Digital camera accessories

[Hannah]

I'd like to get an extra Secure Digital memory card but I'm totally confused. There seems to be many types. Can you explain them?
 
I don't take a lot of photos every month but I've heard it's wise to have two cards. My current SD card is 512MB and I rarely ever fill it up.
 
Thank you.

[bdery]

Hello Hannah!

There are, indeed, a few types of SD cards, but it's fairly easy once someone explains it.

SD cards are the "regular" ones. No worries there, they should work in any SD card reader.

SDHC is a new standard. The card has the same size, but can hold more data. A SDHC reader works with both SD and SDHC, but a SD reader will not work with SDHC.

Mini- and micro-SD are simply smaller cards made for mobile phones, that usually come with an SD adaptor. My putting the smaller card in the adapter, it can be read by a SD (or SDHC, usually) card reader.

SD Plus is simply a card, made by Sandisk, that has an USB connection built into the card, so there's no need for a card reader. Apart from that, it's a regular SD card.

Other card formats, such as Memory Stick, xD, CF, need a different card reader than SD cards, and will not work in a camera with an SD slot.

MMC is an older format, with the same form factor as SD, but you probably will not find such cards anywhere in the market. I would not advise using it, in any case.

As to the size of the card (how much dat ait can hold), memory is cheap, so I suggest getting a decnt capacity to avoid worries. I purchased a 2 GB SD card last week for 10$.

You might want to check the writing speed of the card, and make sure it's fast enough for video. Usually, a 60X (or class 4, depending on the brand) card should be good enough.