Out of Memory?
Isn't that what you hate to see on your digital camera? A decent size (capacity) memory card, or three, will be an essential part of any photographic outing with your digital camera. Although many newer cameras have some built in memory, it's rarely an adequate amount. I urge you to consider the built in memory as emergency space. Use it when your memory card is full and you still want to take a few more shots.
How much is enough?
So, how much memory do you need? I don't know! It varies from person to person according to their shooting needs. Professional photographers may have multiple 2-4 gig memory cards and a portable hard drive to download to. You may not need that. It also depends on how often you'll be able to download your images to a computer
If you're shooting mostly family events and can download every day you can probably get away with just one decent sized card. If you're traveling to Russia for two weeks and don't know if or when you'll be able to download, you may need three 2 gig cards to cover all your shooting. Like I said, it depends on your needs.
Considerations
Here are a few things to consider when buying memory cards
- How many pictures do you take in an outing?
- How often do you use the Video mode on your camera? Video files take a lot of space.
- How long will it be before you're able to download your images?
- How many megapixels is your camera? A 6 or 8 or 10 MP camera will save larger files than a 4 MP camera will. SD and Compact Flash cards are available in large capacities.
- If you have a DSLR, do you shoot JPG or RAW files? RAW files are 2-4 times the size of JPG's and will more quickly fill your card.
- Are you one of those "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" kind of folks? A few smaller capacity cards gives you a margin of safety. If you have a problem with a card you won't lose all your photos. Big memory cards can sometimes be Big problems.
- Do you print through a kiosk at your local camera shop? Do you want to sort through the 400-600 images you can stuff on a 2-4 gig card? Would you rather just have 100-200 to edit during one session?
Check your manual
Most camera manuals will have a chart listing how many pictures you can fit on different capacity memory cards. Refer to this as you are deciding what capacity card ( and how many) to buy.
Let me make a quick statement about card Speed. This is (IMHO) one of the most over hyped items in the digital camera world. For P&S users, anything faster than an 80x (6 MByte/second) card is a waste of your money. Your camera will not be able to take advantage of the extra speed.
DSLR users will benefit from higher speed cards; to a point. You are always limited by the in-camera write speed. No matter how fast the card is, your camera can only go so fast. Check out the speed tests at Rob Galbraith's site to see how your camera rates. Buy cards that meet your cameras maximum speed.
The only time you get full advantage of high speed cards is when you're downloading through a USB card reader. Then it can blast along at 20 Mbyte/second.
Go Big or Go Home
I'm a firm believer in "Go Big or Go Home". That means that you should always shoot at the highest quality settings available on your camera. Whether it's called Large Fine or SuperFine or 3 Stars, set it there and leave it alone. Don't be tempted to use a lower setting to get more pictures on your card. You'll be reducing your print quality and reducing the amount you can crop. Why waste the full talents of your camera?
Certainly, you can always buy an extra memory card whenever you need one. You don't, however, want to be stuck paying some inflated price at DisneyWorld or some little camera shop in the middle of Bulgaria. Be prepared and get a couple of cards now. Then you won't have to worry about missing that shot of a lifetime.
