Those of you with cameras that offer the option (or both at once) which do you prefer and why?
xD vs Compact Flash
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devolution365
Contributor
There's a lot of debate about this, but I'd go with compact flash. It's used by more devices and companies (xD is only used by Olympus and Fuji) and is reportedly faster (although your camera may be too slow to know the difference, cards are rated at different speeds -check before buying, etc.), and even with the fastest of the fast you may never notice a difference... I just worry about how long xD will be around.
My 2¢
My 2¢
CF, it's cheaper per mb and at least in my 5050 a 512mb is the biggest XD it can use. I have one big XD and several CF's. The XD is mainly for extra capacity as I can have both in the camera at the same time and swap between them at any time. I can either down load directly from the camera or if I don't have access to a computer I can transfer the pictures in the camera from the XD to a CF. The only other reason to use an XD in an Oly is the XD card is the only one that can be used with the panoramic functuion of the camera. Lastly, the CF is a lot easier for me to handle that the little XDs.
I use both on my C8080 at a size of 1Gb.
Basically CF is widely used while xD is used only by Oly and Fuji. As far as speed is conserned, both perform the same (at least to my eyes).
I heard from a photographer that the xD is more fragile, hence less reliable than the CF. He said that many of his customers came with a faulty xD, something that is rare for the CF. This is caused by improper handling and not due to bad card quality.
Advantages of CF are:
1. It can be used by other cameras you might buy in the future.
2. It is available in larger sizes than the xD. (xD is 1GB while CF is more than 4GB)
3. Due to its physical stracture CF is more robust than xD.
About the panorama feature of Olympus xD cards, it can be outperformed by other commercial programs like "Panorama Factory" which has many many features.
Basically CF is widely used while xD is used only by Oly and Fuji. As far as speed is conserned, both perform the same (at least to my eyes).
I heard from a photographer that the xD is more fragile, hence less reliable than the CF. He said that many of his customers came with a faulty xD, something that is rare for the CF. This is caused by improper handling and not due to bad card quality.
Advantages of CF are:
1. It can be used by other cameras you might buy in the future.
2. It is available in larger sizes than the xD. (xD is 1GB while CF is more than 4GB)
3. Due to its physical stracture CF is more robust than xD.
About the panorama feature of Olympus xD cards, it can be outperformed by other commercial programs like "Panorama Factory" which has many many features.
Tommer
Contributor
i pick the CF cards, unlike the SD card, xD card is not widely used with other devices, even though SD and xD are almost the same size in comparison, also you can locate more choices such as prices with CF card than xD cards
Wristshot
Contributor
*pointing towards Herman* What he said. I do a similar thing. I have a couple of 512MB CF cards, and a 256MB xD and a 512MB xD. I view the xD as my "reserve tank" like on old motorcycles.
For absolutely no good reason, I tend to switch to the xD sometimes when I am doing video.
The xD has exposed connections like a PC card while the CF has recessed connections.
I have never used the panoramic feature on my Oly, but one of my friends at work has. *shrug*
One last thing is that there are a lot more readers that accept CF than xD.
For absolutely no good reason, I tend to switch to the xD sometimes when I am doing video.
The xD has exposed connections like a PC card while the CF has recessed connections.
I have never used the panoramic feature on my Oly, but one of my friends at work has. *shrug*
One last thing is that there are a lot more readers that accept CF than xD.
SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
I notice RAW files write much slower to xD than they do to CF.
AndyT
Contributor
SuPrBuGmAn:
Ditto that comment .
I selected the xD card by mistake this weekend and couldn't figure out why the RAW files were taking so long to write . It was only when I got the message " Card Full " ( it's only a 256 mb ) that I realised the error . After switching to the CF (Sandisk 1Gb Ultra II) the write times were much faster .
Safe Diving
Andrew
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