photographers... cf vs sd? Options

[*kryogenix*]

let's breathe some life back into this place

In the next few months, I'm going to purchase my first dSLR. I'm pretty set on the EOS 350D (rebel XT). Format isn't going the affect my buying decision, but I was wondering what you think will happen to CF. The trend has been leaning towards SD, with a lot of camera bodies supporting SD only and higher ends adding SD support.

What is your opinion? I've always liked CF; suitably fast, rugged, small enough but not too small that it's easily lost if not in a case and very high density memory... I'd really like CF support to continue in the next few camera generations as I'd hate to have spend an extra $100 on memory.

Your thoughts please.

[Simba]

Oooh the Canon Rebel XT. I've seen great photos come out of that camera.

I really wish the DSLR world would go one way or the other. Different cameras taking CF and SD just adds another thing to worry about when buying a camera.

I would probably take CF since they've been known to be reliable and hold more memory, and memory is much more important as your mega pixels go up. For one, I don't think you'd be able to shoot SD with those 20+ mega pixel Hasselblads. All CFs and microdrives, 8 gigabytes, fast buffer, etc.

And even if you're not using such a high megapixels, then you get to take more pictures on the same memory card, thus not having to worry about changing cards mid-shooting. With SD, you'd just have to buy even more cards, and then you would have to worry about keeping each and everyone safe.

I'm currently shooting with the Nikon D80, which takes SD cards. That was convenient for me since I switched from the D50 which also takes SD cards... However I don't think the one and two gigabyte SD cards are quite enough for the 10 mega pixel camera. I can fit only about 81 RAW shots on one 1 gigabyte card, making me have to switch a bit more than I'd like. And then when I decide to go up another level, I'm inevitably going to have to spend the extra money on new CF cards.

[*kryogenix*]

Well I am a poor college student, so I chose the 350D for it's value (Hasselblads are out of the question haha). And I'm going with Tamron lenses at first then eventually I'll move up to nicer Canon IS lenses. But I digress.

Yeah, my desire to shoot in RAW or at least superfine JPEG for all my shots is another plus for CF to me.

[Simba]

Yeah, I hear good things about Canon's L series lenses. (The L series is just known for being extremely expensive. And excuse me if you're not even talking about the L lenses, that's just what most people are talking about when then say "IS.") As far as third-party lenses, I've at least heard some decent things about Tamron. Just don't get the superzooms. (That is, anything coming close to 18-200mm.)

[*kryogenix*]

Well, yeah, I was referring to the cheaper IS lenses. I'm buying one 28-80mm wide and 75-300mm telephoto once I save up, so those should cover the ranges pretty well. But again we're off topic, haha.