Author Topic: Are CF Cards Extinct? (Read 21650 times)

Pixart · « **on:** March 08, 2011, 17:42 »

I ran into Costco to grab some Sandisk CF cards and they no longer sell them. They told me that no one uses CF anymore. Huh?

I figured the guys at Costco couldn't know what they were talking about - but there is the fact that camera manufacturers have stated they are focussing on consumer products over the pros these days. (Lord knows I've been waiting years for a good pro body from Nikon that isn't $8K and has enough MP make it worth an upgrade).

I was just looking at the Eye-Fi and they don't have CF cards!!! Is it true, are CF cards becoming dinosaurs?

microstockphoto.co.uk · « **Reply #1 on:** March 08, 2011, 17:46 »

Quote from: Pixart on March 08, 2011, 17:42

I ran into Costco to grab some Sandisk CF cards and they no longer sell them. They told me that no one uses CF anymore. Huh?

I figured the guys at Costco couldn't know what they were talking about - but there is the fact that camera manufacturers have stated they are focussing on consumer products over the pros these days. (Lord knows I've been waiting years for a good pro body from Nikon that isn't $8K and has enough MP make it worth an upgrade).

I was just looking at the Eye-Fi and they don't have CF cards!!! Is it true, are CF cards becoming dinosaurs?

I don't trust what sellers say: they always say a product is no more in use when they don't have it. They decide what we should need.

My Olympus E620 uses CF cards. And I buy them online.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2011, 18:16 »

Canon's consumer cameras use SD but the 5DII and up use CF. I buy mine online (although haven't since I got the 5DII) as I do most gear (camera and computer). Costco only deals with mass market stuff and I think it's probably true that high speed CF cards are no longer mass market items

stockastic · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2011, 18:20 »

There are plenty of them on Ebay.

visceralimage · « **Reply #4 on:** March 08, 2011, 18:22 »

Quote from: Pixart on March 08, 2011, 17:42

Lord knows I've been waiting years for a good pro body from Nikon that isn't $8K and has enough MP make it worth an upgrade

Take a look at the new D7000, about 16 megapix, nice body shape, fast and well made; acceptable at ISO800 for stock-needed in low light wildlife images, at times). Image quality better than D300s; camera robustness not as good as D300s but not bad.

cathyslife · « **Reply #5 on:** March 08, 2011, 18:24 »

Quote from: jsnover on March 08, 2011, 18:16

Canon's consumer cameras use SD but the 5DII and up use CF. I buy mine online (although haven't since I got the 5DII) as I do most gear (camera and computer). Costco only deals with mass market stuff and I think it's probably true that high speed CF cards are no longer mass market items

I have a 50D, which is a consumer or prosumer, not sure of the exact category, but it uses CF also. So does my Rebel XT. I usually buy camera stuff at B&H, but I'm fairly certain I bought my CF cards at places like Best Buy or even Walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/SanDisk-SDCFH-002G-A11-2GB-Ultra-II-CompactFlash-CF-Card/13074797

Phil · « **Reply #6 on:** March 08, 2011, 19:23 »

My new cf card arrived today from hong kong (ebay)

With the push towards smaller, it also seems to be going towards sd with much only higher end using cf. I could see that many shops dont sell 5dII/a900 level cameras and therefore wouldnt sell anything that uses CF.

Personally SD is cheaper and faster (unless paying top dollar), just as reliable and I'd rather go back to it

Pixart · « **Reply #7 on:** March 08, 2011, 19:48 »

Quote from: visceralimage on March 08, 2011, 18:22

Quote from: Pixart on March 08, 2011, 17:42
Lord knows I've been waiting years for a good pro body from Nikon that isn't $8K and has enough MP make it worth an upgrade

Take a look at the new D7000, about 16 megapix, nice body shape, fast and well made; acceptable at ISO800 for stock-needed in low light wildlife images, at times). Image quality better than D300s; camera robustness not as good as D300s but not bad.

LOL, I even preordered a D7000 but cancelled. Part of the reason was - they only take SF!

Visceral - sounds like you have one, what do you think of the video quality of this camera? Is it good enough for stock? Regardless, I have no video of my kids. It was like my daughter wasn't even born and the kid from 2001 is the only one I've got (but he's analog of course...)

ShadySue · « **Reply #8 on:** March 08, 2011, 19:49 »

Quote from: cclapper on March 08, 2011, 18:24

Quote from: jsnover on March 08, 2011, 18:16
Canon's consumer cameras use SD but the 5DII and up use CF. I buy mine online (although haven't since I got the 5DII) as I do most gear (camera and computer). Costco only deals with mass market stuff and I think it's probably true that high speed CF cards are no longer mass market items

I have a 50D, which is a consumer or prosumer, not sure of the exact category, but it uses CF also. So does my Rebel XT.

Yup, my 350D used a CF, and so does my 40D as well as the 5D2.

Kone · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2011, 20:02 »

My D700 use CF too

Here is link for Costco, they still seling them (I don't see SunDisk Ultra II)

http://www.costco.ca/Common/Search.aspx?whse=BCCA&topnav=&search=memory%20card&N=0&Ntt=memory%20card&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-CA

visceralimage · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2011, 22:11 »

Sorry, never tried the video feature and never plan to try it. Just not interested in video.

jsmithzz · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2011, 23:09 »

That seems odd since I was at Costco this past weekend, and they had Sandisk CF cards in 2gb, 4gb, and 8gb sizes.

