Compact flash vs. SD cards: which is better?

[scoundrel1728]

Originally Posted by tomrit

Well, using CF was a priority when I bought my digital cameras. Unfortunately, my old Olympus C-5050z can only go up to 2gb (A limitation of the cameras firmware I am sure, as it is not a CF limitation.) Fortunately, 267 raw shots are more than enough for me.

You know how hard it is to find 2gb CF cards anymore? The smallest any local stores are selling is 8gb.

I've got some cameras old enough to gag even on 1 GB cards! My Coolpix 995 can work with 256 MB cards but I must change out the card before it gets 200 pictures on it because if I don't want the shot counter to reset on me. I've also run across cameras that have trouble with 1 GB SD cards. My son also has an infrared-converted Oly C-2020 that uses SmartMedia cards. Just try to find one of those these days!

[badpickev]

which one is better? easy, the one your camera uses.

a memory card is well a memory card, in simplest terms is a removable solid state hard drive.

i have cameras that smart media, microdrives, compact flash, xd, and sd cards, outside of the microdrives, they are work the same. but the really small xd cards suck with fat or large fingers.

[wolfd]

I have used both. I prefer SD cards because they are cheaper and because I have had the bad experience of bent pins with the CF cards. Have also used xD cards on my Olympus cameras. They are also good but seem to not have been adopted by anyone else, same goes for the Sony Memory stick due or produo.

[Dirk]

Originally Posted by wolfd

I have used both. I prefer SD cards because they are cheaper and because I have had the bad experience of bent pins with the CF cards. Have also used xD cards on my Olympus cameras. They are also good but seem to not have been adopted by anyone else, same goes for the Sony Memory stick due or produo.

@wolf
Wolf Xd is also used in some Fuij Film camera's

I use XD/CF/SD/SDHC/MS

I have never ever broken a card before , once had a error with a very old cf card os sandisk 256mb , after having contact with Sandisc they asked me to send the defect card to them , two weeks later the mailman came with a brand new Ultra 1gb cf card , and a mini cd with the saved images they could recover

I use mainly brands i have good experiences now and in the past
in speed there are differences i use the fastest cf for my D200 and the slowe ones for the Sony Alpha 100 (also CF) , the D60/D80+K10d are sdhc users
same goes for the dsc-w530 & dmc-fs62 & Traveler DC 145 & Ex-fh20 . Xd is used in FE 170 & fe 190 and fe 350 (olympus) MS is used in a very ancient Sony dsc-p20

[scoundrel1728]

For what it's worth, if you really like SD cards but have a camera that only accepts CF cards, there are adapters that allow SD cards to be used in CF slots. Unfortunately, you have to remove the adapter from the CF slot to insert or remove the SD card, so the adapter doesn't help alleviate the risk of bent pins. I have such an adapter that I bought in case I can't get the kind of CF card I want, but so far that hasn't been a problem.

[Narsuitus]

Scoundrel1728,

I understand that some adapters only fit in cameras that have the thicker type 2 CompactFlash slots.

Also, I understand that the adapters cause the SD card to have a slower writing speed, cause the camera to have a slower firing rate, and reduce the length of video footage the camera is able to capture.

Have you noticed either of these potential problems with your adapter?

[meinster]

Originally Posted by scoundrel1728

For what it's worth, if you really like SD cards but have a camera that only accepts CF cards, there are adapters that allow SD cards to be used in CF slots. Unfortunately, you have to remove the adapter from the CF slot to insert or remove the SD card, so the adapter doesn't help alleviate the risk of bent pins. I have such an adapter that I bought in case I can't get the kind of CF card I want, but so far that hasn't been a problem.

where did you find that adapter.. I have a handful of sd cards would not mind using on the 7d

[scoundrel1728]

Originally Posted by Narsuitus

Scoundrel1728,

I understand that some adapters only fit in cameras that have the thicker type 2 CompactFlash slots.

Also, I understand that the adapters cause the SD card to have a slower writing speed, cause the camera to have a slower firing rate, and reduce the length of video footage the camera is able to capture.

Have you noticed either of these potential problems with your adapter?

My particular adapter model is indeed thicker than a Type I card and will fit only in a Type II slot. I would guess that would generally be true for adapters of this type. The SD card is too long to fit in the length of the card, so must fit crossways. Because the adapter needs its grooves in the sides of the card to fit securely into the CF slot, the SD card fits in the area left by the extra thickness of the CF II card.

I have only checked this adapter functionally, so I don't know how much it slows down the read/write speed of the card. The 40D fires only at 3 shot per second in any case and I don't need anything faster, nor do I do long bursts very often.

Originally Posted by meinster

where did you find that adapter.. I have a handful of sd cards would not mind using on the 7d

I found several versions of such adapters from different manufacturers on Amazon when I did a search.

[meinster]

Originally Posted by scoundrel1728

My particular adapter model is indeed thicker than a Type I card and will fit only in a Type II slot. I would guess that would generally be true for adapters of this type. The SD card is too long to fit in the length of the card, so must fit crossways. Because the adapter needs its grooves in the sides of the card to fit securely into the CF slot, the SD card fits in the area left by the extra thickness of the CF II card.

I have only checked this adapter functionally, so I don't know how much it slows down the read/write speed of the card. The 40D fires only at 3 shot per second in any case and I don't need anything faster, nor do I do long bursts very often.



I found several versions of such adapters from different manufacturers on Amazon when I did a search.

Thanks scoundrel

[Keith201]

CF cards were originally produced purely for use in PCs as a - yes, you got it! Compact Flash storage drives and were adopted by camera manufacturers as they developed digital cameras and needed a storage device for the images. SD (Secure Digital) came later. THey are all however, really computer parts not necessarily camera parts