Will CF cards eventually be replaced by SD?

GaryK wrote in post #2659420
The major design disadvantage of the CF cards are the exposed pins that some users have bent. SD cards have the advantage of contacts and I have not heard of a similar issue.

I would not be surprised to see dual card cameras in the next generation - the 5D accepts both CF and SD.

I've had more SD slots fail on me than CF, and that's with a whole bunch more CF slots than SD.

Another advantage to the CF is that, unlike SD, the CF interface with the camera is universal. Any CF card will work in any CF-using device. (And yes, I know that FAT16 cameras and FAT32 cards cause problems, but you can format any card to FAT16 and use it in a legacy device; the file system's not tied to the hardware interface). With SD cards there are 3-4 groups of cards which aren't backward compatible. There's the original ones which go up to around 1 Gb, the next generation that go up to 2, and the current SD-HC which break the 2 GB barrier; the 4th group is all the kludges that manufacturers resorted to to get past the original 1 GB limit before the 2 GB extension and SD-HC standards were defined.

GaryK wrote in post #2659420
The major design disadvantage of the CF cards are the exposed pins that some users have bent. SD cards have the advantage of contacts and I have not heard of a similar issue.

I would not be surprised to see dual card cameras in the next generation - the 5D accepts both CF and SD.

Gee.... I feel slighted. My 5D only accepts CFs.

Maybe you meant the 1-series..??

jrsforums wrote in post #2659913
Gee.... I feel slighted. My 5D only accepts CFs.

Maybe you meant the 1-series..??

Maybe he read 5D quickly, and thought it was SD

Have Fun,

jrsforums wrote in post #2659913
Gee.... I feel slighted. My 5D only accepts CFs.

Maybe you meant the 1-series..??

If you're slighted, than so am I - they shorted both of my 5D's

SunTsu wrote in post #2658764
Does anyone know if CF provides any technical advantages over SD? I used to think it was capacity, but doesn't seem to be the case anymore. If CF doesn't have any advantages, I don't see any reason to keep it.

Capacity is still one reason. there are 10, 12 and 16GB CF cards now..

IMHO, for memory cards, the large the better (and I'm talking about physical size, not capacity)
The CF is the most sensible for me for that reason. I have a very hard time working with SD cards.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #2660120
........IMHO, for memory cards, the large the better (and I'm talking about physical size, not capacity)
The CF is the most sensible for me for that reason. I have a very hard time working with SD cards.

Completely agree - just because something can be miniaturized doesn't mean that it is the best "human" ergonomic.

they're very reasonable in price, and i think you'd be safe buying more... they won't replace it anytime soon, imo

Thanks. I was going thinking of getting an 8GB card. It's still a few hundred bucks, but it would save me the hassle of having to change cards. The cheap side of my personality keeps tellling me that 7GB is enough because I won't take more than 400 shots a day. That same cheap side is also telling me not to buy more than what I need because it will only come down in price.

What will probably happen is I'll just end up getting it, but I'm trying to fight off that instinct.

I like to use cards of 2 Gig. Reasoning:
Two of them will fill a DvD
If I loose or corrupt one card, I still have some images.
Cheapest price 'per Gig' when I bought them.

Following on from what Jon posted, I believe forward compatability is an issue with SD cards. With CF, any CF camera should be able to plug in whatever capacity CF card can be produced. With SD, the capacity it restricted by the device (i.e. there is a max sized card that current SD cameras will be able to use).

chrisb99 wrote in post #2660540
Following on from what Jon posted, I believe forward compatability is an issue with SD cards. With CF, any CF camera should be able to plug in whatever capacity CF card can be produced. With SD, the capacity it restricted by the device (i.e. there is a max sized card that current SD cameras will be able to use).

Speaking for the DSLRs, that can usually be addressed via a firmware update. I don't know the limits of SD-HC (the latest iteration), but that should cover SD capacity for the foreseeable future.

