Explain Memory Cards to me please

[ColoradoMom!!]

I did a forum search, and even googled it, but I need some help in plain english!

I purchased a Canon S3 IS in August of 2007 and LOVE it! I was sold by a number here who owned it and it was the best decision. I am probably using the same memory card that came with it, so what can/should I be using now?

Secondly, I am going to get a small point and shoot to take to DL and my sons' baseball games since I have a hard time taking my "nice camera" to such events. I am looking at the Canon Elph 310. I know there are better choices, but for me the price, and the zoom seem to be a good fit. So - what type of card should I look at for this?

What is the difference between class and the MB/s rating?
( I have a SanDisk Ultra 16 GB Class 6 SDHC Flash Memory Card SDSDRH-016G-A11 sitting in my amazon cart at the moment. It's $20.79)

Thanks!

 

[photo_chick]

Class is how fast it will read/write. It's a standardized number of the mb/s rating (bits not bytes) rather than saying 40x or 66x (or any of the numerous values in between). Faster is better, to the point that your camera can handle. An example, if your camera can only read/write as fast as a class 6, you won't want to spend the extra money for a class 10 because it wouldn't give you any benefit. And on the flip side, putting too slow a card than what a camera i designed for can make things laggy, especially if you shoot video with that camera. Check your manuals for which class your camera works best with.

 

[Goofdad]

OK, I'll try to keep it as simple as possible.
It's all about the size of your stuff (camera's Megapixels), the amount of storage for your stuff (card's Megabytes), and how Fast you can put your stuff into storage (card's Class).

The Size of your Stuff (i.e. Megapixels)
you're familiar with this b/c cameras advertise/sell based on this. Basically, it's how big the photo are - are you storing Huge Couches? or end tables? - more megapixels means more resolution and larger printing (example 5 x 7s, 8 x 10's, 16 x 20's).
There's more to it than just this, but for now, I'll leave it at that - couches or end tables?

The Amount of Storage (i.e. Gigabytes - 8GB, 16GB, 32GB)
This is how much space you have for the couches and end tables. The number you can store will vary depending on whether your camera is shooting in "couch" or "end table" mode... most cameras use the "L" for largest size and the "S" for smallest size photos.
More Megapixels (L) = fewer photos can be stored
Less Megapixels (S) = more photos can be stored

How Fast can the Stuff be stored (i.e. Card Class - @4, @6, @10)
Card Class has become an issue mostly b/c of HD video - HD video is like stuffing 10 Huge Couches per second into the storage area... and if the area can't keep up, couches get dropped and lost. Generally a Class 6 or better(Class 10) is needed for HD Video. The is not as important for still images as most of the cards out there today (Class 4) will work fine for still photos.

Overall, if you buy a 16GB, Class 6 card, it is MORE than enough for photos... I don't know the EXACT number of photos you could store on there, but here's an approximate calculation:
16GB card in 12Megapixel Camera, stores about 2800 photos.
The Huge/Fast Cards (16GB, Class 6 or 10, are needed for HD video and are overkill for the average point&shoot shutterbug).

 

[My2Girls66]

Also, make sure your camera will recognize a 16GB card. Some older cameras won't take the larger cards. I have a Nikon D50 which is 6mp's and it won't take anything higher than 2GB.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! Love the couches analogy! Basically I am mostly concerned about quality/speed than amount of storage.

If I shoot my sons' baseball games, I don't want lag time so it looks like I should go with class 6. My old cards are 2GB and thought they held a ton, so anything will be a step up in terms of storage space which isn't my main concern.

I haven't tried the video options on my camera, but that might be fun.

And yes, that's a concern what my S3 IS will take. If the manual was written before some of these higher performing cards came into existance than is it just trial and error? I will admit that I haven't dug out the manual lately.

But for the new Canon ELPH 310, it looks like that SanDisk should be a good fit.

Thank you all

 

[photo_chick]

Sometimes with older cameras there are firmware updates that will allow them to use newer cards (that is if they won't already). Check on Canon's website for your S3 and what it supports and if there are any updates.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Sometimes with older cameras there are firmware updates that will allow them to use newer cards (that is if they won't already). Check on Canon's website for your S3 and what it supports and if there are any updates.

Brilliant! I didn't even think of their website - thanks!

 

[AndrewWG]

CM,

When you say that you don't want the lag time, do you mean from when pressing the shutter to the camera actually taking the photo? That would be a camera limitation and NOT a memory card limitation. Sure, a "faster" memory card will possibly get the photos out of the camera and onto the card quicker but it will NOT make the camera take a photo quicker. I just wanted to make sure you are buying the card for the right reasons. $20 is a great price, but you may not be getting all that you want with the new card.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

CM,

When you say that you don't want the lag time, do you mean from when pressing the shutter to the camera actually taking the photo? That would be a camera limitation and NOT a memory card limitation. Sure, a "faster" memory card will possibly get the photos out of the camera and onto the card quicker but it will NOT make the camera take a photo quicker.

Yes, I thought I read somewhere that there is a connection. I went ahead and ordered my camera - ended up with the Canon SX-230 HS instead of the ELPH 310 as it went down to $199, but I took the card out of my cart, so I have some more time to get it right.

Thanks for all the help!