All You Wanted To Know About Compact Flash or CF Cards

The Compact Flash or CF card was created in 1994 by SanDisk.  With gadgets getting smaller, they saw a need to create smaller non-volatile memory that would be compatible.  CF Cards come in many different “sizes.”  What I mean is: the two physical sizes of the cards are 43×36×3.3 mm (Type I) 43×36×5 mm (Type II).  The memory “sizes” include but are not limited to: 16 MB, 32 MB, 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 6 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB memory “sizes.”  Whew!  My first computer only had 2.1 GB for the WHOLE THING!’

What about a Type III? 

It is my knowledge that there is no type III.  Many think that SanDisk’s Extreme III is a type III, but the “III” refers to the product’s technology.  The SanDisk Extreme III also is available in the SD Card format and the Memory Stick format.  This is not a SanDisk plug; it is a reference to a model and not a CF Type. 

The CF Card has been very popular.  I had never used one before I started photographing with a Nikon D70.  Now with my Nikon D300 in hand, I am stocking up on CF Cards.

Like I said, card sizes come in 16 MB and higher.  Now they are talking MEGA GIGs for these things.  I remember my Commodore 64.  I told daddy to get me a Commodore 128.  He said, “Son, that is a marketing ploy, the world will never need more than 64 mb for anything except flying space ships.”  No joke!  That was his words.  I should have known better; after all, he was a furniture salesman (a very reputable occupation but not known for being tech-savvy).

Let’s talk about the speeds of the CF Cards.

Now we are getting into some info that you may be interested in.  This may be a little difficult to understand, but we will give it a go anyway.

The CD-Rom will be our baseline comparison.  The CD-Rom write speed is 150kB/s or Kilobytes per Second.  That means that ever second, 1000 bytes of information is written to the CD-Rom surface.  The CD-Rom therefore is a write speed of 1x.  Now, we know that the CD-Rom have different speeds and all, but in comparison to CF Cards, let’s just say it is a 1x.

The bottom, basic CF card writes information up to six times as fast as a CD-Rom.  Okay, that would make it a 6x.  Looking at the math:

900 kB/s vs. 150 kB/s

Okay, when considering high-speed, CF cards are made with data write-rate better known as data transfer rate or write-speed of 66x.  These are known as high-speed CF Cards.  The terminology may have to change, because many high-end cards have speeds of 150x.  They have cards out now that have a write speed of 166x and 300x.

Pat me on the back; I just bought my first 300x card!!  So what!!  Right?

“Right” is the answer.  Who really needs this speed?  If your equipment doesn’t have the ability to transfer data that fast, then the CF Card technology is more advanced than your electronic device.  So, why spend the extra money on speed?

A Million Read / Writes!

Well, considering the million (plus) read / write capabilities of the card, you may be future-proofing you CF card collection.  Or, you may just want the latest – greatest.

CF cards are made of Flash memory.  Like I mentioned above “considering the million (plus) read / right capabilities,” CF cards have a limited number of times they can be used.  Now, don’t vote off CF cards because of this statement.  ALL FLASH, no matter what the format, will only have a limited number of read / write cycles.  You are looking at between 10,000 to 1,000,000 write cycles.  I know I said “1,000,000 (plus).”  I truly believe that you can go higher than a million with today’s technology. 

There are sectors in the flash memory.  With CF technology, the controller in a CompactFlash attempts to prevent premature wear-out of a sector.  This is good news!  The controller does this by mapping the writes to various other sectors in the card.  This process is called “Wear Leveling”

Why Use CF over SD?

Many pro level cameras use CF cards.  The Nikon D300 uses CF Cards.  The Nikon D40 uses SD Cards.  No big deal really, but just an observation.  The rational behind this is the durability of the CF Card.  This format has a little more “meat on its bones” in a manner of speaking.  It will take more shock and abuse over the SD or other flash formats.

On the flip side, CF cards use a pin system and not a slide-connect system.  The “holes” are in the CF Card and the pins are in the device.  Bend a pin and you are looking at an expensive repair.  OUCH!

Most CF cards do not have a write-protect feature like SD cards have.  Be careful.
 
It is my understanding that if you have a 133x card, it should work in any of today’s technology without any hiccups.  Notice I said “Today’s Technology.”  Yesterday’s technology may have a compatibility problem with Gigabyte size.  Me?  I went on ahead and bought the 300x, but that doesn’t mean my 133x or even my 60x will end up on eBay anytime soon.  I still use those cards.

What brand of SD Card should you buy? 

This would seem hard to decide with all the manufacturers out there, but for me, the choice is 1st: Lexar, 2nd Crucial, 3rd SanDisk and 4th Verbatim.  If you are happy with another brand, I hope I did not hurt your feelings.  Drop me a line and I will update this guide with your “plug.”

CF Cards use what is called Non-Volatile Memory.

This is different that RAM memory like the stuff in your computer (not the hard drive).  When the power is off on your computer, you loose the information.  However, for non-volatile memory, you can turn the power off and the information stays.  Pretty neat considering that CF cards don’t use magnetic memory technology like a hard drive.

There are four MAIN types of flash memory cards: CompactFlash, Memory Stick, Secure Digital, and xD (there are MANY more).  These are the MAIN types.

I hope this guide was helpful and that you have a better understanding of Compact Flash or CF cards.  If it was helpful, let me know by clicking the “YES” down below.  If you would like to provide your input, I will be happy to add the information to this guide.

Show The World Your World; Share A Photograph.  TM

SULAE--