XQD or CF: When ordering a camera and the option of XQD or CF what is the difference between the two?

Davet Loc: Fort Myers, Florida

When ordering a camera and the option of XQD or CF what is the difference between the two?

Kuzano

Do not know what an XQD is, but CF is compact flash, biggest of the memory cards physically and must slot into a large number of pins at the bottom of a 1 inch deep receiving slot. Older style card, getting more difficult to find locally, and has the potential for bending pins at the bottom of the slot, creating a fairly significant expense on the camera to repair.
Trying to straighten the pins that get bent often breaks them off. Use with care.

In very wide usage for some years, CF usage is waning a bit.

I lost my card slot on one camera due to a misaligned CF card insertion, and the camera was not worth as much as the repair. OTOH usually very reliable cards and suggest leaving them in the slot and hooking the camera to computer, or if the camera is new... wireless transfer over constantly removing and replacing the card to use a card reader.

CF only information here.

traveler90712 Loc: Lake Worth, Fl.

A couple of references for you to review.

http://photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00dg3H
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XQD_card

Davet Loc: Fort Myers, Florida

great, thanks

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Kuzano wrote:

Do not know what an XQD is, but CF is compact flas... (show quote)

Make up your mind so Santa can bring the right D5 for your pleasure.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Davet wrote:

When ordering a camera and the option of XQD or CF what is the difference between the two?

XQD cards are currently only used in Nikon high end cameras, and Sony Pro video cameras. They have crazy fast write speeds and outperform any CF card on the market. They are also pricey units.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

DaveO wrote:

Make up your mind so Santa can bring the right D5 for your pleasure.

Santa? How about the Easter bunny? I can't wait.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

DirtFarmer wrote:

Santa? How about the Easter bunny? I can't wait.

I'm anxious to hear the feedback when the new stuff comes out!

DaveHam Loc: Reading UK

XQD is the ultra fast memory card used by some cameras like the D4, D4S and optionally the D5.

The XQD is quicker to write to and quicker to download from than the CF, and about four times the price.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

DaveO wrote:

Make up your mind so Santa can bring the right D5 for your pleasure.

If you change your mind after a while, Nikon will convert it to the other kind of card - for a price. They should have made interchangeable modules that could snap in and out. That would have been something special, although probably with limited appeal.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

jerryc41 wrote:

If you change your mind after a while, Nikon will convert it to the other kind of card - for a price. They should have made interchangeable modules that could snap in and out. That would have been something special, although probably with limited appeal.

I'm curious to see if they'll offer that for the D500.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

MT Shooter wrote:

XQD cards are currently only used in Nikon high end cameras, and Sony Pro video cameras. They have crazy fast write speeds and outperform any CF card on the market. They are also pricey units.

Do any readers exist for these cards yet? Do you know if there are any issues with computer file managers being able to access them, and will images on these cards be viewable by software that can currently read CF and SD cards?

The other thing I was wondering, and I'm guessing you don't know yet, is whether the high number of images in burst of the D500 and D5 is contingent on using the XQD card. In other words, how much does the card rather than the size of the buffer contribute to that 200 raw image burst that has been specified?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

mwsilvers wrote:

Do any readers exist for these cards yet? Do you k... (show quote)

The cards have been used for 4years now with no issues. Readers are from Lexar and Sony who make the cards. I have 3 XQD cards and use the Lexar reader, no software issues at all.
I have used a D500 with an SD card and the burst rate was scaredy fast. The 4K video will pretty much require the CAD cards though. That's why the D5 comes with the options it does.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

MT Shooter wrote:

The cards have been used for 4years now with no issues. Readers are from Lexar and Sony who make the cards. I have 3 XQD cards and use the Lexar reader, no software issues at all.
I have used a D500 with an SD card and the burst rate was scaredy fast. The 4K video will pretty much require the CAD cards though. That's why the D5 comes with the options it does.

Thanks for the feedback. I figured if anyone here would know it would be you.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

This is a test. The only cameras to use the XQD cards are the Nikon D4 and D4S as far as I know. The D5 is being offered with either as a test to see whether or not it's worth continuing with the XQD format. If not enough people order the XQD option they will probably move to something else with the D6. Since it's a module that can be changed (by Nikon) it means that legacy D5 bodies will not be useless if the XQD format gets dropped.