XD Picture Card

[Compass Call]

Could somebody please explain the difference (in simple terms) between XD type H & M picture cards. I want to buy some for my camera but I am not sure which type to get. I have a Fuji card and an Olympus card but neither says type H or M on them.
Thanks in advance.
CC

[FormerFlake]

There is a compatibilty list here:

http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/compati/di000374e.cfm

I can not remember exactly why there different types though.

[rotorcraig]

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XD-Picture_Card):

The original XD cards were available in 16 MB—512 MB capacities.

As of August 2006, Type M cards are available in sizes from 256 MB to 2 GB. However, the Type M suffers slower read-write speeds than the original cards.

The Type H card offers higher data rates than Type M cards (theoretically as much as 3 times faster). As of 2006, Type H cards are only available in 256MB, 512 MB and 1 GB capacities.

Compatibility lists are available for Olympus (http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/images/Compatibility_xD-PictureCard_SmartMedia_Compact_Flash_20060406.pdf) (PDF format) and Fujifilm (http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital/accessories/card/index.html#compati)

RC

[obgraham]

A few of the Olympi will not accept the M or H cards. Check the compatibility list very carefully.