A few years ago, I parted with my trusty Canon Rebel single-lens reflex (SLR) film camera. Having just purchased a digital camera to take pictures of products for my short-lived eBay business, I saw the many benefits of owning a digital camera: no waiting for film to be developed, no prints to take up room in boxes upon heavy boxes of snapshots, and no having to purchase film.
Remember those long, flat, rectangular cameras that you took on trips back in the 1980s? The ones you popped the 110 film cartridges into? How about having to choose between film speeds of 100, 200, or 400? It was all part of the experience from the 1940s to the early 1990s. However, in the mid-to-late 1990s, things began to change as digital cameras became more popular.
Digital cameras typically feature on-board memory to store your snapshots, but not very much. It’s great if you’re taking random lower-resolution pictures around the house or in your community. But what if you’re on a trip, and you want to take dozens of pictures, some higher resolution? That’s where you’ll want to purchase more memory for your digital camera.
Your digital camera comes with a memory card slot. The four most widely-used memory card types include Secure Digital (SD), Compact Flash (CF), Memory Stick, and xD Picture Card. There’s not really much difference between the four except for minor differences in size and shape. These small, flat, rectangular memory cards generally hold between one and eight gigabytes of memory; great for average picture taking, but not so great if you plan to record lengthy multiple videos with the digital camera.
Purchasing memory for your digital camera is easy. Any big-box retail or electronics store will carry a wide variety of memory cards for digital cameras. You can also purchase a memory card for your digital camera in camera speciality stores. Also look in toy stores, clubs, and department stores at your local mall.
Remember, you don’t have to purchase a memory card for your new digital camera right away unless you need it for a project or you’re going on vacation. You can purchase the digital camera and see how its internal memory works out for you first based on the resolution pictures you’re taking and how many you plan to snap. However, if you’re a professional and you’re planning to blow high-resolution pictures up into banners and posters, definitely purchase a 4-gigabyte or higher memory card.
If you haven’t discovered digital photography, now might be the time to jump in and enjoy the many benefits of owning a digital camera.