SD or CF cards

arclight

arclight

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I have read the thread started by Dangermouse1964 in July, 2009.

What I am about to ask is not quite covered in that thread.

If you have and SD card and a CF card and both are the same speed, same capacity and same manufacturer is there any reason (apart from cost) to choose one type over the other.

I use both and have no bother with the cards, but I am always very wary when inserting CF cards since I reckon there may be a risk of pin damage if alignment is not perfect.
 
I use both. Started using CF first and didnt want to use SDs because I read lots of posts about how better built and faster CFs are. I am glad I did try the SDs because I found that speed wise they are the same and build quality is not bad at all. Both of my CF and SD 16GB 90MB/S give me the same performance and if there is any scientific difference then I don't notice it.
 
architectfadi said:
I use both. Started using CF first and didnt want to use SDs because I read lots of posts about how better built and faster CFs are. I am glad I did try the SDs because I found that speed wise they are the same and build quality is not bad at all. Both of my CF and SD 16GB 90MB/S give me the same performance and if there is any scientific difference then I don't notice it.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I use SanDisk 95MB/s Extreme Pro - 16GB. Cannot see any performance difference.
Thanks Scarecrow & Graphilly.
 
If I had the option I would use SD cards over CF, they are cheaper I don't need a card reader or use the camera to read from the car when importing onto a computer. They are more widely used which = usage on many more devices.

Speed concerns I am not so sure about, I have only just bought CF card today for use in my recently acquired 5D mkii.
 
SD cards because they are cheaper, more widely use (reader everywhere) and smaller.

unfortunately my camera doesn't do SD cards, so I had to get an adapter. two 32GB SD cards costed me £35 total, even with the adapter, it's still same price as a single 32GB CF card.
 
Jin & Wuyan. The cost is a factor I was disregarding (for now). I just have a nagging concern over the fragility of the pins in cameras and readers when using CF cards. Probably being over cautious since camera makers would have dumped them if there was a problem.
 
true memory is cheap compared to years ago, i personally want a few more memory cards as back up as i am shooting a wedding in december, i would rather have more and not need them then have 2 and need more :( even the adapter would put my mind at ease i think as back up memory...just to add im no way a pro tog, just doing the shoot for a favor for my wifes friend
 
I far prefer CF cards over SD. My DSLRs and one of my compacts use them. However, I have some SD cards as well since my waterproof compact, my Minox miniature M3 replica and my Fuji HS30 all use them. They're quite handy, because although I need a card reader to get them onto a computer, my netbook has a reader built in, so I don't need to carry a seperate one (unlike the CF cards which DO need an external reader to be got into the netbook.

Yes, CF socket pins can wear and bend but you need to be pretty ham fisted to force the card in back to front to damage them - in many years of using them, I've never bent or worn a pin out! In theory, SD cards contact strips could also wear out. Less susceptible to bending, I suppose but I'm sure it could be done if you really tried hard! For the record, USB ports also have a theoretical finite number of insert/remove cycles and the mini usb socket (as fitted to most cameras) theoretical life is shorter because the connector is smaller. I'm sure some research would throw up the expected numbers but, frankly, I'm not interested enough to figure out the right questions to put to Google!
 
I've been using CF cards for over a year and never had a bent pin or any other problems at all. I've been using SDHC cards for many years though and have had a few die on me from usage or from dropping and damaging them, but not many at all when you consider how many years overall wirh SD cards in one form or another. As long as you're steady inserting the CF card I doubt you'd ever have any problems though.
 
I would choose CF over SD every time. I've had someone's very worn SD card disintegrate between my fingers. :eek: I can't even bend a CF card. :) I don't like how flimsy and light weight a SD feels either. I can feel and find a CF card in my pocket, that sometimes can't be said for a SD card. :shrug:


I would be happier if my camera had 2x CF slots rather than 1x CF and 1x SD. I'm happy it has got two card slots though. :)

SD cards are becoming the memory card choice more often because of size and cost, rather than performance. The new XQD memory card seemed to be the best combination of CF and SD but that format looks like it is dead already. :shake:
 
SD cards here, because my laptop has a built in SD card reader, but no CF reader. I might get one CF card to always have in the camera as a back up, but SD for the most part. I have 4 atm, 4GB, 16GB + 32GB x 2.
 
tingting44 said:
i was thinking about getting a SD to CF adapter? as i have loads of sd's from my 1000D but only 2 CF's for my 7D? would there be any issues in using an adapter to adapt from SD to CF? here is what i was looking at...

http://www.mymemory.co.uk/Memory-Card-Readers/MyMemory/SD-Card-to-CompactFlash-Card-Adaptor
Click to expand...
can't speak for that one, but the 2 I got from Amazon (a cheapest one and a Delock one for eye-fi) both works great, both are able to take advantage of Sandisk Extreme 32GB.

how can cost be ignored? it's a major factor in any purchase decisions.
 
wuyanxu said:
can't speak for that one, but the 2 I got from Amazon (a cheapest one and a Delock one for eye-fi) both works great, both are able to take advantage of Sandisk Extreme 32GB.

how can cost be ignored? it's a major factor in any purchase decisions.
Click to expand...

Cost is not the major factor when your internal card reader is, like mine, one of those:-
http://www.google.co.uk/products/ca...=1Oh3UMHkEciw0AW46oHwDw&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQ8gIwAQ

Whoever designed that needs a thrashing. If you look at the pic you can see that the pins are hardly recessed at all. You need the skill of a neurosurgeon to get a CF card in without damage.
I started this thread in the hope that it could be established that there would be no significant performance disadvantage if using SD cards instead of CF cards. I am convinced now that there will be no good reason not to stick to SD cards.
Thank you all.
 
arclight said:
Jin & Wuyan. The cost is a factor I was disregarding (for now). I just have a nagging concern over the fragility of the pins in cameras and readers when using CF cards. Probably being over cautious since camera makers would have dumped them if there was a problem.
Click to expand...

Buying a decent brand of CF card from a reputable supplier and using a decent CF reader, again from a decent brand and supplier and I really don't think this should be an issue.

I've been using CF cards since around 1996 and I've never had an issue with them that I would say was pin damage.

As for price, you can get some great deals on CF cards where they are reduced to the price you might have paid for SD cards the week before. Timing might not always be right for you though :)

Buying a decent brand of CF card from a reputable supplier and using a decent CF reader, again from a decent brand and supplier and I really don't think this should be an issue.

I've been using CF cards since around 1996 and I've never had an issue with them that I would say was pin damage.


As for price, you can get some great deals on CF cards where they are reduced to a price around what you might have paid for SD cards the week before, keep an eye on Amazon. Timing might not always be right for you though :)

For the robustness over the SD cards I'd pay the extra every time. SD cards are far more easily damaged in my opinion and that is just putting them in and out of you camera, it doesn't take much to bend them and snap a connection.
 
If you ever bend an SD card enough to damage it, I think it's a doc you need not a stronger card :D
 
graphilly said:
Buying a decent brand of CF card from a reputable supplier and using a decent CF reader, again from a decent brand and supplier and I really don't think this should be an issue. etc.................

.
Click to expand...

Got a PC from Chillblast not too long ago and everything about it seems excellent except the Internal Card reader for the reason mentioned in Post #20.
Cannot use it for CF cards. Got a Kingston USB3.0 reader this morning. Installed and working. Very happy with it for CF & SD cards .... :thumbs:
 
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