PhotoFast CR-7100 MicroSDHC adapter helps obsolete CF cards
By Vlad Savov 
posted June 26th 2009 10:16AM
posted June 26th 2009 10:16AM
That noise you hear is the sobering death rattle of the CompactFlash memory format. Allegiance to the now decidedly less than compact memory sticks seems to keep crumbling away bit by bit. The latest assault comes in the form of this here converter, capable of utilizing a MicroSDHC card in the high-end camera of your choice. The CR-7100 is available in Japan now for ¥2,980, or about 31 greenbacks. Here's hoping this agent of memory interoperability nirvana shows up in US and European markets sooner rather than later.
[Via Akihabara News]
I like the fact that it is
"Extremely High Speed"
Looks like a cheap chinese product, robots and "extremely high speed"? PhotoFast? They also mention Compact Flash Type 1 twice... And doesnt't that SD stick out a bit? Kind of hard to close the CF door on your DSLR when that's sticking out (I know, Nikon D1, love having to press several buttons to open the CF door).
I think the microsd is sticking out because it's not push in all the way. If it works, does it matter if it is made in China.
Why is this news? I've been using a CF-to-SD card adapter in my Canon 40D for almost a year. My converter was about $20. With an SD adapter I can use a micro-SD if desired.
Compact Flash news isn't news.
It isn't about if it works or not, if it matters if it's good enough to be useful.
As in, it won't break two minutes after you buy it (personal experience!!!)...
.. because SD is soo much faster than CF.. oh, wait!
whats looking like the future for memory cards?
The near future of flash storage looks much slower than the Current speeds of CF and Future SATA based CF cards that promise to be twice the speed of current CF (UATA/ 66MB/s).
CF cards are considered more rugged and durable to many "in the field" photographic shocks, impacts and accidents. CompactFlash cards are capable of withstanding more physical damage in comparison to other, flimsier designs.
Due to their compatibility with IDE/ATA they are used in many embedded systems as solid-state drives. In early 2008 the CFA demonstrated CompactFlash cards with a built in SATA interface.[15] Several companies make adapters to allow CF cards to be connected to PCI, IDE, 44-pin laptop mini-IDE, and SATA connections[16], allowing a CF card to act as a solid-state drive with virtually any operating system or BIOS, and even in a RAID configuration.
CompactFlash does not have any built in DRM or cryptographic features like on some USB flash drives and other card formats. The lack of such features contributes to the openness of the standard since other memory card standards with such features are subject to restrictive licensing agreements.
CF cards are available at higher storage capacities than some smaller flash memory cards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompactFlash#Compared_to_other_portable_storage
well I have yet to touch an SD card that was anywhere NEAR as fast as my CF cards especially when connected with a computer. My Firewire CF card reader is so stinking fast its a pleasure to download 16gb's from it.
Now my SD cards even my extreme II SD cards are painfully slow in comparison. it drives me NUTS even the newest just out cards max out at 30mb/s and I get no where even remotely slightly or vaguely close to that in ANY reader I have tried so far.
Drives me nuts that no one makes a GOOD SD card reader.
I would love it if they let me "double up" the MSD cards say the new 4 card unit where it was pairs of 2 and the pics where saved to BOTH cards at the same time for redundancy. Now that would be a neat trick.
Not sure if that could work with video.
Have you tried Lexar's (RW035-001) Combo SD/UDMA CF card reader? It works pretty fast compared to others I have tried.
http://lexar.com/readers/pro_udma_dualslot.html
This would be good for my Infiniti G35. It has a hard drive and a compact flash slot. I don't know why they chose CF or SD cards.
I only had SD's when I bough the car and didn't want to buy CF's. The would work out nice.
You have to remember that CF cards can work directly off the IDE bus without any other hardware tricks. This makes them easier to implement on many things. CF cards are not going away for industrial use, or use in routers and switches. I can see them not being used as much in cameras, just due to their size.
I see! Thanks for the info.
This adapter is great for me since all I have are SD cards!
Do you have Mirco SD/HC though?
I actually only own MicroSD size.
I bought them and they came with mini, standard, and usb adapters.
there's mspd adapter that can take 2 microSD card and combine the capacity, for the size of CF, it probably can take a ton of microSD and combine them...
CF cards obsolete.. yet.
I am waiting for the new sata interface CF2 cards. those will be nice. :)
Why are CF Cards bad? I have been using them for years in my Canon DSLR's and have never had a problem with them
Exactly, there is a reason why DSLRs still use CF cards. If you Google for testings, they are more durable and reliable than SDHC cards, although it appears SDHC cards have caught up in capacity, speed, and price now.
