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CFast is based on the Serial ATA bus, using a female 7-pin SATA data connector, and a female 17-pin power connector. If an adapter is used, can a regular SSD be used in place of a (currently very expensive) CFast card?

Of course there could be problems like the memory card door not closing, the camera can't provide enough power etc, but consider all of those problems solved.

Update: I've found a Kickstarter project called C-Box that is intended for video recording in 4K, but i can't imagine that it won't work for still cameras. Unfortunately I'm not sure whether it contains a bridge or not. Considering the price ($499.95) it would be an astonishingly bad deal if there were no bridge interface in it.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yeeha! What a nice idea :-) \$\endgroup\$
    – Russell McMahon
    Apr 14, 2015 at 7:13
  • \$\begingroup\$ Try a poet expander to separate them, if you can't readily separate the power connection like with typical sata enclosures. \$\endgroup\$
    – JDługosz
    Aug 12, 2015 at 4:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @JDługosz Note that the problem is not how to actually connect the drive, but rather if it would work at all. If the data interface won't allow it, the physical interface won't matter. \$\endgroup\$
    – Hugo
    Aug 12, 2015 at 7:45

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I wonder if the camera would be able to supply enough power to run the SSD. From what I've gathered, CFast cards are pretty low power. This one uses only 1.1 watts max.

Whereas the list below shows SSDs using up to over 7 watts, with most being in the ~3 watt range.

Assuming the camera doesn't have any limitations in the firmware, and assuming it could supply enough power, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Maximum Power Consumption of 24 SSDs

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