Pixart · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2011, 23:14 »

Maybe you are in the U.S.? I'm in Canada, and I think Kone is too because he posted a link to costco.ca. They did tell me in the store that I might find one at one of the other locations but I should check online - which I did, but they have no Sandisk CF cards. Don't know if I trust those other brands.

MatHayward · « **Reply #13 on:** March 08, 2011, 23:14 »

Ugh, I just lost two 8GB cards. My computer drive chewed up the first one so like the genius I am I thought I'd may as well plug in another to see if it would do the same thing. In hindsight I'm wondering if I should have used one of my 256MB cards to test it instead.

sc · « **Reply #14 on:** March 09, 2011, 00:21 »

Costco.com has the 8gig SanDisk CF cards for $34.99.

http://www.costco.com/Common/Search.aspx?whse=BC&topnav=&search=sandisk&N=0&Ntt=sandisk&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #15 on:** March 09, 2011, 02:23 »

CF cards are certainly not sold as widely as they once were. I guess Canon DSLRs are going to become unusable within a few years as batteries and CF cards become unobtainable.

leaf · « **Reply #16 on:** March 09, 2011, 03:52 »

I think like others said, what meant to say was "we don't carry them anymore"

A real camera shop

like BHphoto still has 58 different flavors.

ShadySue · « **Reply #17 on:** March 09, 2011, 09:19 »

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on March 09, 2011, 02:23

CF cards are certainly not sold as widely as they once were. I guess Canon DSLRs are going to become unusable within a few years as batteries and CF cards become unobtainable.

Just like film etc, they'll be sold in specialist shots or online for a long time to come. Just not in cheap high street outlets.

grp_photo · « **Reply #18 on:** March 09, 2011, 09:35 »

I personally prefer CF over SD, but CF doesn't have a bright future at all they will become extinct in a few years. Even professional Mediumformat- cameras like the Pentax 645D are solely using SD (double-SD-card-slot). I'm sure the new 5D will have a SD-option either a double-card-slot (CF and SD) or solely SD.

lisafx · « **Reply #19 on:** March 09, 2011, 12:00 »

Quote from: stockastic on March 08, 2011, 18:20

There are plenty of them on Ebay.

True. And many of them are counterfeit. I buy them on Amazon or Newegg and usually get free shipping.

gostwyck · « **Reply #20 on:** March 09, 2011, 12:29 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 09, 2011, 12:00

Quote from: stockastic on March 08, 2011, 18:20
There are plenty of them on Ebay.

True. And many of them are counterfeit.

I bought a couple of fake Sandisk 4GB off Ebay some years ago. I only actually realised they were fake a couple of years later when the details of how to tell became widespread. They've never let me down though. Such cards were expensive at the time so the saving was fairly significant. CF cards are so cheap nowadays, at least in the 8GB size I use, that I'd only buy them direct from places like Amazon.

I don't really like using SD cards although my camera has slots for both SD & CF. Too small, fiddly and not confident how robust they are. I wouldn't want to be changing them outdoors in freezing, windy conditions and with frozen fingers.

With no moving parts existing CF cards aren't going to wear out as fast as the equipment that they're being used in. I'm sure mine will out-live my camera.

Pixart · « **Reply #21 on:** March 09, 2011, 12:36 »

I sent a CF for a wash and a dry cycle in a jeans pocket and I didn't lose a single photo off that card!

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #22 on:** March 09, 2011, 12:38 »

Quote from: Pixart on March 09, 2011, 12:36

I sent a CF for a wash and a dry cycle in a jeans pocket and I didn't lose a single photo off that card!

That seems an extreme way of noise reduction.

cathyslife · « **Reply #23 on:** March 09, 2011, 16:50 »

Quote from: Pixart on March 09, 2011, 12:36

I sent a CF for a wash and a dry cycle in a jeans pocket and I didn't lose a single photo off that card!

Takes a licking and keeps on clicking

(Takeoff on the old Timex slogan, takes a licking and keeps on ticking, after happy customers sent in stories of watches through the wash, stepped on, and other various abuses.)

gostwyck · « **Reply #24 on:** March 09, 2011, 17:06 »

Quote from: Pixart on March 09, 2011, 12:36

I sent a CF for a wash and a dry cycle in a jeans pocket and I didn't lose a single photo off that card!

I was doing a long-exposure shoot of a harbour during a very still night about 3 years ago. I stepped on a patch of ground that appeared 'solid' but was actually the water surface and immediately sank to my waist just managing to avoid toppling over and keep the camera out of the water. I drove home in my soaking cargo pants then stripped off and chucked everything in the washing machine and then in the dryer. It wasn't until the next day that I wondered where my mobile phone was. Then I remembered __ in the lower pocket of my cargo pants. Fortunately it was only an ancient Nokia 6310i. Anyway I fished it out of the dryer (nice & clean apart from some fresh crud inside the screen), cautiously switched it on ... and it worked! I'm still using it too.

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Author Topic: Are CF Cards Extinct? (Read 21650 times)

Pixart

microstockphoto.co.uk

Jo Ann Snover

stockastic

visceralimage

cathyslife

Phil

Pixart

ShadySue

Kone

visceralimage

jsmithzz

Pixart

MatHayward

sc

BaldricksTrousers

leaf

ShadySue

grp_photo

lisafx

gostwyck

Pixart

WarrenPrice

cathyslife

gostwyck

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