Choosing Memory Cards – Photography 101

The answer to this question really is a simple one. What type of memory cards does your camera take? That really is going to dictate what type of memory card that you are going to get. Whether that is CF or whether that is SD, it doesn’t really matter. They both serve the same purpose. Now depending on the limits of your camera in terms of FPS (frames per second) in conjunction with the style of photography that you are shooting, you may want to consider the speed of your memory card.

For this section, I am not exactly speaking directly to wedding photographers. Although wedding photographers have to be able to take multiple exposures close together as to not miss a moment, this pales in comparison with a sports photographer who will literally snap several photos a second to get the one shot they are going to use. In this case, you will want to look at the speed of the card. For example, if you have a slower card say 15mb/s in comparison with a faster card 60mb/s, you will notice a difference when you shoot continuously. The slower card will need a longer buffer time in between shots.

The other thing to consider is for you DSLR video shooters out there. The speed of the card makes a huge different in the arena as well because the card needs to be able to process the video data quickly. For this, you are going to want to look at a higher class card such as a Class 10 and above. There are a lot of memory card brands out there so be sure to do your research to find the best cards with the best reviews for what you particularly need it for. When in doubt, refer to your camera’s documentation so that you are completely aware of the capabilities for your particular model.

-J