Memory card prices - this is madness!

I haven't had the need to shop for memory cards for a while so my brain's price list is still stuck in 2009 or whenever CF cards used to be cheaper than SD. I recently had a look at memory card prices and I can now exclaim "this is madness" and "I've been living under a rock".

I'll use 400X by Lexar as an example
128 GB CF costs $320 vs 128 GB SDXC for $120
64 GB CF costs $150 vs 64 GB SDXC for $65
32 GB CF costs $80 vs 32 GB SDHC for $35

So basically SD cards are less than half the price of equally sized CF cards with identical speed ratings now. That's insane! I'm wondering if the 7D Mark II will support CF + SD, like the 5D Mark 3 does.

There's even a 256 GB SDXC on B&H now, but no CF equivalent from any mainstream big brands. Max capacity and price used to go in favor of CF, but it is no longer true. Is there any advantage to getting CF anymore? Besides "durability" and higher top speed, 1000X vs SD's 600X max. Those speeds are out of my league anyway, pricing wise.

Well, SD cards require less materials and are cheaper to manufacturer, so you had to know that was coming. However they are not built as tough as CF and personally I prefer to stay with CF even if my 5D2 HAD an SD card slot.

Look how many cameras have been released that either use SD as the primary medium or else have an SD slot.

SD is simply manufactured in greater quantity so yeah, it's per unit price is going to come down faster than CF.

Personally, I'll take CF over SD any day though.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #15155643
Look how many cameras have been released that either use SD as the primary medium or else have an SD slot.

SD is simply manufactured in greater quantity so yeah, it's per unit price is going to come down faster than CF.

Personally, I'll take CF over SD any day though.

agreed -

Any particular reason? As someone who's only used cameras with SD cards, I don't really see any advantage in CF. As for toughness, I feel they are good enough, they're light enough to pretty much be invincible to falls and I've accidentally ran a couple through the wash. Still perfectly fine.

I carry my CF cards in a Think Tank card wallet. The bare cards slip into little pockets in the wallet. One concern I have with SD cards is the exposed contacts rubbing against the nylon and possibly building a charge that zaps the memory. Is this a realistic concern?

Tried changing cards in the dark, or wearing gloves? Had a spring-loaded card fly out of the slot when you tried to eject it and land who knows where? All real-life experiences of mine. I prefer the CF cards too.

mike_d wrote in post #15155805
Is this a realistic concern?

Possible yes but not very likely.

I've broken the little plastic wedges on both Sony memory sticks and other SD cards, on more occasions than I like. I've only had one ever mishap with my compact flash cards and that was when they were first used, and not even for a camera.

Carlwashere wrote in post #15155705
Any particular reason? As someone who's only used cameras with SD cards, I don't really see any advantage in CF.

Unfortunately Rob Galbraith no longer maintains a database of test results of various brands and capacities and speeds of CF and SD memory for writing and reading both RAW data and JPG data. But when he still did, the fastest SD card was much, much slower than the fastest CF card. SD writes 1 bit at a time thru a serial bus, the CF writes 8 bits at a time thru a parallel bus. The SD is cheaper to make since its data bus is one bit wide, while the CF is 8 bits wide.

Old Rob Galbraith memory speed tests with the 7D and 5DII and 1DIV all show Lexar CF to be at the top of the heap for write speeds.

http://www.robgalbrait​h.com …i_page.asp?cid=​6007-10294

http://www.robgalbrait​h.com …ti_page.asp?cid​=6007-9784

http://www.robgalbrait​h.com …i_page.asp?cid=​6007-10549

If you look at the 7D test (first link) the fastest SD is about #70 down the list! And that is another reason why folks love CF.

CF cards all the way!

Bryan

I like the CF cards for the reasons stated however, if a manufacturer can build a two slot CF camera, why not a three slot SD and give us the recording options we have now?
Also, It's easier to carry more memory in a smaller package with SD. If you use the plastic cases that come with a card, three SD will fit in one CF case. It's easy to slip three SD cards in your pocket while in one of those cases.

I dunno. I could go either way with this.
The 1DX takes CF so it's not like I need to make a choice.

EOS Man wrote in post #15155598
So basically SD cards are less than half the price of equally sized CF cards with identical speed ratings now.

Yup, identical speed ratings. But how do those ratings come out in real life? In my 7D the lexar 400x card will quite happily accept data thrown at it as fast as the camera can chuck it. But it's not the same if I stick a 400x SD in my 60D - because the 60D can't take advantage of the UHS facility of the card, and without UHS there's no way it can reach the rated speed.

No mater how much we like CF or for that mater any other memory format, it seems market is moving in direction of SD.
Do you remember betamax vs VHS, HD dvd vs Bluray?
And if you believe in "Money talks", you see that there is a good reason for that.

Most fo my cf cards are not carried in my case. infact i sometimes carry a spare cf card in my wallet next to money notes and card still works fine