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D800 Media Cards

dkamp

New member
What is the purpose of using both a CF card and an SD card? Why not just use two SD cards like the D7000?
 

MMPhoto

Member
My Guess is that they wanted to have dual cards for the reason that the files are going to pretty large. Since the camera body is smaller to have dual CF slots they install 1 Cf and 1 SD.

Yes I myself would of prefer two CF slots
 

Aaron

New member
Many shooters prefer different card formats rather than identical slots.

The thinking is that if for some reason you have one card corrupt for some reason then since the other card is of a different type its less likely to have being affected also.

Might be nothing in it other than peace of mind but thats worth a lot in itself.
 

dkamp

New member
Thanks, Guys!

I just thought that using two SD cards may have saved some space, but I can see how offering the use of two different cards may have its advantages. Makes sense!

Thanks again...
 
S

Steven

Guest
i would think that, once upon a time when it first appeared, it was to give the user options, depending on which way the storage media went, in the future, possibly similar to what nikon is doing with the dual (but different) slots in the D4 but thats just a guess...

technically speaking, saving space may have been an issue, but again, its a guess.

practically speaking, NOW i love it, because it gives the option of using an eye-fi card, which i do.

currently i use a canon 1Ds2, but im looking at moving to nikon for the D800. currently i shoot RAW + medium jpeg. the card is set to keep the raw saved, but send the jpeg to my imac or ipad for a quick preview and later i will move the RAW files over and delete the jpegs. its really helpful for me and my seniors as we work together in a session.

if i move to the D800 (and that looks VERY likely) i will shoot both CF and the eye-fi SD at the same time. i believe there is an option to direct which file type goes to which card, so i will have the jpegs go to the eye-fi and have the RAW go to the CF card. the D800 will have some sort of menu options for the use of eye-fi cards, but, honestly, i get along just fine without those options in my canon, so nikon being aware of the product should certainly do anything but hurt its functionality.

now i doubt the eye-fi card is WHY nikon chose CF/SD, since im sure nikon would be thrilled to tell you their wireless transmitter, but i can at least mention one practical benefit of the CF/SD slots if you have a workflow similar to mine.

im sure im in the vast minority on this, but the CF/SD slots in the D800 are actually a small, but not insignificant, check mark in the "move to nikon" column FOR ME :)
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Personally, it is a minus for me. All my cards are SD and SD are easier to find on the road. I would have preferred to setup dual SD slots like a RAID 1 array.
 

b&w

New member
My Guess is that they wanted to have dual cards for the reason that the files are going to pretty large. Since the camera body is smaller to have dual CF slots they install 1 Cf and 1 SD.

Yes I myself would of prefer two CF slots
+1
 

Lars

Active member
Any business that use D4 and D800 in production obviously would like to use the same card type in both kinds of cameras - thus CF.
 

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
SD for convenience, CF for speed. Often speed isn't a matter, so something as simple as having an SD slot in a MacBook Pro and not have to deal with an external reader makes SD the better choice.

Or share a single card wallet with other cameras, like the Leica M9, that accept SD only.
 

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
Interleaving files on two SD cards would have made a lot of sense.
In the D7000, which takes two SD cards, I use slot 2 for backup; anything written to slot 1 goes to slot 2 as well. The card in slot 1 gets imported to a computer, then reformatted and reused. The card in slot 2, when full, gets write protected and put aside, then replaced with a fresh card. This way files end up on the computer AND backup cards. When the computer files have been replicated and backed up for safekeeping I reuse the backup SD cards.

With cameras, like the M9, after a day of shooting I import new files to the laptop, then put the card in the camera and shoot more. When it's full it's write protected and put aside as backup.

I have a lot of 16/32GB SD cards, so would rather use those than buy one-off CF cards for the D800. (I have a few from the A850 which a useless memory stick slot that might as well not exist.)
 

D&A

Well-known member
To respond to the OP's original question, I believe the answer is the following:

The D800 will appeal to two groups of shooters. First is those professionals who have long used Nikon's top of the line pro cameras such as the D3/D3X, D700, D2x/H, D1X/H etc., whereby CF was/is the long time standard for professionals. The D800 will also appeal to those stepping up from the D7000, certain Canon cameras and other consumer camerras where the Sd card was primarily used. Nikon therefore made available slots for both types of cards since the D800 will be purchased from an extremely wide and diverse group of shooters.

Dave (D&A)
 
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