memory cards - does size really matter?!

jaydizzy

Hi all,

would really appreciate your help on this one, just bought a samsung NV10, but i've been told by a friend that some cameras can only take a maximum 1gb card, i've seen a 4gb one dirt cheap on another thread which i'd like to get but am concerned incase this doesn't work, the camera takes sd/mmc,
thank you in advance for your help!

ckerrd

Never heard of a max limit. It is not like filling a car with petrol where there is a point where you can go no further. Go for the 4gb one

cdbrown

Edit: I have read further and the larger type mem cards (above 2gb) are a new standard and are called SDHC, they are the same size and may work but are not guaranteed. As nielingren has pointed out below, the specs on the samsung site state 1GB is guaranteed.

SDHC (Secure Digital High-Capacity) cards are flash memory cards with a minimum capacity of 4GB (gigabytes). SDHC cards provide removable memory for compatible digital devices including cameras, camcorders, PDAs, MP3 players and more. Secure Digital refers to a specific format within the flash card market. SDHC cards are designed for devices that are compatible with the SDHC 2.00 specification. Products designed exclusively to support previous SD specifications 1.0 and 1.1 will not be able to utilize SDHC cards.

nielingren

MMC/SD card (up to 1GB guaranteed) so it look like anything bigger is a hit or miss

f1charlie

At 10 Mp, you should be able to fit about 200 photos on a 1Gb card at maximum resolution. If you get a 4Gb card (and you should check with Samsung that the camera is compatible with that size of card) you will get 800 photos on it. Are you likely to take that many in one go? Do you want to sift through 800 photos at a timewhen you download them? If the card gets corrupted or lost would you rather lose 800 photos or 200 photos?
I don't know how the price of 4Gb compares to 4x1Gb cards, but I would go for multiple cards rather than put all my eggs (or photos) in one basket.

xzibit

Some cameras and phones can only actually cope with a certain size memory card! So it's worth checking what the product can actually cope with.

chrisw

f1charlie wrote:

At 10 Mp, you should be able to fit about 200 photos on a 1Gb card at maximum resolution. If you get a 4Gb card (and you should check with Samsung that the camera is compatible with that size of card) you will get 800 photos on it. Are you likely to take that many in one go? Do you want to sift through 800 photos at a timewhen you download them? If the card gets corrupted or lost would you rather lose 800 photos or 200 photos?
I don't know how the price of 4Gb compares to 4x1Gb cards, but I would go for multiple cards rather than put all my eggs (or photos) in one basket.

That's a very good point. I've been after a new card for some time and the obvious tendency is to go for the biggest you can afford. I think I'll stick to 1Gb for the reasons you give and save some money in the process.

f1charlie

Just had a quick look at some prices of SD cards:

1Gb ~£12
2Gb ~£23
4Gb ~£60

So, proportionally 4Gb is more expensive at the moment, but the price will come down, as the high capacity cards are expensive when they first come out.
Where these high capacity cards are useful is for photographers who photograph in RAW (that's a mode, and not in the nude!) where the file sizes are much larger.

xzibit

I have a 128mb card in my camera, and I take photos at 2mp quality, and I can fit plenty on it. Haven't filled it yet, and it's the only camera I take on holidays. When I get back, I download them to my laptop, and delete them from the card. If I was ever to go away for more than 2 weeks, I would take my laptop with me.

dccarm

we got a 1gb card for our camera and had to stop using it. It was taking ages for the camera to "read" the card before it could take a picture.

f1charlie

dccarm wrote:

we got a 1gb card for our camera and had to stop using it. It was taking ages for the camera to "read" the card before it could take a picture.

That might suggest that your camera was not compatible with 1Gb cards (or that card was faulty).