memory quantity

I get this question all the time - what size memory card should I buy? Is there such a thing as too big? Does the brand make a difference? All solid - perfectly legitimate questions. When addressing this question it is important to be mindful of a few issues: convenience, stability, performance and cost:

• Convenience: There is no way to get around it. It is decidedly inconvenient to keep up with multiple memory cards. If I am traveling I want to minimize what goes in my camera bag as much as is possible. When walking around Disney, Busch Gardens, or any other theme park it is always easier to take less. From a convenience standpoint one would want the biggest reliable memory card available. This brings us to the second thought ...
• Stability: A memory card that does not work does not do anyone any good (except possibly the memory card shop that gets to sell you an overpriced memory card on location because yours crapped out). Reliability and stability are probably the most important thing to consider. When an individual's home is burning there are three things they go in after: 1) People 2) Pets 3) Photos. Hate to break it to you - that plasma on the wall that you spend 4 grand on ... not going in after it. The kitchen you spend gobs of money re-modeling is now worthless. Photos are the most important non-biological possession we have. They are irreplaceable and as such are invaluable. Your memory card MUST be reliable or there really is little point in taking the photos in the first place.
• Performance: As mega pixels continue to reproduce like bunnies - photos are taking up more and more space (notice I was careful not to imply that the quality is going up - that's another blog topic altogether). More space means that each photo is bigger which will slow down the picture taking process. Memory cards have evolved over the years and one facet of that evolution is speed. Whenever purchasing a memory card there should be a speed rating on the box. If there isn't anything referencing the speed - chances are it is a slower memory card. My recommendation is to spend a little more (in most cases $5.00 - $10.00 more) on a memory card that will keep up with your shiny new 24 mega pixel camera. A slower memory card will manifest itself through delay between shots, shutter lag also referred to as a "laggy" camera.
• Cost: Every photographic choice we make is ultimately restricted by our means. There are memory cards that are simply too expensive for a reasonable person to afford. Sure - you can get a 64GB card online but do you want to drop more than $600.00 on a memory card? Fortunately, most memory cards available in consumer retailers like Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, etc offer great sales on fast cards. I frequently see 4 GB Ultra II memory cards on sale for 24.99.

Considering all of this I have a few reccomendations. First, wether you use both of them or not - get two memory cards. If one gets lost or stops working you will be glad you did. Electronics retails frequently sell two - pack memory cards or put single cards on such a good sale both cost less than one would normally cost. Seccond, find out how big an average file on your camera will be. This information is easily avaible online at DCResouce and DPReview within their camera reviews. Divide 1,000 by the photo size and that will tell you how many images per gig you can expect. For example shooting Large JPEG files on the Nikon D300 produces a 5.8 MB file. You could expect approximatly 172 images on a 1 GB card. Figure out how many images you will want to take at any given time - double it and then buy two. Translation: if you think you will need to take about 400 images (2.5 GB of data), double the data (5.0 GB of data). This would place us between a 4GB and an 8GB card. Whichever you decide - buy two. Third, if you are shooting Canon - steer clear of Lexar cards - I have heard too many horror stories to not mention that. If you are using anyting else Lexar is great. For some reason they don't get along with Canon. Fifth: If you can afford it - buy a pro card. SanDisk and Lexar both bundle recovery software with their pro serries cards. The software comes in handy if you ever accidentally format a card or one locks up on you. The software is generally $30.00 - $40.00 so it is worth the upgrade if you can swing it. If you card breaks down on you - you will thank me later. Finally: Be resonable. If you don't need a 16GB card stick with smaller cards. Each memory card (no matter how big) is broken into 512MB sections. If an image spans two sections there is a greater risk of corrupting the card. The larger the card the more sections that make up the card which exponentally increases the risk. The risk is small (especially if you care for your card as you should - tomorrow's post) but it is still there. I primaraly use 4GB and 8GB cards to store my data. I am comfortable with the stability of the size and the price is one I can handle. As you look at memory card purchases - or evaluate your current cards in your camera bag consider convenience, stability, performance and cost.