that there would still be enough profit in the production of the cards that it would be worthwhile.

John

I would hazard a wild guess that Sony holds licensing rights to SxS cards.

There are others... Lexar makes them now... its the speed of the cards that is going to
affect the Sony Cams... not all SxS cards are the same speed... and like other memory
media, it seems that the speed and the size dictate the cost to us..

But for those that need to keep SxS cards for other solutions, like backup or whatnot the
lexar cards are cheap....

http://store.lexar.com/?category=21&subcategory=48&productid=EX16GB-431

SanDisk is also on the market. B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart_accessories&A=details&Q=&sku=548306&is=REG) has their 8GB model right now for $379.95 (MSRP of $499.99)! - you've got to add it to your cart to see that price.

More info from SanDisk: http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1382)-SanDisk_Express_ExpressCard.aspx

There was a time when Sony said there would be a firmware update to allow the use of 3rd party cards and that Sony would certify such cards. Unfortunately that does not seem to be taking place.

There was a time when Sony said there would be a firmware update to allow the use of 3rd party cards and that Sony would certify such cards. Unfortunately that does not seem to be taking place.

On the B & H site for the Sandisk card, it does say it is compatible with the XDCAM - is anyone using these cards?
Quite a shame that the Lexar cards are sooooo slooow, heh?

I'm not sure there is much demand for these cards. Who else is using them (at these speeds) besides EX1/EX3 users? That's a pretty small market for a company to jump into against Sony.

The cards are already price competitive against P2 cards which have a MUCH wider distribution base and consumer demand, and the SxS cards trump P2 in video length per card so fewer would be needed anyway.

Just not sure what the profit potential would be for a competitor.

I wouldn't consider Sandisk a third party developer
SxS = Sony by Sandisk (or something like that).

As to whether it's worth it for other developers that depends.
There's the number of EX users (which is going up although certainly miniscule compared to DSLRs for example) vs profit potential and manufacturing costs.

If somebody (Lexar for example) had the manufacturing capability to make and sell a $300 16GB SxS card compatible with the EX for a profit I'm sure many of us would jump at that price. I don't know what the profit margin vs manufacturing cost vs volume sales to make the cost worthwhile but unlike Sony and Sandisk, such company is not footing an R&D cost (but would probably have to pay some sort of license or certification fee).

If video production support were based on volume compared to iPod accessories there'd be no video production support. Basically you can't directly compare the business models. Low volume sales can be very profitable.

It really depends on the business model Sony/Sandisk want to pursue with certification (fees) vs their own manufacturing and direct sales.