Commercially viable film cameras ("Daguerreotypes") were invented in the early 19th Century and became an overnight sensation, or as overnight a sensation as one could be when traveling by covered wagon. Matthew Brady's Civil War photos demonstrated that a picture really could be worth a thousand words and, when roll film combined with the box camera in the 1880s, the public discovered photography as a hobby. By the turn of the 20th Century, photographers were shooting everything--news, landscapes, even each other.
With the growing popularity of electronics, the digital camera was inevitable. With images digitized into data files instead of electro-chemically imprinted on film, digital pictures needed to be stored, so blank storage media was invented, among which are memory cards. Close relatives of USB flash drives and using very similar technology, they are type specific--more than a dozen different varieties have been created for different applications or for different brands of consumer electronics.
The original digital cameras of the 1980s were somewhat limited, but today, digital photography has almost entirely replaced the 35mm film camera. In fact, Kodak, the one-time king of film, made its last film camera in 2004. Increased demand, as with other consumer electronics, has meant steadily increasing features and decreasing price. The 1-megapixel (1MP) camera has been succeeded by 4MP cameras, 6MP cameras, 8MP cameras and, most recently, 10+MP cameras. These increasingly high-resolution digital photos, stored in ever larger files, require larger memories, and the need is met by ever-higher capacity memory cards.
This memory cards buying guide includes basic information to help you pick the digital memory card that's right for you. Since memory cards are not interchangeable, memory card readers are also available to make sharing files as simple as possible.
The first consideration when buying memory cards is compatibility. Digital cameras and other consumer electronics are designed to accept only specific memory cards. It is not possible to list all the makes and models and their cards, but each Overstock.com camera product page lists which memory cards, if any, are compatible with that device. The most common cards in digital photography are:
Name |
Abbreviation |
Size (mm)* |
||
L |
W |
T |
||
CompactFlash I |
CF-I |
43 |
36 |
3.3 |
CompactFlash II |
CF-II |
43 |
36 |
5.5 |
Memory Stick |
MS |
50 |
21.5 |
2.8 |
Memory Stick Duo |
MSD |
31 |
20 |
1.6 |
Memory Stick PRO Duo |
MSPD |
31 |
20 |
1.6 |
Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo |
MSPDX |
31 |
20 |
1.6 |
Memory Stick Micro M2 |
M2 |
15 |
12.5 |
1.2 |
Multimedia Card |
MMC |
32 |
24 |
1.5 |
Reduced Size Multimedia Card |
RS-MMC |
16 |
24 |
1.5 |
Multimedia Card micro |
MMCmicro |
12 |
14 |
1.1 |
Secure Digital Card |
SD |
32 |
24 |
2.1 |
miniSD Card |
miniSD |
21 |
20 |
1.4 |
microSD Card |
microSD |
11 |
15 |
1.0 |
SmartMedia Card |
SM / SMC |
45 |
37 |
0.76 |
xD-Picture Card |
xD |
20 |
25 |
1.7 |
*1 inch = 25.4mm
Memory Card: A solid-state blank media or data storage device. Part of the 'flash drive' class of components, which also includes USB flash drives, digital memory cards are replacing hard disk drives in smaller applications, such as MP3 players, cell phones, video game consoles and camcorders, as well as other devices. USB flash memory is particularly popular, as it can connect to any device with a USB port, but it does require a computer to act as intermediary.
Internal memory: A device's factory installed memory card. It may be as little as 16MB or as much as 32MB. With many low-resolution digital photos approaching 1MB each, additional memory capacity--known as external memory--can expand the camera's capacity to over 1,000 digital photos or 6 hours of digital video.
Memory card speed: Determined by how fast the memory card's controller exchanges data with the camera's internal memory. The current convention is an "x" rating--x equals a transfer rate of approximately 150KB per second. Common digital memory card speeds include 40x (4-6MB/sec.) and 80x (9-12MB/sec.). Digital SLR cameras tend to be slower, approximately 1MB per second. Higher memory card speeds are most valuable when shooting pictures in quick succession--photojournalism, sports photography, etc.
