CR-7000

The packaging and device


Summary

What is it?
It's a SD to CF-type II adapter.
What does it do?
It lets you use a MMC/SD or SD/HC card in something that would normally use a CF-type II card.
What's a CF-type II?
It's the same pin out as a normal CF card, but is slightly thicker.
Why would I want to use one of these?
There are several reasons, high capacity SD cards are cheaper than CF cards, or you might have something with a CF interface that you'd like to read SD cards.
What did it cost?
In April 2009 I paid 2800 yen for it, which at the time was about US$25, or £18.50.
Where did you get it?
At one of the many shops in Akhihabara.
What's good?
It worked in the devices I wanted it for.
What's bad?
It could have a higher performance.

Why did I buy it?

I bought it to solve several problems:
  1. I've got a Seitec hard drive backup unit that isn't SDHC compatible, but has a CF-type II slot..
  2. Reasonable performance 16G SD cards are much cheaper than reasonable performance CF cards (as of April 2009).
  3. I've got 2 Canon DSLRs that use CF cards, and two cameras that use SD, it would be handy to just buy into one card type.

Testing

SD cards tested in the CF-7000

The CF-7000 was tested (and worked) in the following devices

I did limited testing, I tried a few different SD cards in it, and it in a few different devices. For comparison I measured a few copies to estimate the performance.

Performance data

These were done using the 8G class 6 micro SD/HC card inside it.
  1. Shot a burst of 14 RAW+JPG files in in the Canon 40D using high speed mode. It took 77 seconds from the access light coming on, to going out. There was 265MBytes of data, so this is an average speed of 3.4MBytes/sec
  2. Reading the same set of files on my main PC via a USB2 card reader, took 29 seconds, which is an average speed of 8.0MBytes/sec.
For comparison I did the same write test using a Sandisk Extreme III CF card that claims 30MBytes/sec performance, and it took 11 seconds for the write test, so this is an average speed of 24.1MBytes/sec

Packaging Notes

  1. The claimed speeds of 6MB-9.5MB for read, and 2MB-4MB for write, seem reasonable given my limited testing.
  2. Although the packaging claims a maximum size of 16MBB SD/HC, there was a sign in the shop claiming that it had been tested with a 32GB card, and was compatible.

Conculsion

For general usage this is a great device, I'll get a few 16G SD cards, and use this for the majority of my photography. For the motorsports the write time is just too slow, so I'll be keeping my Extreme III cards for that. Being able to back up SD/HC cards in the Seitek is great, and as my laptop only accepts SD (not SD/HC) cards I can use the Seitek as a multi card reader, and take one less item with me on my travels.


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