SD vs Compact flash cards: I was wondering if there was an advantage to the compact flash cards over SD cards. I see that the " Pro Cameras " 5D 1D ect have a slot for them and also SD...

Mr.Ft Loc: Central New Jersey

I was wondering if there was an advantage to the compact flash cards over SD cards. I see that the " Pro Cameras " 5D 1D ect have a slot for them and also SD slot. Just curious on if there was a reason.

Tom

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Suggested reading:
FAQ: What are the Different Standards for Secure Digital (SD) Memory Card? at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-301397-1.html
FAQ: What is the best Memory Card for my type of Photography? at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-49334-1.html

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

The only difference I've seen is transfer rate from card to computer. The SD card is quite a bit faster. This is what I've observed. I'm not stating a fact that every SD card is faster. There could be several reasons for this, none of which I'm willing to investigate. I'll just continue using the SD card to transfer files.
--Bob

Mr.Ft wrote:

I was wondering if there was an advantage to the compact flash cards over SD cards. I see that the " Pro Cameras " 5D 1D ect have a slot for them and also SD slot. Just curious on if there was a reason.

Tom

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

The Nikon D5 also has a model that takes the Compact Flash Card. The New Canon 5D Mark 4 uses them too. The C-fast card is highly acclaimed, and expensive. As compared to the XQD card, and some of the fastest SD cards, I don't know if one has full advantage over the other. Lexar makes very fast SD cards. Let the owners of these cameras voice their opinions.

RichJ207 Loc: Sammamish, WA

In my experience, compact flash cards are a distinct advantage for camera repair companies. Those little pins get mysteriously bent, can sometimes be straightened but can be expensive to cure professionally. I've paid for that repair once a few years ago and will not place a compact flash card in my dual-card Canon 5Dsr. Others may have better success.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Being smaller, SD cards are easier to misplace.....but go through the wash better.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Card speeds are similar for the fastest standard CF and SD cards (CF has a slight edge) unless you have a relatively new camera that can use the new Cfast or XQD cards. As was mentioned, it's possible to bend CF card socket pins, and that's an expensive repair ($200+ for Canon). In-camera speed depends on the interface controller of the particular camera. One test I recently read showed a much faster write speed for CF (46MB/sec) vs SD (18MB/sec) for a Canon 5D3 due to the faster in-camera CF bus controller, but almost equal speeds when the same cards were used in an Olympus body:

http://www.tested.com/tech/photography/455053-how-sd-card-speeds-are-often-limited-slow-memory-controllers
http://blog.photoshelter.com/2014/11/the-fastest-sd-cf-cards-for-the-canon-5d-mark-iii/

so best to find a test with your particular body if possible. One other thing to be aware of: if you have dual card slots, writing to both will typically substantially decrease the maximum number of shots in a burst before the buffer fills.

muggins88 Loc: Inverness, Florida

GoofyNewfie wrote:

Being smaller, SD cards are easier to misplace.....but go through the wash better.

I've had both flash and SD card go thru the wash and they worked fine afterwards. I mark them because now I don't trust them. They are my emergency cards.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Never found a difference

Satman Loc: Indy

My CF has an adapter to take SD,

I takes about an hour to pull and replace a damaged CF Pin strip..$25.00 for the part..

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Satman wrote:

My CF has an adapter to take SD,

I takes about an hour to pull and replace a damaged CF Pin strip..$25.00 for the part..

You should video the process and put it up on utube and then post a link here - there would be lots of interested people, and it would be a big help. I'm a skilled electronic tech, but I don't think I'd dare open up my 5D3 without some very explicit instructions. On the other hand, having bent one pin on a 7D (which luckily was a duplicated ground pin not requiring replacement), I am now VERY careful when inserting a CF card.

Satman Loc: Indy

There is a video on utube, but I would not recommend it for everyone, it is a good hours work..

Nikon has far less screws than Canon, your local college has some skilled repair techs, for camera repairs also...

I am also far more careful with my 7d.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Mr.Ft wrote:

I was wondering if there was an advantage to the compact flash cards over SD cards. I see that the " Pro Cameras " 5D 1D ect have a slot for them and also SD slot. Just curious on if there was a reason.

Tom

The one real downside to compact flash cards is that the pins in the camera or in the card readers bend easily if the user doesn't get the card in straight or there is some wear on the card. I have 7 or 8 card readers that the compact flash card slot is unusable because of bent pins. Unfortunately I can't blame ALL of them on the wife, who is using the D70s which is my only compact flash card using camera. The slot in the camera seems fine though so it is probably CHEAP card readers (are you paying attention Adobe? since 3 of the readers came from you). Anyway, when I was at Nikon, that was one of the biggest customer complaints on some of their cameras. They have ALMOST completely moved to SD card and have the XQD on their high end Nikon D4, Nikon D4s, Nikon D5, and Nikon D500 according to their support list.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Mr.Ft wrote:

I was wondering if there was an advantage to the compact flash cards over SD cards. I see that the " Pro Cameras " 5D 1D ect have a slot for them and also SD slot. Just curious on if there was a reason.

Tom

The reason why many cameras come with an SD and a CF card slot is because CF cards have faster data transfer rates than SD. But, CF card technology has maxed out and SC card technology has not maxed out and has the potential or actually is faster now than CF. Although the really fast SD cards are expensive, you have the option to use which one you want. New Cfast and XQD are being offered in some cameras now too, and I think that CF will be phasing out sooner than later. Times change quickly in all things digital.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

two words...
Bent Pins

I prefer SD cards...as Goofy has mentioned they wash much better than CF cards.