CompactFlash Cards are one of the
oldest flash memory card types still in use today. It was designed
for high speed and capacity for forward compatibility. It has also
maintained its popularity through reliability. It is a solid state
type of memory which means there is no moving parts, so they are shock proof. Unlike the type
2 CF cards that are used in iPod Mini. The type 2 is slightly thicker
and not commonly found.
CompactFlash and many other memory
cards have become confusing with advances in marketing and
technology. Lighthaus Camera sells Delkin Device memory cards. Why?
Well first of all they have a lifetime warranty. Second the cards are
marked very clearly. Many other companies will only display the read
speed, because it is the higher speed. Delkin is very clear about how
fast their cards work in reading and writing.
Starting at the top of the packaging
there is a CF for CompactFlash. CompactFlash was designed by a group
of international companies, and they formed the CompactFlash
Association. They now decide on industry standards and approve of
new formats like XQD for the Nikon D4.
Most CF cards have one speed
equivalence. It is displayed as ###X ie.(133x, 305X, 500X) This
number is based off of the original CD(Compact Disk) transfer rate of
150 kByte/s. If your memory card is 500X and multiply that by 150
kByte/s. You have 75,000 kByte/s transfer rate for this memory card.
That would be the equivalent of 75 MB/s for the read speed of a 500x
card.
Sometimes the card might say UDMA6 on
it. UDMA stands for Ultra Direct Memory Access. This is the protocol
for transferring data from memory to the device. It was a
breakthrough in data transfer, because it bypassed the CPU. Huh? It
means it transfers your images using a good method.
If you hate using CF cards, because
they are difficult to insert into the camera; you would be in good
company. There is one universal visual indicator though. Each side of
the memory card has a groove. The two grooves have different widths.
The camera will have two rails to fit those grooves. Its not easy, but it does avoid the guessing game.
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| The groove on the right side is slightly wider. |
