Probably not worth replying to an old post but personally I can’t see why anyone would cripple a d5 by buying the cf version.
cf cards are old tech now and quite fragile. The xqd and how CFexpress card is the way forward.
there won't be anymore cf based cameras going forward.
If I could buy a nice CF D5 for "
$1000-1200 cheaper than going for a used XQD", as the original poster stated, I would snap it up in a heart beat for multiple reasons.
1) According to Nikon a couple of years ago, the upgrade from CF to XQD cost was $350. If I really wanted XQD, I would have the camera upgraded to XQD and have $750+ in my pocket for XQD cards or other stuff.
2) Unless you have a need for more images in the buffer than the D5 supports when using CF media, XQD cards are much more expensive and less compatible than CF with other camera models, including many older Nikon bodies.
3) Using CF media the D5 will still shoot raw at 12fps for about 5-8 seconds, depending on the compression and bit level selected.
4) Shooting jpeg, the D5 will hit the 200 frame limit with CF as fast as it will with XQD.
CF cards are old tech, but sometimes old tech still gets the job done. My D800E has past the 50K shutter mark and it does all I need for large images. My D3 has 2 old 16GB CF cards that each have provided me with 50K+ images and they are still working flawlessly. I just shot some portraits with the D3 a few days ago and if I do my part right, my portrait results are excellent up to 16x20.
As to fragility, Marianne Oelund reported in 2017: "
Since 2004, I've taken nearly 6 million frames with CF cards. That involves literally thousands of insert/remove cycles, with cameras from D2Hs to D5. Not a single bent pin has occurred in my equipment." See dpreview.com conversation at:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3948770?page=2
I agree with you that CFexpress is the future, but XQD is the Edsel of media. IMHO XQD is dead-end tech. It has not been adopted well outside of the higher end Nikon bodies and since XQD is essentially a monopoly product of Sony, the cost has not fallen over the years like most tech hardware. CFexpress will replace XQD shortly and XQD will die off quickly. CFexpress is MUCH faster, and works in upgraded XQD slots. Since Sony does not hold a monopoly on CFexpress, I expect it to be adopted by many manufacturers and the price of CFe media to drop over time, further improving its market share and use. I will not buy another XQD card and recommend no one else do so unless absolutely required by current camera/job needs.
ONLY because Nikon has promised a firmware upgrade to support CFexpress for D5 and D500 bodies would I want a D5 with XQD slots. Even so, if I could purchase a CF slotted D5 for more than $500 less than a XQD D5, I would do so, and have it upgraded to XQD Slots for $350+/-, right after Nikon releases the CFe firmware update; if I needed more than 5 seconds of 12fps on a consistent basis.
Just because it can shoot at 12 fps doesn't mean it has to. I shoot racers doing 200+ MPH with a couple of D500s attached to an 800mm f5.6 and a 600 f/4. The 600 f/4 is critical in the very early morning when light levels are extremely low and that extra 100% more light getting to the AF system matters. Often I will shoot at a lower than max fps setting to give the camera more time between mirror-up periods to AF. The faster the fps rate, the less time the AF circuits have to focus. I have found that for my needs, I generally get better results at 7-8 fps than I do at 10fps. If the job
requires shooting at 12fps for extended periods, then by all means that is what one should do. Otherwise I suggest buying photographic tools based job requirements, not specs. YMMV
