Memory cards for digital
cameras.
We aren’t talking “gray matter” memory here-though that type of
memory matters too. We are talking digital camera memory.
Digital camera memory is where your image data or photos are
stored in your camera.
Most
of the newer cameras have limited amounts of internal (sometimes
called “on-board” or “built-in”) memory. Nearly all digital
cameras rely on media or memory cards for storage. A media card
is like re-useable film. Fill it with your images, download the
images, and then fill the card again
and again. Media cards don’t wear out easily.
To use a media card, insert it into the corresponding slot on
your camera. When you take a picture, the camera saves the image
data to the media card. When the card is full, it must be
emptied or downloaded to your computer’s hard drive. There are
several ways to do this. One way is to insert the card into the
corresponding slot on the computer. Software does the rest.
Another way is to connect the camera to the computer using USB
or Firewire technology. The latest method is wireless or Wi-Fi
technology-no removing the card from the camera or hooking up
cables. At this point in time, only the newest camera models use
Wi-Fi..jpg)
There are several types of media cards available. Your camera
will dictate which type you must use. Compact Flash, SmartMedia,
SecureDigital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick and xD Picture cards are
the most common. Media cards are available with capacities
ranging up to 2 gigabytes (GB).
After
your images are transferred to you computer's hard drive, don't
forget to back up your images to a separate storage device. As
reliable as hard drives are, failures do occur. A second
internal hard drive, an external hard drive, a Zip disk, a CD or
DVD is common back up devices. Web sites are available to store
back up images for a small fee.
Mike Browns has been an amateur photography enthusiast for
many years. Recently he began exploring e-commerce. His latest
venture may be found at
http://www.camerasatcousinmikes.com
:: More
really good advice on how to treat your cards.
Corrupt memory cards have been damaged in some way, normally by
human error, resulting in files that are not accessible. Even
though there are image recovery applications available, it’s
always better to keep these tips in mind when shooting to avoid
losing data. These are not hard and fast rules, but it could be
a guideline
to preventing corruption:
* Don’t turn your camera off before it’s completely written an
image to the memory card.
* Don’t remove the memory card from the camera while it’s
writing an image to the card.
* Eject the card from your computer before removing it
(right-click on the drive and click on eject).
* Always format the memory card before shooting, don’t just
delete old files, use the camera’s format command.
* Use your camera to format the card instead of using the
computer to do it.
* Replace your camera battery before it runs empty.
* When your memory card is full and you’d still like to continue
shooting, replace it with a new card instead of editing
in-camera by deleting and shooting, deleting and shooting.
* If you’re going to use your memory card in a different camera,
format it in the new camera before shooting.
* Don’t drop your memory cards.
* Don’t get your memory cards wet.
* Try to keep it away from electrical currents. This goes for
x-ray machines at airports too, so if you need to have your
camera bag scanned, remove the cards before scanning the bag.
* Don’t put your cards in your pocket, if it comes into contact
with coins or keys it might cause a short.
* Finally, if your images have downloaded to your computer
successfully, back it up immediately by saving it to CD/DVD, or
by saving it on an external hard drive or flash disc. It’s not
just the memory card that can corrupt, your computer could also
give you trouble and it’s safer to have a separate backup. These
things are not guaranteed to corrupt your memory card, and you
could possibly break most of these rules and get away with it,
but rather be safe than sorry.
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