Digital Cameras - Memory Cards

If you are familiar with traditional 35mm photography you will know that photographs are captured on film. Instead of using film digital cameras use memory cards to store pictures and video clips.

There are a number of different types of memory card and it is important to know that a digital camera will only be able to use one or at most two different types of card. Therefore if you buy an additional card you need to make sure it is a card that it is compatible with your camera.

The leading memory cards are:

CompactFlash cards offer very high storage capacities. CompactFlash cards offer very high storage capacities. These used to be the most popular type of cards, but in recent times their usage has fallen owing to cards that are physically smaller in size being able to store increasingly large numbers of photos. CompactFlash cards are now only used in some Digital SLRs and occasionally in very advanced compact digital cameras.

There are two types of CompactFlash cards available. These are Type 1 and Type 2 cards. The difference is that Type 2 cards are capable of holding a greater amount of information, up to 8 gigabytes of images. Type 2 cards are fatter than Type 1 cards, 5.5mm thick as opposed to 3.3mm.

Be aware some cameras can only use Type 1 cards. Therefore if you have a camera with a Type 1 slot and you buy a Type 2 card it will not work with your camera.

xD Picture cards are the smallest memory cards available and are used in Fuji and Olympus digital cameras.

There are three types of xD card available. The first type is the standard card. This was the first xD card to be introduced. This type of card should be compatible with all digital cameras that use xD cards. The drawback of this card was its maximum capacity was limited.

This led to a new type of card being introduced. This was the M type xD card. It is similar in most aspects to the original, standard xD cards, but is capable of having a greater capacity. You are probably surprised that being so similar to the standard card this was given a slightly different name. This is because this new type of card is not compatible with some older Fuji and Olympus digital cameras.

The third type of card is the H type xD card. The H stands for high speed. This means that photos and movies can be written to and read from the card faster than they can with a standard or M type xD card. Depending on your camera this may give you benefits such as the camera being ready to take the next photo faster and movies being captured at a faster rate. This can lead to the movie appearing smoother when played back. The H type xD card is compatible with the majority of digital cameras that use xD cards, but is not compatible with some older models.

Memory Stick is used by Sony digital cameras. Some people ask me if they need a Memory Stick and a memory card for there camera. The answer is no. Memory Stick is just the name given to a type of memory card.

In a similar way to CompactFlash there is more than one type of Memory Stick and it is important that you buy the type that is compatible with your camera.

The most common type of memory stick is simply called Memory Stick. This is used in the majority of Sony Digital cameras. In their smaller cameras they use a smaller sized card called Memory Stick Duo.

If you buy a Memory Stick Duo card by mistake you can pick up an adapter that will allow you to use the card in the larger models.

There are also Pro versions of both Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo cards. The Pro cards offer faster read and write speeds. You may not see any read difference with many consumer cameras if you buy a Pro card. If you are able to see a difference it will most likely occur when you are shooting a movie.

The current maximum capacity of Memory Stick is 4GB. The largest Memory Stick Duo cards I am aware of is 2GB.

Secure Digital cards are appearing in more and more digital cameras and are currently the most widely used card. The reason for their popularity is their small size coupled with more than useful storage capacity. Cards of up to 4 Gigabytes are now available.

Two new types of SD card have been introduced. These are the mini SD card and the micro SD card. They are smaller than the standard SD card. At the time of writing neither of these cards can be used with a digital camera unless you also buy an adapter. (This may be supplied with the card). These cards are compatible with other devices such as mobile phones.

Multi Media Cards have the same physical characteristics as Secure Digital Cards. The technology inside them is different. They are usually used as an alternative to SD cards. This means that some digital cameras that use SD cards can also use Multi Media Cards.

Historically Microdrives were viewed as a useful alternative to CompactFlash cards in high specification digital cameras. This was because Microdrives could hold up to 1 gigabyte of images when CompactFlash cards could only hold around 128mb. Times have changed and the current 4 gigabyte maximum capacity of the Microdrive lags behind the capacity of a top end CompactFlash card. This has led to a decrease in the Microdrive's popularity.

You will often find that cards that appear to be identical sell for different prices. This can be because some cards are capable of processing an image and storing it a lot faster than other cards. At the lower end of the market the benefits of buying high speed cards are less clear. The time delay between taking one shot and the camera being ready to take the next is likely to be more to do with the limitations of the camera itself than to do with a slow memory card.

At the top end of the market where the serious photographer relies upon rapid response high speed memory cards have a far greater impact. If writing large images quickly, freeing up the camera ready for the next shot is important to you then high speed cards can help.

After you have taken your photos the next step for many people is to upload them to a computer. To make this job easier it is worth buying a memory card reader. The reader plugs into a computer. A memory card is inserted into the reader and appears as an extra drive. You can then select the images you would like to upload. You can also delete unwanted images from the card via the computer. There are two main advantages of using a memory card reader. The first is ease of use. The second is that it doesn't drain your camera's batteries during the upload process.

There are two types of reader available. The first is a reader that can only read one type of memory card, for example CompactFlash. The second is a reader that can read from a number of different types of card.

Once your treasured images are on the computer I would strongly advise you to back them up to a CD. Even better back them up to two CDs. Then if your hard drive fails your images are safe. A word of warning don't use cheap CDs. This can prove to be a false economy. Although tests are inconclusive there is evidence that cheaper CDs are more likely to fail and your images will then be lost.

As technology advances there are now more ways in which your memory card can prove useful. For printing more and more Photo Kiosks are appearing. To use a Kiosk you insert your memory card, select the prints you would like to make and watch as they are printed. Similar technology is now becoming available for home printing. There are printers you can buy where you can take the memory card out the camera insert it into the printer and make your prints directly from it. There are no cables or computers involved in the process.

Another innovation is the Digital Photo Viewer. This is a device that you plug into your television set. You can then insert your memory card and use a remote control unit to display your images on the screen.

A question I get asked on a regular basis is can I use a different make of memory card with my camera. The answer is almost always yes. The only restriction I am aware of is the panoramic feature in a number of Olympus digital cameras will only work with their own brand xD cards.

I personally use a variety of different brands. I use a selection of cards from Kingston, Sandisk and Lexar.

Even if you own high capacity memory cards it still makes economic sense to clear the cards down from time to time and delete unwanted images. Cards have a tendency to fill up quickly.

Once an image has been stored on a computer or elsewhere it can be deleted from the memory card. Shots that you don't want to keep can be deleted immediately by using the camera's menu system. Without housekeeping you will find yourself continuously buying extra cards.

From time to time memory cards can become damaged. There are a number of companies that specialize in retrieving images from corrupt cards. If you need images retrieved there are plenty of online companies offering the service or your local camera shop should be able to provide assistance.

A cheaper and more instant method of retrieving images from corrupted memory cards is to use some Photo Recovery software. This is available to download from the Internet. There is normally a fee to pay, but many companies offer a try before you buy deal. This way you know if the software will be able to retrieve your lost photos before spending money. Many of these packages will only work if you have access to a card reader. The package I use is Image Recall.

Despite the continuous advance in the number of megapixels cameras are capable of recording many camera companies still only supply a 16mb memory card with a digital camera. The table below is provided to give you a rough idea of how many image can be stored on cards with different capacities. You can then estimate the size of card that will be most useful to you.

Please note these tables are for guidance purposes only.

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Digital Camera Memory Cards - Last Updated January 2006