The Complete Guide To Choosing Digital Memory Cards!So you're looking to buy Digital Memory Cards for your digital camera, but your confused by the different types? Our guide will show you what's available, what to look for, and more importantly, which type will suit your needs best! Instead of using rolls of film, which are then processed and developed to produce a photograph, digital cameras store their images on digital memory cards. The main advantage of using a card is that they are completely reusable. Simply transfer the images to your home computer, print or erase them.
Which Digital Memory Cards are Available?As mentioned earlier, many good digital cameras (if not all!) are made to accept more than one type of compatible card. Unfortunately the particular one that may have been bundled in with your digital camera will more than likely be a very low capacity card, around 32Mb, perhaps even as low as 16Mb! So it won't be much use to you except as a backup. Do remember that your camera will have an in-built memory, but please don't think this a substitute for a memory card. It can usely only hold a very few high quality images. And if you have a problem with your digital camera it is likely the memory will become corrupt. And with the in-built memory You then won't have the option to transfer your images elsewhere like you would while using a digital memory card. SD Digital Memory Card
XD Digital Memory Card
You will find the XD digital memory cards generally with a 1Gb capacity, but to be honest unless you're a pro, you won't fill it up! Compact Flash Digital Memory Card
Memory stick
As far as digital photographers are concerned, memory sticks are legitimate options for storing images, however these types of digital memory cards are slightly more prone to becoming damaged due to memory sticks being physically more frail than its Compact Flash counterpart for example which has a more solid and hardened body. What size Digital Memory Card do I need?That's a difficult question to answer in general terms as it depends on the Photographer, the camera you are using and for what purpose your photography serves. Let me explain...Each and every digital image is made up of pixels, these together will eventually add up to a Megapixels. These large files are measured in Mb (Megabytes), so the more Megapixels your camera has, the more Megabytes you'll need to use to store it. To make sure your camera uses the Megabytes in its memory effectively it uses a process called 'compression'. You may have heard this term before. It is a shrinking process that ensures the digital memory card you are using can store as much data as possible. On some cameras this compression rate can be set manually, but beware that although higher compression rates mean you can fit more on, it also degrades the picture quality too. Find a happy balance, or better still, let the camera automatically set the rate.
You will notice that higher Megapixel cameras produce better image quality, but use more space on memory cards per shot. Therefore think carefully about how many images you would like to store at any one time, then check your cameras Megapixel rating. For example a 128Mb memory card would hold around 142 or so high quality images from a 2 Megapixel camera, but only around 40 from a 6 Megapixel camera. We would recommend purchasing a high capacity card, which means you'd never find yourself missing a shot while fumbling to delete images & free up storage! Looking After Your Memory CardsAll in all digital memory cards are pretty robust and sturdy, a slight knock isn't likely to set a dent in your wallet. That said, it is important to follow a few simple pointers to keep your cards in top notch working condition.
And more importantly, that you know much better what you need. Need more information? Check out some of the digital memory cards described above by clicking on any of the links above. Wish to know more about digital photography? Subscribe to the Digital Photography Tips 'n Tricks eZine or to my site blog. Go from Digital Memory Cards Page to Your Digital Photography Homepage |
When not in your Digital Camera, keep the cards in their original plastic case for protection. Alternatively it is possible to but holders that can keep several cards safe at once.
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