Why don't professional SLR cameras use SD or SDHC memory?

Question

Entry level dSLR's, for the most part, are using less expensive SD and SDHC memory cards,

So, why do pro-sumer and professional cameras (for the most part) use only Compact Flash (CF) memory? Is it a performance, reliability or durability issue?

Answer 1

Initially the reason was performance and capacity. A lot of the pro-level cameras went CF because you needed the performance and, usually because a pro shoots RAW, the capacity which the original SD couldn't match. Not to mention there was a point in time where SD was more expensive as a result of volume sales differences. SD is now cheaper thanks in a big way to the proliferation of small devices that used them such as point and shoot cameras, media players, etc.

Anyways, the speed/capacity issues largely evaporated with SDHC and will evaporate with SDXC. Then I think you will see a big move, in fact the shift is already happening without SDXC support in any camera. Canon's 1Ds as noted, but even Pentax stayed SDHC with the 645D medium format and that is miles away from a consumer camera. Also what we are starting to see is dual card support because SD cards are nice and small, that's a nice thing to have and impractical with CF.

Answer 2

Mostly because CF has faster read/write speed than SD card. SDHC has a higher capacity (more space) but not necessarily faster read/write speed.

Some high-end CFs allow parallel read/write (the interface allow this), but not SD/SDHC. So some high-end camera usually take advantage of this in combination with their buffer.

Now Rob Galbraith did lots of test ... and his conclusion is basically it does not really matter for most of us - unless you have that Nikon D3s and do a lot of rapid continuous shooting.

Answer 3

I guess in part because CF cards are bigger, and so it's easier to develop faster and larger quantities of memory in large-sizes, before scaling down to the smaller SD cards later on. I think the added bulk and resilience of the more substantial CF cards.

I'd imagine most of the professional camera body users also have a fair amount already invested in CF cards, and so are likely to be reluctant to have to replace all of their CF cards with SDs.

Answer 4

Some professional DSLRs do support SDHC, such as Canon's 1Ds. Historically, Compact Flash offered higher capacity with miniature hard disks, although with advances in flash memory, solid state media has long overtaken it. Manufacturers don't want to give any excuse for photographers from upgrading, so tend to carry on supporting CF.

Answer 5

At the risk of posting to an old, dead thread, I will say no matter what the technology, you get what you pay for. Especially as SDHC cards become common for SLRs and drive the price down even further, watch out for cheap cards.

Buy from a reputable retailer, and don't always but the cheapest card. Especially, watch out for fakes. If the deal is too good to be true, it probably is!

Answer 6

And since this thread has now been resurrected, I'd like to add another reason that I'm surprised nobody has mentioned.

• Pro cameras tend to use Compact Flash because pro photographers prefer the size of Compact Flash cards. They're bigger, easier to handle with gloves on, harder to lose. They're also perceived as being tougher due to the size. Whether or not they are is irrelevant.

When you're shooting day in and day out to earn a living these things really matter!