And, CF cards had their own version of this issue with 2GB cards - so this is not a new or SD-only concern.

Have Fun,

CoolToolGuy wrote in post #2660594
Speaking for the DSLRs, that can usually be addressed via a firmware update. I don't know the limits of SD-HC (the latest iteration), but that should cover SD capacity for the foreseeable future.

And, CF cards had their own version of this issue with 2GB cards - so this is not a new or SD-only concern.

Have Fun,

I mentioned that - it was strictly the directory structure, not a fundamental change in controller architecture (FAT16 vs FAT32), so finessable.

SD Cards are currently limited to 2GB due to having an embedded Fat 12/16 file system on the cards. SD-HC cards are Fat32.
The 4GB no-name high speed SD cards you find on Pricewatch are actually non-certified SD-HC cards modified for SD compatibility.

Currently, the SD-HC spec allows for 3 different data transfer speeds (Class 2, Class 4, and Class 6), and is supposed to be backwards compatible with SD. SD-HC Class ratings are for minimum data rates for the card with maximum data fragmentation.

The problem I ran into is that when CF cards hit 2GB, all the various 40x, 80x, 100x etc. card speeds popped up, and I couldn't get my card to recognize in some card readers due to the cards not matching the rated specs for CF cards.

I've noticed that CF cards are advancing in capability BEFORE the accepted specifications, and you may not get a compatible card. SD cards are manufactured based on an existing specification, and then modified backwards.

SD cards also have a unique feature that allows for embedded copy protection on the card that prevents the removal, copying, viewing, etc. of data on the card without the correct card reader detected.

There's also the simple "Write protect" that has saved my bacon many times with SD cards.

CoolToolGuy wrote in post #2659194
Take a look here for performance numbers:

http://www.robgalbrait​h.com …ti_page.asp?cid​=6007-8200

And here for prices:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …c=&Submit.x=16&​Submit.y=7

SD outperforms CF by a country mile, and the prices are exactly the same.

I don't like the size or physical flexibility of the SD card, but the facts are the facts - if CF performance doesn't get a major improvement quickly, CF slots will be replaced by SD slots, and we'll be using our old CF cards to stabilize wobbly tables.

Have Fun,

I wouldn't say that table shows outperformance "by a country mile" it does show some SD cards are faster than CF cards but at the bottom end the SD cards are slower than any of the CF cards. Also you are limited to 2GB with SD while you can get up to 16GB (last I heard) with CF cards.

blackshadow wrote in post #2663743
I wouldn't say that table shows outperformance "by a country mile" it does show some SD cards are faster than CF cards but at the bottom end the SD cards are slower than any of the CF cards. Also you are limited to 2GB with SD while you can get up to 16GB (last I heard) with CF cards.

I don't pretend to have all of the data or be the definitive expert, but the data available to me (Rob Galbraith's card performance database) indicates the following:

Sandisk Extreme III, 1GB in the 1D MKII N: CF=5.721 MB/sec; SD=7.370 MB/sec. The SD card write speed is 37% faster than the CF card - and they are exactly the same price. If my car could only go 100 MPH and yours could go 137 MPH I would consider that you beat me by a "Country Mile" - YMMV.

The fastest CF card for the 1D2N is the Sandisk Extreme IV, 2GB at 6.468 MB/sec. Sandisk hasn't even announced an Extreme IV SD card, and the Extreme III noted above outperforms the Extreme IV CF card.

As for max sizes, the market for SD cards is still building. Of course the CF cards are going to be bigger, since the market is there today - but as the market for SD cards grows, the sizes will appear, as if by magic.

4GB is already available: http://www.sandisk.com …II_SD_and_SDHC_​Cards.aspx

I don't crave a migration to SD, but as I mentioned above - the facts are the facts. Also, I can only speak for my usage, and I like to stick with Sandisk, as they seem to be the fastest cards in Canon DSLRs - again, YMMV.

Have Fun,