New Compact Flash Standards

Digital SLR owners feeling limited by their slow Compact Flash card will be happy to know that the Compact Flash Association has finalized specifications for the CF 5.0. These new CF specs offer many improvements for this popular but somewhat slow form of storage.

• 48 bit Addressing which will allow capacities up to 144PB
• Efficient data transfer supporting 32MB per transfer versus 128K per transfer
• Improved Data Set Management Command/Trim to allow for more efficient cleanup of unused space on memory card (LBA’s)
• Identification of Device CFA Specification Version Number which will make it easier for host to determine card capabilities
• Performance Control that provides a quality of service framework for card performance (optional)
• Video Performance Guarantee that provides a quality of service for video capture applications to ensure quality recordings with no dropped frames (optional)

The new specifications can be downloaded from the CFA’s website for a small fee and interested manufacturers can begin the process of building the next generation of CF storage media and compatible photographic equipment. No word on when CF5.0 compatible products will begin to make their way into the retail marketplace; until then, we will have to dream of all the things you could do with a CF5.0 card in the next generation Canon 7D.