SD vs CF

New_Zealand

New_Zealand

Veteran
I was looking at the MKiii (still don't own one yet but will hopefully soon :-) and I noticed that it has a slot for both the SD and CF cards. Not sure if all FF have that but anyway long story short which is a better card tat you MKiii users found to work best with the new Mkiii SD or CF?
 
Question I have is what uses do the CF AND SD cards have on the MKIII, for instance can we dual record or do relay recording for video?
 
From what I understand the SD card doesn't support the highest speed connections, which the CF slot does. I personally prefer CF cards for the durability and size, which makes them harder to misplace.

I would recommend at least having a card in each slot in case you run out of space and need to switch in a hurry.
 
CF cards have been around longer, and have more high end options available (possibly as a result of being around longer).
As far as durability- I suppose if you are going to bend them, the larger and thicker CF card will take more stress before cracking. But in the 10+ years that I've been using them, I've managed to ruin at least one CF card reader by bent pins inserting a card too quickly, something that is far less likely to happen with SD card contacts. My personal opinion is that a lot of professionals have invested in expensive CF cards since the earliest digital cameras, and are less likely to start over with a new format for no good reason than consumers are. Note how the Rebel XT was a CF camera, but their consumer Rebel line quickly switched to SD as soon as it was more popular. Even the 60D finally switched after the 50D and its legacy of double-digit D cameras were CF based before it.
Having the Mark iii go with both is an unexpected, but classy way for them to bridge that gap. It will probably be a few years before the mark iv comes out, but I'd wager that a CF slot is gone by then.

A related post in which I deal with some of the history of CF vs SD can be found here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?267597-why-the-difference&p=2478694&viewfull=1#post2478694
 
I've read a review that says there is a big performance difference between the CF and SD card slots in photo mode. In video mode, I'd wager that it's not a problem.
 
I shoot and film with a 1D Mark IV. It has a CF card slot and a SD card slot. I prefer the CF slot, though I keep cards in both the slots. With the development in CF card technology, I don't think they will abandon it. Personally I become uncomfortable changing the SD cards in the field. These are so tiny, if you drop it then they can get stuck in the tiniest of the crevices in a rock or in a boat. I haven't seen any example, however, I am sure a dog can just swallow it. :)
 
It is just what one prefers between SD or CF - both cards do the job well, not one better then the other? I remember reading that a certain brand is good. I have the pny in my t3i but it seems to be giving me problems with my video footage so it is time to find a better card.
 
SD cards do not have anything approaching the read/write performance of compact flash e.g. Class 10 SanDisk Extreme SD is 30MBps whereas SanDisk Extreme CF are 60MBps & SanDisk Extreme Pro CF are 90 MBps. This doesn't matter when recording video on the Canon DSLRs as performance is adequate but means that offloading the cards to computer is much slower.
 
nigelbb said:
SD cards do not have anything approaching the read/write performance of compact flash e.g. Class 10 SanDisk Extreme SD is 30MBps whereas SanDisk Extreme CF are 60MBps & SanDisk Extreme Pro CF are 90 MBps. This doesn't matter when recording video on the Canon DSLRs as performance is adequate but means that offloading the cards to computer is much slower.
Click to expand...

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1302198058.html

SD cards, as a technology, are plenty capable of high speeds. As I mentioned earlier, the CF format has been a staple of professional gear for much longer, and therefore have progressed further into the market with more high-end cards already in existence. The SD format has only recently begun to be considered pro-level, and therefore it will be a bit slower until similar performance cards are as ubiquitous. But make no mistake- the SD format is very capable and appears poised to be the new standard.
 
^ my thoughts too - there are some new epoxy-filled SD cards that are also rugged enough for the most demanding users
 
Was a bit startled to see this question posed as I have been using SD cards exclusively for the last couple months in my 5D3 while my Canon XF300 keeps the CF cards.

Reason for this is purely convenience as MacBook Pros have an SD slot built in and I like the fast transfer.

Cards are SD-Lexar 133X 16GB class 10

Codec All-I and IPB are both used for different situations.

I'm not the most technically minded operator, tested it, it worked... I got on with shooting.

CK
 
On the 5D3, the SD slot is limited to ~20MB/s (22MB/s burst), the CF slot can average ~80MB/s. See: http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/camera_wb_multi_page.asp?cid=6007-12452
Also consider the time to copy to your PC/Mac: faster cards do indeed copy faster when using a high-speed reader. SD is fine for video (so far, until Canon / ML up the bitrate), however investing in faster cards (SD/CF) will save time when copying.
This guy is fast even via USB 2.0 (it supports USB 3): http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Super-Multi-Card-Reader-TS-RDF8/dp/B0056TYRMW
 
C. Keiser said:
Reason for this is purely convenience as MacBook Pros have an SD slot built in and I like the fast transfer.
Click to expand...

This. I sold off most of my CF cards and replaced them with 45MB/s SD cards. I kept one 32gb CF in case I need to shoot RAW + JPEG (RAW to CF, JPEG to SD), but SD is so much more convenient and have a locking mechanism.

I trust myself enough to not drop a card in the field, but that locking mechanism is a failsafe that provides a lot of peace of mind.
 
I prefer CF but I lost one the other day. Luckily I have 32GB SD and another 32GB Compact Flash. The SD is fast but the CF card blows it out the water and I can get more shots if taking pictures in burst..and I have not got bent CF pins once ^^ people need to take care of their ish.
 
Samuel H said:
I'd like to note that the SD card write speed limitation of the 5D3 is not a problem at all for video (even all-I is under 12MB/s), and that the 5D3 seems to be particularly prone to get the bent-CF-pin syndrome: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/09/lensrentals-repair-data-january-july-2012
Click to expand...

Keep in mind ALL-I is VBR and can average as high as 12.6MB/s (from my tests). Thus in burst cases it might briefly exceed 20MB/s (possibly causing the codec to throttle down the bitrate when using SD). I achieved 12.6MB/s using a UDMA CF card. When Canon/ML ups the bitrate, CF will be able to support it.
 
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