V1.02
Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
Page 111
More entries are likely in the near future, as UDMA has clear
performance advantages on cameras that support it.
Note: You’ll also want to invest in a UDMA-capable card reader if
you opt for UDMA cards. Regular card readers can handle
UDMA cards, but will operate at their usual, slower speed.
Solid-State CompactFlash
Most CompactFlash cards contain nonvolatile memory chips
and are of the slim Type 1 variety. These solid-state cards
have chips that retain information stored on them even when
power is not present (that’s what the “nonvolatile” refers to).
While not indestructible, CompactFlash cards are designed to
withstand a 10-foot drop without damage, and they’re
relatively impervious to the elements (they shouldn’t be
immersed in water, however). If you keep your CompactFlash
cards in their small, plastic storage containers when not in the
camera, they should last as long as the camera does.
The internal mechanisms of
CompactFlash cards are only
produced by a handful of
companies. Thus, both the
memory and the controller
chip used in many flash cards
are the same. Still, read and
write speed can vary
considerably. Size of the card?
About 1
” x 1
” x 1/8” (43
x 38 x 3.3mm)
The memory of a CompactFlash card is organized like a
computer disk, complete with file directory, file allocation
table (FAT), folders, and files (ironically, I find that a book I
wrote over a decade ago,
Programmer’s PC Sourcebook
, has
detailed information on the structure CompactFlash uses).
Like a disk, a CompactFlash can develop “bad sectors” over
time and files can become “fragmented” if you delete
individual files. Fortunately, the act of using the D300’s
controls to “format” a CompactFlash card generally removes
file fragmentation (as well as the file information!). Formatting
a card using a PC
also
isolates bad sectors, but only if you
