What's the difference between CF & SD card if both state 30mb/s (other than the size)


andyseah

New Member
Mar 11, 2010
101
0
0
Singapore
My camera is able to take these 2 type of cards. From what I can see the difference is the physical size and price... any other difference??

Please advice...
 

SD card has large exposed contact pads. CF cards relies on pin-in-hole contact where the card has holes and the pins are on the reader side. This makes it less likely to be damaged or oxidization.
 

Have ask Sandisk help desk the same questions and their reply is.... same if you're using the same transfer rate cards. So its more logical to get the cheaper type if your camera accept both types.

Currently, I'm thinking of getting the Extreme SD to CF adapter which claims that it will not reduce the speed of the SD card and will pop the Sandisk Extreme Pro 95mb/s into the adapter (for raw) and use another SD card (for jpg) in my camera. Hope that it works! 2 SD cards in 1 camera...
 

Don't forget to check whether your camera has a type II CF slot. Most new cameras only come with a type I CF slot. The SD-to-CF converters need the thicker type II slots.
 

UncleFai said:
SD card has large exposed contact pads. CF cards relies on pin-in-hole contact where the card has holes and the pins are on the reader side. This makes it less likely to be damaged or oxidization.

But sometimes misalignment when you plug in ur card can cause damage to your CF card reader.. I spoilt 2 readers due to this... True story..
 

I spoilt 1 reader when I slot the CF card upside down. so do it gently...:bsmilie:
 

I think that's more of problem with some card readers that have very shallow slots. The better readers with deeper slots ensure the CF pins & holes line up.
 

this is a nice explanation.
SD card has large exposed contact pads. CF cards relies on pin-in-hole contact where the card has holes and the pins are on the reader side. This makes it less likely to be damaged or oxidization.
 

Well, if you drop a SD card versus a CF card, all other things being equal I suspect the CF card will be more likely to survive.

But I don't see why people drop either format at all. So effectively, beyond a marginal speed difference, the perceived advantage of CF over SD is minimal today, for me.

Cheers.
 

ed9119 said:
CF cards allow multi-byte parallel write or read at a the same time.

In short, its faster ....

some comparison tests here too...
SD and CF memory card performance

While performance as shown in the provided benchmark indicates CF is faster than SD, I believe having multibytes parallel reading is not fundamentally faster than serial operations. The benefits of serial channels as shown in how SATA offers better transfer rate as oppose to PATA and also how serialized access lowers interference in signal which are more prominent in parallel access interfaces do indicate transfer throughput isn't a matter of parallel or serial access. The frequency of access and technique uses to access, similar to DDR and DDR2 in memory access should be considered.
 

I've seen some cameras with bent/damaged CF card pins. And because the CF card connector is mounted on the main board (for some cameras), it cost a lot to fix.
For cameras using SD card, haven't seen broken connector yet. :dunno: Maybe just a coincidence
 

Last edited:
If you have this 2 CF or SD.

I'm simple said the SD much faster for reading and preview, Cheap & good some more.

f90ef873.jpg


If you camera only got CF then have no choose :(
 

Other than physical differences, I believe that CF cards are generally more stable as compared to SD card, thus we seeing lots of professional grade camera are using the CF card as of yet.

I think this trend is starting to change as technology advances and SD card become more stable as compared to now.
 

We only have to get from entry level user,
They all using the SD card only.

Your point being?

The main thing here is CF card is still being utilised in professional cameras everywhere for a reason... and stability being one of them.

I am seeing SD card slots being implemented to professional cameras nowadays which might mean that SD card had finally caught up with CF card in term of stability, but there are still slot for CF card... might be because most professional had heaps of CF cards lying around... or that the camera makers are still not convince that SD card is more or as stable as CF card yet.
 

rhino123 said:
Your point being?

The main thing here is CF card is still being utilised in professional cameras everywhere for a reason... and stability being one of them.

I am seeing SD card slots being implemented to professional cameras nowadays which might mean that SD card had finally caught up with CF card in term of stability, but there are still slot for CF card... might be because most professional had heaps of CF cards lying around... or that the camera makers are still not convince that SD card is more or as stable as CF card yet.

CF card is good more quality of built and the cost also get double you paid for.

In terms of image delivery what I shoots an still saving into the memory card and transfer into my PC, that is what we need.

In professional they everyday using the card for works like no tomorrow in professional photographer or wedding shop.

If compare from the small piece of SD card sure not so durable lah, accidentally slot wrong way in the card reader this may failure or crack.
 

Last edited:
CF card is good more quality of built and the cost also get double you paid for.

In terms of image delivery what I shoots an still saving into the memory card and transfer into my PC, that is what we need.

In professional they everyday using the card for works like no tomorrow in professional photographer or wedding shop.

If compare from the small piece of SD card sure not so durable lah, accidentally slot wrong way in the card reader this may failure or crack.

Yes and no.

Yes, the CF card seemed more durable, in that the contact are deeper and the pins from the slot will have to be 'stabbed' into the card and thus it was more or less protected (contact point). Second the protocol used for both CF and SD are different, in the past the CF card run on a protocol that are more stable and with less likely a chance of corruption to your file. SD card's contact point is (on the other hand) exposed, so by inserting the card (if the contact point had oxidise or had some foreign particles on it) the card might not be able to be read. And so for important events when a photographer inserted such a card into the slot, and suddenly found that the card cannot be read (worst, if the card error was intermittent - sometime can read, sometime cannot, then many precious or important stuff will be missed) that is why many of the professional might still like to fall back on the CF card.

Also I read somewhere that files get corrupted more easily when using a SD card (not sure if it was true or was it still valid).

As for the cost of making a CF card as compare to a SD card, they are pretty near each other, not really worth that cost difference, so manufacturing cost of both the items are not a determining factor for why only professional and semi-professional cameras uses it.

If you really want to compare which is more durable in the process of slotting it differently or wrongly into the slot, I would say that CF card is more prom to damages... because the pins that are suppose to be slotted into the card on the equipment can be bent easily when you slot your CF card wrongly into the CF card slot. I have never heard of someone slotting a SD card wrongly and damage the SD card slot yet.
 

CF cards are mechanically superior to SDHC and SD cards. The contact points (female in a card, they are a socket) as others have mentioned are not exposed, this allows the card to be safely handled without static electricity issues that can damage a card with exposed contacts. Also and CF card reader worth using will have polarzing pins to prevent the card being reversed in the reader or bent pins in the reader. CF cards also comply to the same electrical and read/write standard as micro hard disks so in most professional cameras they can be swapped at will.