Almost every digital camera will use a memory card to store pictures. The most common type is SD (Secure Digital), which are reasonably cheap today.

In 2009 the advantage of using an SD memory card is that this type of card is fast becoming the favoured card for all other device types such as laptops, cameras, mobile phones, PDA's and almost any other type of media device.

The XD (eXtreme Digital) card is now becoming popular in digital cameras and is smaller than the SD card. Prices are slightly higher than for equivalent SD card. Get the largest card you can afford. The camera will usually come with a 16Mb card, which is no use to man or beast.

Compact Flash Type I is another type of card but is physically larger than the SD or XD cards and is becoming less popular in small compact cameras. Some large cameras and camcorders may favour these cards.

Always go for a camera that uses either SD or XD picture cards. Do not buy a camera that uses SM (SmartMedia) as these are now obsolete.

There Can Be Only One !

In the end there can be only one memory card! At the moment I think the SD memory card is in the lead.

The table below will give some idea on digital photograph storage capacity. The MegaPixel versus the Megabyte.

The following chart gives you a rough idea of how many pictures a memory card can hold. The chart is based on using the full resolution that the camera is capable of.

The Memory Card can vary in size from about 16 MB to 16GB or more. When it comes to adding more capacity, you should consider a 2GB card as a great starting point. Anything larger than this and you risk incompatibility as some cameras, especially some mobile phones, will only recognise a maximum of 2GB.

You can buy a 2GB SD memory card for under £5 these days (16th April 2009).

Start here for some examples...

The larger the memory card the more they cost. Less capacity memory cards cost less its that simple, but you don't get to store as many photos - which just isn't worth it in the long run. Remember that a memory card can be used over and over again, while special moments only happen once.

Fake Memory Cards

There are an unbelievable amount of fake memory cards out there. eBay has become notorious for fake memory card sales, literally thousands of people have been scammed by sellers who are selling inferior or lower capacity cards that have been relabelled and re-packaged to look like the real thing. So you have been warned!, as they say, let the buyer beware.

I recommend that you purchase your memory card only from reputable online vendors or highstreet shops. If you must buy on eBay then check out this page at Overclockers.com.au for ways to visually identify some (not all) of the most popular fake cards.