CF vs SD Quality

[Calicajun]

Is there a difference in the quality of the recorded image between an SD cards vs. a CF cards? I was reading a manufactures ad that leads you to believe that CF card captured higher quality images, which is why they use CF cards over SD cards in their cameras.


Thanks,

Craig

[JimC]

No.

It's only a storage media for the image files and the type of card won't change the contents of the image being stored on it (unless you have a defective card that's causing file corruption).

[Calicajun]

Jim,

That's what I thought but with all the new things I have learnedreading Steve's boards it just seem safer to ask and be sure. Of the next question would be; how long will CF card stay on the market, as not too many cameras use CF cards? I have a bunch of Sony Memory Stick which I see fading into the dust.

Thanks,

Craig

[JimC]

I don't think CompactFlash is going away anytime soon. New camera models using it are still being released (including dSLR models like the Sony DSLR-A700, Nikon D300, Nikon D3, Canon EOS-40D and more).

As for Memory Stick, I just got a Sony DSLR-A700 with both Memory Stick and CompactFlash slots in it. lol But, you can get faster cards with CompactFlash.

[JimC]

Also, Memory prices tend to drop over time anyway with larger and larger cards becoming available for less.

So, I wouldn't let card type influence my decision too much. If you switch to a camera that uses different memory type later, chances are your existing cards wouldn't be worth much by then anyway (cost/mb would probably be much lower) and you'd probably want/need larger cards when you upgrade again. too.

[Calicajun]

JimC wrote:

I don't think CompactFlash is going away anytime soon. New camera models using it are still being released (including dSLR models like the Sony DSLR-A700, Nikon D300, Nikon D3, Canon EOS-40D and more).

As for Memory Stick, I just got a Sony DSLR-A700 with both Memory Stick and CompactFlash slots in it. lol But, you can get faster cards with CompactFlash.

You're right about more cameras using CF cards, so guess they will be around for a while. As to the Sony A-700 (a camera I am looking at along with many others) it uses Memory Stick Duo which are shorter than the original Memory (the 10 I have) Sticks Sony was using. Oh well as you said prices have come way down on memory.

[TCav]

CF and SD Card devices are widely used in digital cameras, and CF Cards are widely used in lots of different kinds of devices. Because of their widespread use, manufacturers use these formats to introduce faster technologies and larger capacities, and the cost per megabyte is always lower too.

The trend of high end cameras using CF Cards was drivenby the microdrive, a tiny hard disk drive that fit into a CF Card package. The microdrive has fallen out of favor as a result of faster, higher capacity, more reliableflash memory devices, but the trend continues.

No such trend exists for other form factors, such as xD Cards and Memory Sticks, both of which are semi-proprietary, but have adapted to newer technologies. Other form factors have come and gone, like SmartMedia and MultiMediaCard.

So comparatively speaking, CF & SD formats are pretty solid, with SD Cards being the form factor of choice where size is a consideration.

If the deciding factor between two camera is that one uses CF Cards and the other uses SD Cards, flip a coin. But if it comes down to CF or SD and some other format, pick the CF or SD Card camera.

[weing12]

Good answers, useful infos

[Calicajun]

weing12 wrote:

Good answers, useful infos

Yes, I agree.

Thanks to all for the help.

Craig