Buying Memory Cards for Digital Camera

[albionmoonlight]

Just got a digital camera. It came with a 16M card, so we need to buy a 256M or 512M.

What's the best way to get the cheapest card? Any brands to avoid? This strikes me as the kind of thing on which I could spend $50, but could also spend $20 if I know the right way to get one.

Thanks in advance.

[bob]

Not sure what type of memory card your camera uses (price will differ based on that), but I purchased a 512 MB CF (San Disk) card for my camera for $40 at Best Buy. There is a $15 rebate, so once I get that it will be $25, which seems pretty good.

[FrogMan]

I also just bought a digital camera and bought a 512MB SanDisk SD card from a canadian store called futureshop.ca. Paid 55$cdn after mail-in rebate. SD (secure disk)cards are a bit more expensive than CF (compact flash) cards, adn being in Canada, well...

I also bought another one from tigerdirect.ca, an Ultra 256MB that came down to 20$cdn after 20$cdn mail-in rebate.

As Bob said, it depends on the kind of card your camera needs and I'm not sure brand really matters all that much. Some say writing speed is important, and I'm happy my SanDisk has a 32x speed, but the Ultra is something like 13x and will do a very nice backup...

Out of curiosity, what camera did you get? I bought a Kodak Easyshare CX7430. Very happy with it so far...

Some pics I've taken so far...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegougeon/19716664/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegougeon/19215856/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegougeon/19717294/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegougeon/19717067/

FM

[albionmoonlight]

Canon Powershot A510. Just got it yesterday, so I have not had time to fiddle.

Thanks for the advice.

[sterlingice]

I tend to just camp on fat wallet for memory deals. Every week or two, someone will have one and you can save a good $20 or $30 on a pretty large card.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Canon Powershot A510. Just got it yesterday, so I have not had time to fiddle.

Thanks for the advice.

Weird- they went from CF to SD for this iteration. Also, went from 4 batteries to 2 (suck) so that it didn't weigh as much but probably sacrifices its good battery life. Shame- I really like the weight of the A series- that's one of the reasons why I bought one (I have an A80 and my fiance has an A75, the predecessor to the 510).

SI

[terpkristin]

Ditto what SI said about keeping eyes for deals through fat wallet or other similar sites. A word of advice, though, most "pros" recommend getting more "lower memory" cards (128 MB - 512 MB) than on "high memory card" (1 GB+) so that if you're doing a lot of shooting and one card fails, you still have others as backups. This is also important if you're taking a large batch and if a card fails, at least you haven't lost ALL of your pictures..

/tk

[kcchief19]

Worthwhile suggestion, tk. I've also found that my higher memory cards don't actually store as much info. My 128 MB cards have around 120-125 MB of "usable" storage space and I can get about 244 on my 256 card. But my 512 card has less than 450 MB of "available" storage space. Could be the card, but it's a SanDisk and I typically haven't had trouble with those.

The only card I have I don't like is a SimpleTech card. But these are all CF, so if you're using SD, YMMV.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

Worthwhile suggestion, tk. I've also found that my higher memory cards don't actually store as much info. My 128 MB cards have around 120-125 MB of "usable" storage space and I can get about 244 on my 256 card. But my 512 card has less than 450 MB of "available" storage space. Could be the card, but it's a SanDisk and I typically haven't had trouble with those.

The only card I have I don't like is a SimpleTech card. But these are all CF, so if you're using SD, YMMV.

I believe that's because when it says 256 MB, they're saying it has 256 million bytes, though in reality a megabyte his 1,048,576 bytes, not 1,000,000. It's classified one way in marketing, but read differntly by computers.

To show this, 244 * 1.048 is approximately equal to 256.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Usually you can find the best deal at Costco.

[Ben E Lou]

Now that memory cards can be inserted directly into the laptop, I'm finding very little use for much storage space.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

Now that memory cards can be inserted directly into the laptop, I'm finding very little use for much storage space.

well, not everybody has a laptop

I see what you mean though, and even without one, I'm not a big traveller, so I should be able to empty my card(s) on a daily basis, but I felt safer with 512+256 just in case we'd go on a road trip...

FM

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

well, not everybody has a laptop

OH...that wasn't necessarily my point. I'm more just speculating that the need for high-memory cards will continue to drop. Those slots are on many new desktops, too, I'm pretty sure. I just wanted to remind folks that spending premium bucks now on a ton of storage might not be the wisest move, unless of course you have a specific need, such as you like to take week-long trips into the wilderness and take a lot of high-quality nature photos while you're gone.

I have a 128MB card, and I take all photos on the 5.0 megapixel camera. It can hold roughly 100 pictures at the highest quality it has available. I use that quality because I always print some of the pics on 8x11 glossy paper. If I were only using them for web sites, newsletters, etc., I would use "Good" quality on the camera. At that quality, the 128MB card will hold roughly 320 pics.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

OH...that wasn't necessarily my point. I'm more just speculating that the need for high-memory cards will continue to drop. Those slots are on many new desktops, too, I'm pretty sure. I just wanted to remind folks that spending premium bucks now on a ton of storage might not be the wisest move, unless of course you have a specific need, such as you like to take week-long trips into the wilderness and take a lot of high-quality nature photos while you're gone.