NOR and NAND: "Logic gates" or controllers within the memory card that define how actions are performed. Early compact flash cards used NOR flash memory and were good for about 100,000 write/erase cycles. Realizing the incredible inadequacy of allowing a user to rewrite memory card data only 100,000 times, the engineers went back to the drawing board and created new flash memory cards with NAND, which is good for up to 1 million write/erase cycles. Shutterbugs sighed a collective sigh of relief.
You probably have friends who have cameras, camcorders, etc. You or your family may own several different digital cameras of various makes. Its doubtful all of you got together before buying your consumer electronics, so you may be using several different memory cards. Suppose you want to share data or digital photos; what then?
Buy a memory card reader. These are devices which have several memory card slots to fit many, if not all, the major memory card models. They are frequently identified by number; a 12-in-1 reader has 12 card slots, for example. Once the card reader is hooked up and the digital memory card is in the slot, you can upload and download everything between the card and your drive. Newer model memory card readers include additional features--one button transfer (from card to drive), card to card transfer, and so on.
A memory card reader may be internal or desktop. An internal reader/writer fits into 3.5-inch drive bay of a desktop computer to save the desk space and provide an ideal solution to consumers who want maximum convenience for the most popular memory cards. Internal card readers connect to a motherboard's internal USB port (when installing as an aftermarket item, check your motherboard: you may or may not have an internal connection ready). Many card readers are powered through their USB cable, meaning no additional adapter is necessary. Many new model computers, printers and photo printers have built-in memory card readers, allowing users to transfer, download and print directly from memory cards without using their digital cameras. A desktop memory card reader is a plug-n-play USB unit. Once the USB cables are in place, they work just like internal card readers.
Always check your card and make sure it's going into the slot correctly. If inserted backwards or upside down, the memory card and digital camera or reader can damage each other.
Never open the camera's card slot when files are writing. Always download files as soon as possible for security and to be sure you're memory card is empty and ready to go at your next event.
Do I need a memory card for my camera?
Not necessarily. If you only take a dozen digital photos at a time, and you're sure you'll never be in a situation where you can't download those digital pictures before needing to take more digital photos, the typical factory-installed memory card may be enough. If, however, you want to shoot like John Wayne, whose six-gun never seems to run out of bullets, memory cards are a necessity.
What size memory card should I buy?
Resolution |
Memory Card Capacity |
|||||
128MB |
256MB |
512MB |
1GB |
2GB |
4GB |
|
2 MP |
122 |
255 |
512 |
1019 |
2045 |
4094 |
3 MP |
77 |
155 |
312 |
626 |
1258 |
3000 |
5 MP |
48 |
95 |
195 |
395 |
800 |
1595 |
6 MP |
44 |
88 |
178 |
343 |
698 |
1400 |
7 MP |
40 |
80 |
160 |
320 |
640 |
1280 |
8 MP |
35 |
69 |
143 |
290 |
582 |
1164 |
10 MP |
25 |
50 |
100 |
205 |
410 |
821 |
Video capacity is measured by time, not frames, for example:
Video Format |
Memory Card Capacity |
|||||
128MB |
256MB |
512MB |
1GB |
2GB |
4GB |
|
MPEG4 |
00:17:00 |
00:34:00 |
01:07:00 |
02:20:00 |
04:40:00 |
09:20:00 |
AVI (VGA@ 30fps) |
00:00:55 |
00:01:55 |
00:03:55 |
00:07:30 |
00:15:19 |
00:30:36 |
Newer model cameras are designed for compatibility with even larger memory cards--8GB and above. However, few people need to take that many digital pictures at once. These high-capacity memory cards are best for high-definition digital camcorders and shooters of very high resolution digital photography.
Compatibility
If you're planning to purchase a camcorder as well as a digital camera, an MP3 player or other consumer electronics device, or you already have some and are considering buying more, you can save yourself money and hassles by purchasing electronics that all use the same memory card.