# CF vs SD cards



## perry1963 (Jul 26, 2011)

Hi, I 'am new to digital and have noticed some cameras, Nikon D3s and D700, something a pro or serious amature would use, use CF cards for storage while others use the SD cards, is there a differance in image quality between the two?


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## Robin Usagani (Jul 26, 2011)

Nope, digital is digital. I could save my digital file on a CD, usb drive, hard drive, etc. and they are all the same.

BUT the higher end cameras will give you better IQ (better sensor). It is not because of the card. There are also different rating of how fast you can write the card for sport photos (more snaps per second).


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## Big Mike (Jul 26, 2011)

It wasn't long ago that practically all Digital SLR cameras used CF cards....probably because they have/had a larger capacity and faster speeds.  But SD cards are much smaller, which is a big benefit to engineers when they are trying to cram all those electronics into smaller and smaller cameras.  

As for image quality between the two...there should be no difference at all.  It's just digital information, as mentioned above.  

Also, some of the very high end DSLR cameras actually have both a CF and an SD slot.


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## joealcantar (Jul 26, 2011)

Something not mentioned is the size itself really easy to lose an SD card compared to a CF card.  
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Shoot well, Joe


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## perry1963 (Jul 26, 2011)

Thanks for the replies.


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## Big Mike (Jul 26, 2011)

joealcantar said:


> Something not mentioned is the size itself really easy to lose an SD card compared to a CF card.
> -
> Shoot well, Joe


I guess we should also mention that CF cards are stiffer and probably more robust.  I've seen a few demonstrations where they were run over by a car (although, I'd bet SD cards could live through that as well).  
On the flip side, CF cards require the camera socket to have many pins, and getting a bent pin can be a problem, albeit a rare one.


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## KmH (Jul 26, 2011)

SD card slots can have bent connector problems too.

At least with a CF card slot there is room to put an empty ink pen tip, or even better a wire-wrap tool, down in the slot to straighten the bent pin(s).

An SD card slot is so narrow it's difficult to even see there is a connector problem at the bottom of the slot.


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## Garbz (Jul 27, 2011)

Big Mike said:


> I've seen a few demonstrations where they were run over by a car (although, I'd bet SD cards could live through that as well).
> On the flip side, CF cards require the camera socket to have many pins, and getting a bent pin can be a problem, albeit a rare one.



SD cards are remarkably flimsy little plastic things compared to the quite thick and solid material used in CF cards (try snapping an SD card vs a CF card). Also there's the case of the broken mechanical slider on SD cards which is also a failure mode that CF cards don't have.


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## HalftoneStudio (Jul 27, 2011)

In my experience SD cards get much slower write speeds as they fill vs CF cards of the same speed.  With a fresh card however they seem about the same.


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