I have a 128MB card, and I take all photos on the 5.0 megapixel camera. It can hold roughly 100 pictures at the highest quality it has available. I use that quality because I always print some of the pics on 8x11 glossy paper. If I were only using them for web sites, newsletters, etc., I would use "Good" quality on the camera. At that quality, the 128MB card will hold roughly 320 pics.

One of the first uses for this camera will be our ~2 week trip to Hawaii, so we do need good portable storage while we are there.

FWIW, I got a Kingston 512M SD card through newegg via fatwallet that was $40, including shipping. It will be $28 when/if I send in the rebate (I'm not as good at that as I like to think I am ). Thanks for all the help.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

One of the first uses for this camera will be our ~2 week trip to Hawaii, so we do need good portable storage while we are there.

FWIW, I got a Kingston 512M SD card through newegg via fatwallet that was $40, including shipping. It will be $28 when/if I send in the rebate (I'm not as good at that as I like to think I am ). Thanks for all the help.

Yeah, you remind me that I have about 4 of these to mail after the digital camera shopping spree...

- 512MB SanDisk SD card (15$cdn)
- 512MB RAM for the PC (15$us)
- 256MB Ultra SD card (20$cdn)
- 64MB Micro-Mini Iomega USB drive (10$us)

That last one was selling for 18.99$cdn so it'll come down to under 8$cdn after rebate. To think that that was the price of a box of 10 3.5 floppies not so long ago... *sigh* I'm getting old...

FM

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

OH...that wasn't necessarily my point. I'm more just speculating that the need for high-memory cards will continue to drop. Those slots are on many new desktops, too, I'm pretty sure. I just wanted to remind folks that spending premium bucks now on a ton of storage might not be the wisest move, unless of course you have a specific need, such as you like to take week-long trips into the wilderness and take a lot of high-quality nature photos while you're gone.

I have a 128MB card, and I take all photos on the 5.0 megapixel camera. It can hold roughly 100 pictures at the highest quality it has available. I use that quality because I always print some of the pics on 8x11 glossy paper. If I were only using them for web sites, newsletters, etc., I would use "Good" quality on the camera. At that quality, the 128MB card will hold roughly 320 pics.

I have to disagree with you completely here, Ben. I have slots on my printer, desktop and the wife's laptop, so downloading pics is as convenient as it gets. Still, I would recommend to anyone that they buy the highest capacity card available for their camera. As for premium bucks, most 512MB cards are $25-$40, hardly prohibitive for someone who can afford the $250-$500 camera in the first place. When you consider the 128MB ones are ~$20, its insane not to spend a little more money for a lot more capacity.

I carry the camera all the time, but find it inconvenient to carry 4x6 prints. But, I have every picture we decided was worth keeping with me all the time to show people. I have yet to had to decide which ones to delete off the card in 18 months.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Samdari

I have to disagree with you completely here, Ben. I have slots on my printer, desktop and the wife's laptop, so downloading pics is as convenient as it gets. Still, I would recommend to anyone that they buy the highest capacity card available for their camera. As for premium bucks, most 512MB cards are $25-$40, hardly prohibitive for someone who can afford the $250-$500 camera in the first place. When you consider the 128MB ones are ~$20, its insane not to spend a little more money for a lot more capacity.

I carry the camera all the time, but find it inconvenient to carry 4x6 prints. But, I have every picture we decided was worth keeping with me all the time to show people. I have yet to had to decide which ones to delete off the card in 18 months.

Again, it depends on how you're using it. I only carry the camera when I need to take pictures, but I never carry prints, either. I have no need whatsoever to keep any pics with me all the time to show people. I have the prints I want posted at my home and office. Lower-quality versions are made to put on the web, and if someone wants a copy of a pic, I keep the high-quality versions on my hard drive. It is also great to keep them on the HD for the "My Pictures Slideshow" screen saver. My desktop is in a very "public" part of my house, so guests see pics cycling through all the time.

Like I said, it really depends on how one uses the camera and images. I've never had any need whatsoever for more storage than the 128MB card I have, but I have thousands (actually probably over 10,000) of digital files stored, and a decent number of short video clips, too.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

I have no need whatsoever to keep any pics with me all the time to show people.

I've never had any need whatsoever for more storage than the 128MB card I have.

Well, as for the first one, you need to have a kid.

As for the second, as I said, why would you buy so much less to save essentially 2% or less of the total purchase price? And, as my answer to point 1 indicates, you never know what is going to happen - your needs/likes for using your camera may change over time (maybe not you personally, but allow that most of the rest of the population finds their likes/dislikes changing somewhat over time). If at some time in the future you find you do want more memory, you can't upgrade, you can only buy more.

By the way - you don't only keep these photos only on your hard drive do you? You do burn them to CD as soon as you have 650MB, right? Otherwise, why bother even taking pictures?

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Samdari

Well, as for the first one, you need to have a kid.

