Why have professional DSLRs traditionally used CompactFlash instead of SD cards?

Speed: CF generally had faster write performance, which mattered for RAW shooting and long burst sequences where buffer clearing speed is important.
Capacity: Early SD cards lagged behind CF in usable capacity, which was a bigger issue for pros shooting lots of RAW files.
Handling: CF cards are physically larger, making them easier to swap quickly, easier to handle with gloves, and harder to misplace.
Perceived toughness: Many pros viewed CF as more robust simply because of its size and established use in high-end cameras.

Question

Many entry-level DSLRs use SD or SDHC cards, while many older prosumer and professional models used CompactFlash (CF). What were the main reasons for that choice? Was it mainly about write speed and buffer performance, storage capacity, reliability, durability, or simply card handling in professional use?

user472 · Accepted Answer

Initially the reason was performance and capacity. A lot of the pro-level cameras went CF because you needed the performance and, usually because a pro shoots RAW, the capacity which the original SD couldn't match. Not to mention there was a point in time where SD was more expensive as a result of volume sales differences. SD is now cheaper thanks in a big way to the proliferation of small devices that used them such as point and shoot cameras, media players, etc.

Anyways, the speed/capacity issues largely evaporated with SDHC and will evaporate with SDXC. Then I think you will see a big move, in fact the shift is already happening without SDXC support in any camera. Canon's 1Ds as noted, but even Pentax stayed SDHC with the 645D medium format and that is miles away from a consumer camera. Also what we are starting to see is dual card support because SD cards are nice and small, that's a nice thing to have and impractical with CF.

Why have professional DSLRs traditionally used CompactFlash instead of SD cards?

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