Memory cards - digital camera storage

The memory in your digital camera is the digital equivalent of film. It's used to store all the photos you take in a digital format. The more memory your camera has, the more images you are able to store.

Digital cameras make use of memory cards for storage. Once your memory card is full you can easily remove it and insert another card, or use the connection cable (most often a USB cable) to transfer the images to your PC. If your PC comes equipped with a memory card reader you can also insert your memory card in the reader and transfer it directly without having to use your digital camera.

There are various different types of memory cards in use today. The memory card you will need will be based on the requirements of your digital camera. You might also want to take the type of memory card used into consideration when deciding on a specific digital camera. Some of the memory cards are more expensive than others and have lower storage capability.

There are may different kinds of memory formats currently in use. These are the most popular types of memory cards.

CompactFlash:

CompactFlash cards are the "old faithful" of digital photography. They are very versatile and offer large storage capacities, making them well suited for use in high resolution digital cameras. The CompactFlash card is also one of the cheapest storage cards available. Their affordability and large capacity make them the ideal solution for most people. CompactFlash cards are available with storage capacity of up to 4GB.

Memory Stick

Sony developed the Memory Stick format for use in their products. The memory stick is thin and narrow, and resembles a stick of gum. They are very durable and easy to use. Memory sticks come in various storage capacities, and you can easily use your memory stick in many other Sony products (like their laptops and the Playstation Portable). The downside is that you can't use it in non-Sony products and memory sticks tend to be more expensive than the other memory card formats. The Sony Memory Stick Pro is the newer version of the memory stick, and are available in sizes up to 2GB.

Secure Digital (SD) & Multimedia Cards (MMC)

Secure Digital (SD) is one of the newer formats. SD cards are similar in size to older Multimedia Cards (MMC) although they are slightly thicker. Most new digital cameras with a Secure Digital card slot will be able to accommodate both SD cards and the older Multimedia cards. However, older cameras with a Multimedia card slot won't be able to handle the new SD cards.

SD cards are very popular and they are also widely used in a variety of mobile devices. As an added benefit SD cards also feature cryptographic security to protect data.

XD Cards

XD cards are also a relatively new format. They are able to store images faster than earlier formats and are mostly used by Olympus and Fuji cameras. The largest benefit is that the XD Cards are very small (20x25x1.7mm). Unfortunately since XD cards aren't as widely used as the other formats, they tend to be quite expensive.

How to choose a memory card

The biggest consideration when buying a memory card should be storage capacity.. Storage capacity: The storage capacity will determine the amount of images you will be able to store on your memory card before it gets full. Especially for high megapixel cameras it's important to have a large memory card to accommodate the larger file sizes.

The amount of images you are able to store will depend on the storage capacity of your memory card and the file size of the images. In general a 128MB or 256MB card should be good enough for lower resolution cameras. However if you are getting a high-resolution digital camera, you will do well to invest in 512MB or larger memory cards.

Below you can see an estimate of the amount of images you will be able to store on the various sized memory cards. (All images stored in high quality JPEG format)

MP Rating	128MB	256MB	512MB	1GB
3 Megapixel	106	212	424	848
4 Megapixel	64	128	256	512
5 Megapixel	51	102	204	408
8 Megapixel	36	72	144	288

From this it's clear that it is definitely well worth your while to invest in the largest memory card you can afford. It's especially true for high megapixel cameras. Without a large memory card, you will be limited to taking only a few photos before having to download them to your PC.