How do I know what kind of memory card to get for my digital camera?

Simple answer: the one that fits in the slot.

On a more serious note, this can be a confusing issue for many digital camera owners. There are way too many memory card formats out there for our liking–twenty-one different formats over the years! Some are big, some are tiny, others are used in only one kind of camera.

Let us try to help you out. Here’s a quick breakdown of the more popular formats used in modern digital cameras:

SD Card

The SD Card is currently the most popular and widely used format used in digital point-and-shoot cameras. Nikon and Canon’s point-and-shoot digital cameras all run on SD card technology, along with Samsung, Casio, Pentax, Kodak, Panasonic, and even Fuji (who dropped xD (see below) technology in 2007).

SD Cards are popular with laptop manufacturers, too. If you’re lucky, your laptop probably has an integrated SD-card reader – a bonus if you’re looking for an easy way to copy photos to your computer.

SD Cards can be had in sizes ranging from 512MB all the way to SDHC (high capacity) 8GB, 16GB and 32GB cards.

Compact Flash

The most popular memory card format for the professionals is definitely Compact Flash. Despite being physically bigger than the other card formats and based on older technology, these robust babies have stood the test of time. All of the proper DSLR cameras use CF cards – Nikon and Canon’s entry-level DSLRs use SD, while Sony DSLRs support CF and Memory Stick.

CompactFlash has been around for ages, but most modern cards can be had in 512MB all the way up to 32GB.

Memory Stick

Got a Sony digital camera? You’ll be needing one of these memory cards. Memory Stick is used exclusively by Sony for Sony devices. Thankfully they’ve only got two versions now, Pro Duo and M2. The latter is used in Sony Ericsson mobile phones, so don't get one of those thinking it will work in your digital camera. The Pro Duo cards are used in all the Sony still and video cameras, which is what you're looking for. There’s also Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo, which is just a high-speed version of the Pro Duo, because Sony didn't think it was confusing enough already. Whew.

Memory Stick cards are available in capacities ranging from 512MB to 16GB.

xD Picture Card

A joint-venture between Olympus and Fujifilm saw the birth of the xD Picture Card. In a world where the SD card wasn’t small enough or extreme enough. Yes, xD stands for eXtreme Digital.

xD Picture Cards are available in capacities ranging from 256MB all the way to 2GB.

Guest Author: Christo van Gemert

Christo hails from South Africa, a surprisingly tech-friendly country. He's a journalist for Digital Life magazine, and has been writing about computers, gadgets, games and the internet since 2002. He uses a Mac and lives by the motto, "The best gadget is the one that has as much technology as is needed to get the job done."

Last updated: Oct 12, 2008 // Posted in: Digital Photo & Video

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