It's because I have a SD card slot built into my laptop. It is very nice to pulll the card out of the camera and put the pictures right on the computer without a cable or using the camera.
I would rather it be a SDHC card to CF card adapter though. I have 11GB of SD cards, and I would want to use SD cards if I got a Canon DSLR.
I just bought a Canon 5D Mark II last month. It uses CF. How is it obsolete?
CFs are not absolute. They are more durable than CF and definitely cheaper if you compare two of the same speed. You can find 16Gb 133x (25MB per seconds read, 20MB/s write) Kingston CF Card for under $30. Sandisk 16GB Extreme III wile is faster (30MB/s read/write) costs 3 times more @ $90. I was also upset by the fact that my 5D Mk II didn't include SD card slot but after I did some reading and comparison I understood reasons behind it.
I recently invested into SunDisk's 8GB Extreme VI CF, and frankly, you will not see me running to SD(HC) camp any time soon. The card if freaking fast.
If megapixel race doesn't stop, CF would continue its domination in dSLR market, as SD's performance still lags behind.
WTF?
Thanks for the info... But at least having this technology and Apple putting a SD card slot gives some the ability to be fluid for those of us that have CF-card based dSLRs.
can I use my EYE-FI card?
Unless Eye-Fi comes out with a microSD card, then the option pictured above will not work. However, you can certainly purchase a CF to SD adapter and give it a shot. It worked in my old Canon D30, and I think the adapter cost $20. Performance might be affected... I was only testing with a 3MP camera, so I couldn't stress test it like other cameras could.
Further, with a CF to SD adapter, you can then also use a SD to mini- or microSD adapter, so I really don't see the point with this product, given the vast amount of real estate the CF format offers over SD... unless there's some concern about the reliability of using two adapters? I'm having trouble believing that, though.
Eye-Fi microsd, that would be awesome.
I believe the CF to SD(HC) adapters maxed out at Class2 speeds.
MicroSD seems a bit limiting - small, slow and expensive in comparison to full-size SD cards.
I think that's brilliant... they could blame the performance on the microSD card instead of the adapter.
Never buy a product that has a generic transformer on the label. Wait, never buy a product with any kind of transformer on the label.
What if it's a Transformer?
Generic Transformer = Go Bot
It looks like there is a card on the Japanese site that uses 4 micro SD cards to create a RAID 0 striped array for 80 MB/s transfers...now that is a great idea and "Extremely High Speed".
I guess that's one good thing about the "large" size of CF... seems you can make an adapter for a much of other flash formats.
I'm going to miss CF cards should they fully depart, I like their larger size. They don't feel nearly as fragile as SD cards.
I still love CF...
This is not going in any DSLR in the near future. With a sustained write speed of 4 MB/s, Class 4 MicroSDHC cards have a max capacity of only 8GB.
I'll take my 16GB SanDisk Extreme III at 30 MB/s for the extra $40.
AData makes a class 6 16GB microSDHC -- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211380
Four of those Class 6 16GB cards running in RAID in this adapter could work for about $250.
http://gizmodo.com/5302727/photofast-cr+7200-compactflash-adapter-runs-four-microsds-in-raid
I don't know where you heard that Class 4 is limited to 8GB- there are faster Class 6 at 16GB on Amazon.
That said, yeah, the (micro) SDHC format is annoying limited to something like 32GB. Luckily the successor format, SDXC, goes up to a theoretical 2TB max. CF looks limited to 137GB (according to wikipedia, take it for what it's worth).
sounds good to me: if i need to send a good pic over the net and dont have a laptop, i can stick this in my DSLR, take the pic, puti it back in my phone and mail the file as an attachment. Pretty useful indeed
That's exactly what I do! I don't own a camera that uses SD cards. All CF.
Having an unlimited data plan is not a bad idea. ;)
When I went looking for a simulator adapter for SD cards over a year ago, it was a PITA! But I found one for my CF based camera. I wanted to use cheaper SD cards. (My camera does not support more than 2 gig, Stupid Morons!)
I find it annoying that many high end cameras use CF still. WHY? They are more expensive than SDHC cards.
I guess I am glad that these type of adapters are making a comeback... But I would prefer a CF adapter that took normal sized SDHC cards, and not the more expensive microSDHC.
I think CF cards are preferable, but PhotoFast mentioned in the Gizmodo story above, also makes SDHC to CF adapters.
Duh..helps them do what???
But seriously, the word obsolete is an adjective, not a verb.
How about kill or even obviate?
verb [ trans. ]
cause (a product or idea) to be or become obsolete by replacing it with something new : we're trying to stimulate the business by obsoleting last year's designs.
Is there a point to this product? For 30 bucks you could buy a perfectly good fast CF card, why buy an adapter.