Is there that big of a difference between a smaller card a larger compact flash card

[RumDaddy]

Wanting to buy a 60 D and I noticed it only used the smaller memory cards rather then the larger compct flash cards. Has anyone noticed anything negative about the smaller cards?

 

[Big Mike]

The smaller cards are 'SD' cards.

Most cameras use SD cards these days (as far as I know). It's just the higher end DSLR cameras that still use CF cards. So if there was anything wrong with SD cards, I'm sure we would be hearing about it.

 

[Judobreaker]

There's really nothing wrong with them and you probably won't notice any difference when they are in the camera.
Their real main difference is speed.
The SD card (smaller one) has less connections (those 9 metal pins) whereas the CF cards have 50 pins.
This gives a difference of a 4-bit data transfer versus a 16-bit data transfer.
You won't notice that difference in most current cameras as the camera is the bottle neck and not the card, so both will seem just as fast.
It'll make a lot of difference when reading them in your computer though, but I wouldn't really care about that.
I'm not in a hurry so I can manage waiting a few more minutes. ^^

 

[analog.universe]

^ that exactly

even still, i can dump a full 32gb card in 15 minutes...

 

[KmH]

Judobreaker nailed the main issue - upload speed.

For the camera makers, a SD slot is a lot cheaper than a CF slot.

SD cards being smaller are somewhat easier to lose, and the exposed SD card contacts make it easier to corrupt/kill a card from static electricity buildup on a person when they handle a card outside the camera.