Digital SLR Memory Cards

Virtual Film For Your Camera

Digital SLR memory cards are an essential accessory.

In fact, it's a bit ridiculous to call them an accessory: they are a necessity.

You can't take a single photo without one, and digital SLR camera kits don't include them.

Since you have to purchase your digital SLR memory separately, the question becomes "which one to buy?"

Digital SLR Accesories

Batteries Memory Cards Camera Bags Filters Tripods External Flash

Compact Flash and SD

There are two types of digital SLR memory cards, and the camera you buy will dictate which card you use.

Compact Flash

Compact Flash cards are small squares, about half the size of a credit card and 5 times as thick.

For years, Compact Flash cards were the only memory cards used by digital SLR cameras.

This proved beneficial for consumers: the tough competition in the market lowered the price of these cards and increased their storage capacity by leaps and bounds.

While a 1 GigaByte (GB) card used to be impressive, today you can get them up to 4GB.

SD Memory

As manufacturers move toward SLR cameras that are smaller and lighter, they want to to do anything to reduce the weight.

While Compact Flash cards don't weight a ton, they are not as small and light as SD memory cards.

An SD card is about the size of a postage stamp and almost as thin.

The current maximum capacity of the SD cards is 2GB, half of the amount for Compact Flash.

Here's the advantage: many compact cameras and other portable devices also use SD cards as a source of memory.

Now you can get just one SD card and use it for your MP3 player, compact digital camera and digital SLR.

Storage Capacities

The capacity of digital SLR memory cards is measured in MegaBytes (MB).

For the non computer-literate, a MegaByte is a measurement of capacity on a computer hard drive or other storage device.

The more megapixels you camera has, the more MegaBytes each photo uses on your digital SLR memory card.

While a 6 megapixel photo takes up about 2.2MB of room, an 8 megapixel photo can take up to 2.9 MB of room.

Common memory card capacities are 256MB and 512MB.

Once you get up to 1024MB, you've got a GigaByte.

This means that a 4GB card is equivalent to 4096 MB of storage space, more than enough for the average photographer.

In fact, just 1GB is usually more than enough unless you take REALLY long vacations.

This table breaks down the approximate number of JPG photos you can store on digital SLR memory cards, based on the megapixel count of your camera's sensor.

MEGAPIXELS	MEMORY CARD SIZE
MEGAPIXELS	256 MB	512 MB	1 GB	2 GB
4	100	200	400	800
6	80	160	320	640
8	72	145	290	580
12	50	100	200	400

How Much Storage Do You Need?

You've decided on a camera and now you're shopping for digital SLR memory cards.

Where to begin?

The first decision that you'll have to make is how much memory you'll need.

This depends a lot on how you intend to use the camera.

Close to Home - 256MB

If you only intend to use your digital SLR close to home, then a huge memory card isn't required.

Unless you really take a LOT of photos every day, you can copy images from the card to your computer on a regular basis.

Once the photos are copied to your computer, you can clear off the card and re-use it.

Short Trips - 512MB

Short trips require more memory if you're not close to a computer for a couple of days.

In these cases, all the photos you take will have to remain on the memory card.

If you fill the card up, then it's just like running out of film - except you can't buy memory cards at the corner drugstore.

Long Vacations - 1GB or More

When you're prone to taking long vacations away from electronic devices, then the more memory the better.

Several 1GB and 2GB cards should keep you covered for some time.

The amount of memory that you need is clearly dependent on the number of photos you take.

If you're not happy-snappy, then you won't need a ton of memory no matter how much time you spend on travel.

Digital Photo Storage

There's an alternative for the long vacation set if you don't want to buy a ton of digital SLR memory cards.

Take a look at some digital photo storage devices.

These devices come with storage capacities between 20 and 40GB.

You can insert your SD or Compact Flash card and transfer photos from the card to the portable device.

If you don't already own a laptop that goes with you everywhere (since that serves the same purpose) then a digital photo storage device might be just what you need.

Memory Card Speed

Once you've decided on the capacity of your digital SLR memory card, you have to choose a speed.

Memory card speed is required for two things:

When the camera saves a photo to the card
When you transfer photos from card to computer

IMPORTANT NOTE: you will only notice a difference in the first situation if your camera is compatible with high-speed memory cards. If it isn't, having a fast card won't have any impact on how fast the camera takes photos.

Faster is usually better with digital SLR cameras, but fast speeds increase the price of a card.

This is why you can find two cards with the same amount of storage space with radically different prices.

Check the speed - one is probably a faster than the other.

For example, SanDisk has three distinct speed levels for their memory cards:

Regular speed: SanDisk 1GB SD card ($52.00)
High speed: SanDisk 1GB Ultra II SD card ($58.00)
Blazing fast: SanDisk 1GB Extreme III SD card ($75.00)

Lexar also offers several high-speed cards, like this 1GB SD Professional 60x Speed Card ($90.00), and their 512MB Pro 80x Speed Compact Flash ($40.00).

As you can see, the prices are all over the map.

I use SanDisk Ultra II cards myself, since I've found them to be a good tradeoff between price and speed.

The 80x Lexar card and the SanDisk III cards are typically used by pros who use high-end cameras, take photos in extreme conditions (cold, hot, wet, sandy) and need cards that are reliable 100% of the time.

Memory Card Tips

I have several tips for you about how to use your digital SLR memory card.

These tips come from personal experience taking a lot of photos, both close to a computer and on long vacations.

More Cards With Less Storage

I recommend that you get several cards with less storage rather than 1 card with a huge storage capacity.

For example, get two 512MB cards instead of one 1GB.

What's the point of this?

Memory cards are like other computer parts: they can and do fail.

Since you can store 320 photos on a 1GB card and only 160 photos on a 512MB card, how many would you rather lose if the card failed?

Format After Use

When you get all the photos copied from your memory card to your computer, format the card.

If you don't know how to do this on your computer, just use the menu setting on your digital SLR camera to do it.

Formatting the card permanently clears it of all information.

This ensures that you're starting with a clean card when you take more photos with your camera.

While you can just delete the images on the card (without reformatting) this can sometimes leave residual information on the card that will increase the chance that it won't work when you try to use it again.

Formatting is the sure-fire way to ensure that your cards work all the time.

Memory Card Readers

I am convinced that these are the most useful digital SLR camera accessories.

A memory card reader plugs into the USB port of your personal computer permanently.

Can you transfer photos from camera to computer without one?

Sure you can: you just have to plug the camera into the computer every time that you want to do it.

With a memory card reader, you just take the memory card out of your camera, pop it int the reader, transfer photos, reformat, and then pop the card back in your camera.

It's a very convient way to get photos onto your computer so you can review them.

Memory card readers come in two flavors:

Single card readers
Multi-card readers

A single card reader can only be used with one type of digital SLR memory card (SD or Compact Flash) while a multi-card reader can be used with both.

Multi card readers are best if you use electronics that require more than one type of card.

For example, you can get a reader for both SD and Compact Flash, or one that reads memory cards of all types.

If you only use one type of card, you can save money and just get a reader for Compact Flash or SD memory card.

New And Cool

Here's a nifty little device: the SanDisk SD plus USB.

It's an SD card that flips open and has a standard USB connection so you can plug it straight into your computer, which completely eliminates any need for a card reader.

It's SD-only for now - if you're going to be using a Compact Flash card, then you will need to invest in one of the card readers that I presented above.