Compact Flash cards, shorter known as CF, are used in many different cameras.
Depending on the amount of megapixels and video resolution of your camera, the speed of the memory card is very important. If you buy something too slow, your videos will pause randomly and if you shoot sports/wildlife, you’ll have to wait for the buffer to clear.
Best CF Memory Cards of 2019
To help you get the most out of your camera, here’s a list of our best CF memory cards of 2019.
What to look for:
- Size – This depends on how many megapixels you have. We recommend 32GB, 64GB and 128GB.
- Speed – UDMA 7 is the fast and worth every dollar.
- Video – For video, you also want fast UDMA 7 memory cards, especially if you have 4K resolution.
Best Compact Flash Memory Cards
1. Lexar Professional 1066x UDMA 7
The Lexar Professional 1066x is the most popular, super fast and the cheapest for what it offers (UDMA 7). We highly recommend as it has no trouble recording 4K videos at 60fps, and it’s also fast enough for burst shooting.
Lexar also includes a downloadable Image Rescue software in case you accidentally lose your files. It comes in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB sizes.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
2. SanDisk Extreme Pro UDMA 7
The SanDisk Extreme Pro UDMA 7 is almost identical in speed, yet costs a little bit more. Both brands are excellent and I’ve been using both for years (CF and SD), and none of them failed ever.
However, Sandisk is quite famous for their durability and their cards working in all sorts of difficult conditions; freezing to extremely hot. We’re not saying Lexar won’t work in cold/hot conditions, it’s just that SanDisk has a reputation in this department.
You can buy it at Amazon or see more reviews here.
There are many more cards, but even the slower ones are cheaper for just a few dollars.
Brands
We recommend buying a CF memory card from any the following brands; Sandisk, Lexar, and Transcend. Personally, I own a couple of Lexar and Sandisk cards, and have been perfectly satisfied with both for many years.
Any weird company or something ultra cheap will only result in you losing your shots sooner or later. You might be tempted to save a few bucks here, but think about it… this is the only place where all of your shots are stored. Yes you can always backup later, but you don’t always have to chance to do that immediately right?
Last Updated on September 14, 2021 by Nick Voorhees
First and foremost, I’m a husband and father. Then professionally I’m photographer, designer, blogger, and Esty store owner. My homebase is near the stunning Wasatch mountains in Utah but I love traveling with my family as part of our homeschooling journey. I also love teaching and helping out others. My faith is one of the biggest aspects of my life and brings be a consistent joy that I haven’t found in anything else. My main blog is BestPhotographyGear.com and I strive to make photography simple for anyone looking to learn or find gear for their individual needs. By nature, I like to study, research, and analyze things and I use that help provide the best advice and reviews I can.