MEMORY CARDS
Your digital compact camera will have little or no capacity to store images so before going out to take photos you will need to buy some memory cards. Some cameras have an amount of built in storage, in most cases this is very limited and can only hold a small number of images and is therefore only suitable for emergency use.
There are a number of different types of memory card. Most digital cameras only work with one type of memory card, so make sure you buy the right type of card for your camera.
The most common type of card used in digital compact cameras is the SD or Secure Digital card or it’s more modern variant the SDHC card. Check in your camera manual to see what type to buy. Fuji, Olympus and Sony have an annoying habit of trying to lock you into their own propriety cards which of course tend to cost more.
BUYING MEMORY CARDS.
What brand should I buy?
I have used a wide range of brands over the years and I have never had a memory card fail on me, but having said that I do know of people who have suffered memory card failure. You may find that your camera manufacturer has tested your camera with and recommends certain brands so it may be safe to stick with their recommendations.
Today, images are my livelihood so I buy brands like Sandisk and Lexar. They cost only slightly more, but are worth it to me for the piece of mind. As with most things I suspect you get what you pay for and I would avoid any cards that are sold at a price that is simply too good to be true.
While on the subject of cost, memory cards are relatively very cheap these days so there really is no excuse to buy cheap brands.
Memory card capacity.
Memory cards have their capacity measured in gigabytes like conventional computer memory and you can buy cards with capacities from 1GB to 128GB and more
The number of images you can get on a card depends on your camera, as for example a 12MP camera produces bigger images than a 6MP camera. Within your camera menu you can also adjust the size and quality of your images. I always set my images to the largest size and the highest quality, so I will tend to get fewer images on a card than if I had used the medium settings the camera probably came with.
Having said that with a 12MP camera set to best quality I get 500 images on a 4GB card. In fact most of the cards I use are 4GB. I am naturally cautious and whether I’m on holiday or at work 500 images represents a lot of photography to lose if my card malfunctions, so I have few 8GB and 16GB cards. To me it’s easy to simply take your card out when it’s full slip it into your handbag and replace it with another. SDHC cards are very small and are barely much bigger than your thumbnail.
Unless you are taking movies with your compact digital camera (many now have this facility these days). I would recommend sticking with 4GB and 8GB cards.
Just to confuse things memory cards also come in different classes. These represent the speeds at which your camera can read or write to the card. Anoraks and nerds always pay a premium to buy the fastest cards on the market. In practice unless you are shooting sports and keeping your finger on the shutter continuously, or looking to shoot HD movies card speed is not an issue. For compact digital cameras class 4 cards are quite adequate and you save money. Even with my larger professional cameras shooting things like flying birds at 6 or so images per second I have never been hampered by speed.
Housekeeping
Before using a card it needs to be formatted to set the card up to be used by your particular brand and model of camera. This is analogous to buying a new computer disk and formatting it. Formatting arranges the data on the disk in such a way as to suit the way your camera read writes and stores data. When you format a card this also deletes any information that was on the card previously.
The format option can be found in the camera menu system.
Most computers have slots in them so you can directly plug your SD cards in to download your images. If you have no slot you will need to buy a card reader to attach to your computer. Many cameras have software to help you transfer images. I tend not to use this. Both Apple and Windows systems recognise cards just as they would another disk drive and transferring your images is a simple case of drag and drop.
Once your images are safely on your computer, you will want to delete the images on your card so that you can re-use it. Do NOT use your computer to do this! Put the card back into your camera and delete them there.
TIP In fact most pros instead of deleting images prior to reusing a card tend to format it again instead. As well as deleting all the images on the card and freeing up storage it can also clear up minor problems that the card may develop. It is always seen as good practice to format memory cards from time to time. However, always ensure you have stored any images elsewhere before formatting.
Finally take care of your cards, keep them away from extremes of heat and water and store them in the little boxes they usually come with.
8 comments:
Brilliant series - and just what this techno-nit needs. Thaanks so much for it Saffron
I don't know a thing about this subject but since you wrote it I'll read it . Monica I'm sure is much less a techno -nit than I. I stick to the more base things like limmericks , novellas and pictures of undressed women. If they have pearls then my love for photography may kick up a notch.
I agree Monica my camera is charged and ready and if there are naked women wearing pearls I'm ready for that too.
I don't recall the last time I formatted my card and I always delete the pictures via my computer...what's the advantage (besides formatting) of deleting via my camera vs. my computer?
...I know you kinda answered my question in your post, but was just wondering if I was missing something else, lol
The formatting issue I’ve always accepted as perceived wisdom. As I understand it deleting photos on a card from your computer is possible, but does make the card susceptible to corruption because the camera and computer have different operating systems.
Again formatting a card prior to using it is widely held as good practice. All I can say is the advice seems to have held me in good stead.
And of course formatting a card sets it up in pristine condition each time you use it. As in computers, deleting doesn't totally remove a file it just erases the record of where it was so leaves a card covered with fragments of data. Formatting removes all of this.
Great series, I'm even tempted to get my camera out.
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