Editing CompactFlash (section)

==Description==
[[File:CompactFlash IDE Adaptor.jpeg|thumb|A 16-GB CompactFlash card installed in a 2.5" IDE port with adapter]]

There are two main subdivisions of CF cards, 3.3&nbsp;mm-thick type I and 5&nbsp;mm-thick type II (CF2). The type II slot is used by miniature hard drives and some other devices, such as the Hasselblad CFV Digital Back for the Hasselblad series of medium format cameras. There are four main card speeds: original CF, CF High Speed (using CF+/CF2.0), faster CF 3.0 standard and the faster CF 4.0 standard adopted as of 2007.

CompactFlash was originally built around [[Intel]]'s [[Flash memory#NOR memories|NOR]]-based flash memory, but has switched to [[Flash memory#NAND memories|NAND]] technology.<ref>[http://www.karlfoster.com/text/DP_flashmemory.doc] {{dead link|date=August 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> CF is among the oldest and most successful formats, and has held a niche in the professional camera market especially well. It has benefited from both a better cost to memory-size ratio and, for much of the format's life, generally greater available capacity than other formats.

CF cards can be used directly in a PC Card slot with a plug adapter, used as an ATA (IDE) or PCMCIA storage device with a passive adapter or with a reader, or attached to other types of ports such as [[USB]] or [[FireWire]]. As some newer card types are smaller, they can be used directly in a CF card slot with an adapter. Formats that can be used this way include [[Secure Digital card|SD]]/[[Multimedia Card|MMC]], Memory Stick Duo, [[xD-Picture Card]] in a Type I slot and [[SmartMedia]] in a Type II slot, as of 2005. Some multi-card readers use CF for I/O as well.

The first CompactFlash cards had capacities of 2 to 10 megabytes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/25-years-of-compactflash-a-look-back-at-the-pioneering-format|title=25 Years of CompactFlash: A Look Back at the Pioneering Format|website=PCMAG|date=11 July 2019 }}</ref> This increased to 64&nbsp;MB in 1996, 128&nbsp;MB in 1998, 256&nbsp;MB in 1999, 512&nbsp;MB in 2001, and 1&nbsp;GB in 2002.<REF>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onqTTm-f8cAC&dq=released+256mb+CompactFlash&pg=PA75 | title=PC Mag | date=13 November 2001 }}</REF><ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lVWAAAAMAAJ&q=released+256mb+CompactFlash+1999 | title=Liverpool and Manchester Photographic Journal | date=2002 }}</ref>