What's the big deal about SD cards? Why has CF cards fell from favor?

[videobruce]

Maybe I should ask, where can a SD card fit where a CF can't? Or; how many SD cards do you want to store somewhere where CF cards won't fit?

AFAIC, a CF card is small enough. Why do you need something smaller? It not as they are the size of a VHS cassette and the SD card was the size of a 8mm cassette.

I do understand that most of the 'toy' cameras use SD cards and someone pointed out that the manufactures think this is a way of luring people into the DSLR market by using the same card format as their cheap sliver toy camera.

Frankly, spending another $50 or so on a new card or two shouldn't be a big deal since you are spending 10x that on the camera and lens(s).

As fragile as these SD cards are, I'm surprised there aren't more problem with them snaping in half or getting zapped with those exposed contacts.

Your thoughts?

[David Metsky]

SD cards aren't fragile (neither are CF cards), they're all pretty bulletproof. In fact, the pins on CF card slots are more likely to get bent then anything.

Size is an issue. You can them "toy cameras" but for 98% of the cameras sold today as well as MP3 players, Palms, and other gadgets it is very important to reduce the space occupied by the memory card and reader. They use the same cards for DSLRs because standardization is good.

What is the benefit of sticking with CF for DSLRs?

[AlexMonro]

Personally, I find SD cards a little on the small side to handle conveniently (though at least they're not as small as XD). CF are just about the right size for convenient handling.

[TNB]

What is the benefit of sticking with CF for DSLRs?
When I was at PMA, CF cards held twice the amount of storage as SD cards. That is quite useful if shooting RAW+JPG at 20+ Megapixels per photo. There is also another card coming out which is known as CFast. CFast cards write much faster which requires less camera buffer space and allows faster downloads.

http://www.news.com/8301-13580_3-9877176-39.html

[K1W1]

SD cards were jointly developed by Toshiba, Panasonic and San Disk to overcome what they perceived at the time to be problems related with the CF format.

The CF format was not developed with use in low power devices in mind. It was originally developed as a portable storage media for notebooks. Because it was available it was used in cameras when digital cameras appeared. The original CF format was actually a miniature hard drive not solid state.

The CF format has no write protect ability.

The CF format cannot be shrunk smaller for even lower powered or smaller devices in the way the micro and mini SD has been shrunk for phones. SD was developed from the start with this ability.

The CF format is actually more fragile than SD because of the pins and is more complicated and expensive to manufacture although volume keeps the retail price down.

So to reiterate SD was developed specifically for digital devices, CF is used in digital devices because it happened to be available.

[Turn]

I think SD will eventually catch up and surpass CF..

honestly...what else uses CF other than DSLR's?

[TDN169]

SD is smaller, so it doesn't take so much space in small cameras. It also is more expandible- you can get Wifi or USBs in it