Johndbr said:
Just wondering why Nikon uses CF in there top models? I think Canon does too. There must be a reason.

The reason is they (currently) come in higher capacities and with more speed than SD.

I find CF cards too large, plus hardly any other devices use them.

Where as SDHC is used everywhere.

Every digital camera I have owned used CF cards. Just wondering why Nikon uses CF in there top models? I think Canon does too. There must be a reason.

NikoDoby said:
Johndbr, think of it this way, that donut (spare tire) allows your trunk to have more room for your stuff. CF slots take up a lot of room on a camera. If SD cards free up space for other features (like a sturdy swivel for the LCD screen) then I'm all for it!

Run flat tires or a can of sealant is not a great replacement for a full size spare though!

As dated as compact flash is, I'm willing to upgrade from SD to CF if I get a higher end Nikon.

Niko, that is a good point. It's just that the SD cards seem so flimsey and small. Just wondering if it's worth investing much more money in CF cards?

as far as speed and size are similar I don't care about the format - can be SD or CF

Johndbr, think of it this way, that donut (spare tire) allows your trunk to have more room for your stuff. CF slots take up a lot of room on a camera. If SD cards free up space for other features (like a sturdy swivel for the LCD screen) then I'm all for it!

When CF cards die, it will be because system hardware manufactures no longer want to support them. Since they are, in effect, a PATA device they were quite popular for a variety of reasons when PATA chipsets ruled the world. It was not uncommon for embedded devices to use CF cards as embedded storage, simply because most of the SoCs (system on a chip) made could address them without additional off-die hardware.

Now PC motherboards are quickly dropping PATA support, and most embedded SoCs have as well. In fact, many embedded systems (including those in many DAPs/MP3 players) address their internal storage as a SD card, not just their external storage.

The other reasons (besides historical implementation advantages) that CF cards were so popular is because they were easier to make large and speedy than their serially-addressed (and space constrained) counterparts. As soon as SD cards catch up on those two fronts (and they're doing so quickly) I don't see what outside the momentum of professional users can keep CF cards alive.

All that said - I love their size and heft. I feel they are the perfect compromise between finger-friendly ergonomics and small size.

Just yesterday I got into a discussion at the camera shop about SD cards. One of the salesman was saying the Sd cards are able to hold more data then the CF cards. He claimed, CF cards are not going to be able to hold nearly as much as SD cards in the future, claiming the CF software won't alow it. Personally I can't stand SD cards. It's sort of like driving your care around with one of those little spare tires on.

I have a ton of CF cards so I'm not really looking forward to replacing them, but technology advances. Recently Compact Flash cards have startered to remind me of VHS tapes compared to all the SD/SDHC/miniSD's I've handled. Besides I like the idea of being able to use SD cards on just about anything, like my TV, and not just in my camera

While the CF cards might feel sturdier, SD cards are not lacking in this field either.
On my local computing website for us geeks, we did a test of SD cards, where we:
Boiled them (you read correct), speaking of water, we did submerge them into salt water at around 10 meters.
We Froze them, at around minus 15 degrees, some cards are rated for minus 40C tho.
We put them in an oven at a temperature of 80 degrees,(they weren't eatable, says my dog).
We dropped them from 20 floors up onto concrete.
We drove over them with a car.
They still worked, however, they did die, once i drove over them with the mobile crane i use at work.

Id say that's sturdy enough, maybe ill try the same to a CF card some day.

CF is so much faster than SD or SDHC, there's no reason to discontinue them, I prefer the sturdier construction of CF cards too.

Isn't the read/write speed of SD cards a bit slow versus the CF cards? I can't see CF cards being on their way out.

I hate those little things. They get stuck in the couch, lost under my keyboard, and get thrown in the wash with my clothes because I forgot about them. They're good for when you need something nice and compact, but I'd take a CF card over a SD card any day.

I wouldn't mind seeing CF on their way out. A dual SDHC port would be ideal.

Olympus has unveiled new cameras that use SD/SDHC memory cards instead of their proprietary xD cards. Sony has also announced their own line of SD/SDHC cards!

Holy cow! After so many years of resisting. Could CF cards be on the way out too?