SD to CF card adaptor. Yes or No

Pistnbroke

As I now have the D80o which will take any CF card and a D810 which will do only Sandisk and Lexar I have a compatibility issue particularly for spare cards.
Anyone tried the SD to CF adaptors ( 3.2mm versions) as I have loads of sandisk SD cards sitting idle. Any problems in the D810 ??

haroldp

I use cards other than Sandisk or Lexar (Sony, Fuji, transcend) in my D810 without issues.

Some adapters may work, but they will all slow don the write of the fastest cards.

... H

Killerbob

I also have had no problems with other CF cards in my D800 and D810. I usually use SanDisk, but only because they are the fastest I have tested...

paulr

I have found no problems with other Brand Names on a D810

haroldp

The following link has very useful tests of flash card performance in the D810

http://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/nikon-d810/fastest-sd-cf-card-speed-tests/

Pistnbroke

Strange ...when I got the 810 I put the 16GB kingston in from the D800 No Go Then the ememory 32 GB No Go while two very old Dick Smith cards ( 256 MB !!!) worked fine. Had to buy a Sandisk which works fine.
Sounds a bit similar to the coded battery senario.
You will note in your link Harrold that the Kingston gave card error

Thanks for all your help.

Killerbob

A friend of mine specifically is using Kingston CF and SD cards in his D810...

haroldp

Sounds a bit similar to the coded battery senario.

They are not specifically coded, but each flash card has a controller chip which distributes and retrieves data from the memory addresses. These controllers have timing and handshake protocols which may not play well with the storage controllers in the cameras, which is why some cards work better in some cameras than in others.

In my Leica M9 and M8's, all old SD (2GB or less) work perfectly, 15 mbs Sandisk and class 6 transcend SDHC cards work perfectly. Faster Sandisk and transcends become episodic.

It is really two computers agreeing (or not) on a handshake protocol.

... H

kanuck

I used to use the Kingston cards back when I didn't know any better. Luckily I didn't have any problems with my D700 back in 2008. I use only Lexar and Sandisk now for safety reasons and high speeds with my D810 and Leica M9p. For the peace of mind try to go with these brands if you can. Transcend are good little cheapies too. I use the Transcend 3.0 card reader actually as well.

Ironheart

I've never had a problem with a Kingston card. They are a tier-1 memory manufacturer, and the world's second largest. Before blaming a vendor make sure the card isn't counterfeit.

kanuck

Sounds a bit similar to the coded battery senario.

They are not specifically coded, but each flash card has a controller chip which distributes and retrieves data from the memory addresses. These controllers have timing and handshake protocols which may not play well with the storage controllers in the cameras, which is why some cards work better in some cameras than in others.

In my Leica M9 and M8's, all old SD (2GB or less) work perfectly, 15 mbs Sandisk and class 6 transcend SDHC cards work perfectly. Faster Sandisk and transcends become episodic.

It is really two computers agreeing (or not) on a handshake protocol.

... H

The key for the Leica M9 lineup is to use the SD (secure digital) in SDSC standard capacity size, or the SDHC high capacity cards. The extended capacity cards SDXC cards will not work because they write too fast to the card. It's unfortunate because these are the highest and fastest cards available today. I ended up buying the maximum size and speed for my M9p which is 32GB at 95mb/s SDHC Sandisk. Interestingly enough most of the original SDSC cards are no longer around as SDHC and SDXC are the two formats that stuck around since 2013.

Pistnbroke

Adaptor arrived and will work with any card in the D800 and also works with the D810 with a Lexar and Sandisk card only

Ironheart

Good info. Thanks. What error do you get with the other cards in the D810?

haroldp

Which adapter are you using ? they are also chipped and may work differently. It would be helpful to know one that works.

How is the write speed ?.

... H

Pistnbroke

Error shows as "faulty card"
I tried a 50mb/s CF Sandisc and it took 10sec to clear 5 x RAW and fine large.
Then I put a 45mb/s sansdisk SD in the adaptor and the result was the same as near as I could tell on a watch dial..
the one I used was this one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/381371602484?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

$12