...and work in an office with other people. If we had a kid, we'd have no need to haul pics around. Everyone we're close to in town lives very nearby, and our home is pretty much Grand Central Station.

As for the second, as I said, why would you buy so much less to save essentially 2% or less of the total purchase price?

At the time (a year and a half or so ago, I think) the price difference was much bigger.

And, as my answer to point 1 indicates, you never know what is going to happen - your needs/likes for using your camera may change over time (maybe not you personally, but allow that most of the rest of the population finds their likes/dislikes changing somewhat over time). If at some time in the future you find you do want more memory, you can't upgrade, you can only buy more.

Right, but there *are* people whose needs/likes/dislikes won't change much over time, so allow for that, too.

By the way - you don't only keep these photos only on your hard drive do you? You do burn them to CD as soon as you have 650MB, right? Otherwise, why bother even taking pictures?

I keep them on three different HD's in two different locations, actually. I also burn the *really* special ones to CD and SWMBO keeps 'em in the safe-deposit box. You could say that I have a bit of redundancy.

[FrogMan]

SD, while your first reply was very specific to your situation (i.e. "I'm finding very little use for much storage space"), the second reply was a much broader generalization.

Originally Posted by SkyDog

OH...that wasn't necessarily my point. I'm more just speculating that the need for high-memory cards will continue to drop. Those slots are on many new desktops, too, I'm pretty sure. I just wanted to remind folks that spending premium bucks now on a ton of storage might not be the wisest move, unless of course you have a specific need, such as you like to take week-long trips into the wilderness and take a lot of high-quality nature photos while you're gone.

What I understand that Samdari pointed out is that getting a 512MB card isn't really spending premium bucks anymore, and your generalization may not be right for everyone. It's possibly true for you, but some other people could have other needs, as you pointed out in your latest reply...

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, "to each his own" is what I mean...

FM

[Castlerock]

Originally Posted by Samdari

I have to disagree with you completely here, Ben. I have slots on my printer, desktop and the wife's laptop, so downloading pics is as convenient as it gets. Still, I would recommend to anyone that they buy the highest capacity card available for their camera. As for premium bucks, most 512MB cards are $25-$40, hardly prohibitive for someone who can afford the $250-$500 camera in the first place. When you consider the 128MB ones are ~$20, its insane not to spend a little more money for a lot more capacity.
I carry the camera all the time, but find it inconvenient to carry 4x6 prints. But, I have every picture we decided was worth keeping with me all the time to show people. I have yet to had to decide which ones to delete off the card in 18 months.

If you don't need it, why spend more money on it? If your needs do change in the future, buy it then when you can get an even bigger card for even less money.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

dola, "to each his own" is what I mean...

FM

That's what I meant. In general, the principle is "evaluate what your own needs are." I was just using my personal needs as an example of someone with needs very different from others.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by Castlerock

If you don't need it, why spend more money on it? If your needs do change in the future, buy it then when you can get an even bigger card for even less money.

Because, buying a digital camera for the first time, most people have NO IDEA what their preferences are going to be for storing, printing, sharing photos will be. It takes some trial and error. Someone buying their first digital camera cannot generally accurately assess their needs, and should probably err on the side of too much capacity than too little. Therefore, given the miniscule monetary difference (most people will regard a 2-5% difference as the same cost) between a 128MB card and a 512MB card, I think "Buy the biggest one you can" is much better generic advice than "You will never, ever need more than 128MB. don't waste that extra $9.99"

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Samdari

Because, buying a digital camera for the first time, most people have NO IDEA what their preferences are going to be for storing, printing, sharing photos will be. It takes some trial and error. Someone buying their first digital camera cannot generally accurately assess their needs, and should probably err on the side of too much capacity than too little. Therefore, given the miniscule monetary difference (most people will regard a 2-5% difference as the same cost) between a 128MB card and a 512MB card, I think "Buy the biggest one you can" is much better generic advice than "You will never, ever need more than 128MB. don't waste that extra $9.99"

As far as a general advice goes, and even as a person on a budget, I agree with you. There are some 128MB on tigerdirect.com that come to as low as 7.99 after mail-in rebate though so the difference between a 128 and a 512 may be a bit higher, but still a good advice.

FM

[Castlerock]

Originally Posted by Samdari

Because, buying a digital camera for the first time, most people have NO IDEA what their preferences are going to be for storing, printing, sharing photos will be. It takes some trial and error. Someone buying their first digital camera cannot generally accurately assess their needs, and should probably err on the side of too much capacity than too little. Therefore, given the miniscule monetary difference (most people will regard a 2-5% difference as the same cost) between a 128MB card and a 512MB card, I think "Buy the biggest one you can" is much better generic advice than "You will never, ever need more than 128MB. don't waste that extra $9.99"

OK, I re-read your post and it was intended to be general advice. I read it as a reply to SkyDog who said that he didn't need the extra space. You should re-read my post, too, as I never said 'You will never, ever need more than 128MB'. I said that if/when you do need more than 128MB, that bigger card will be both bigger and cheaper than one you would buy today. In the end, we are quibbling over very little.