Digital cameras 101

[Kirby Miles]

I will be purchasing a digital camera for my 15 year old daughter this Christmas. Is there any one memory card which is considered to be the best? Which one is most popular?

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi Kirby!

Welcome to the Q&A Board.

I don't know if any memory is considered "best" but some of the popular name brands are Lexar and SanDisk. I have CompactFlash cards made by both and am happy with each. I also have a PNY Secure Digital Card and thus far it's worked great.

All other things being equal among memory cards, check the warranty. Some have lifetime warranties and, imho, that would give the edge.

Here's some information  about memory cards which you may find helpful:

http://www.digicamhelp.com/memory-cards/index.htm

[Deb]

Hi Kirby, the type and brands of media available will be determined by what camera you decide to purchase. Some cameras use Memory Sticks, some use CompactFlash, others use SmartMedia, etc.

If you're into research   here are a few links you might like to check out.

For a general comparison of the various types of media you might like to review this chart http://www.dcviews.com/tutors/tt59221.htm.

For a comparison of read/write speeds for various CompactFlash media and readers you might like to read this article at DPReview (http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/default.asp) .

Also, yep, cameras vary in their write speed capabilities as well. To see a comparison using the Canon EOS D30 as an example check out this article (http://www.d-store.com/d-store/Canon/D30/D30compactflasandmicrodrivespeed.htm).

Happy shopping,
Deb

PS: If you really want to get snazy, there are also Professional grade cards with 80X write speeds!    Sorry, just had to add that in.