Choosing the right compact flash card for your DSLROnce known as digital film, the compact flash card is one accessory you will need to purchase with your digital SLR.Flash cards come in different sizes, the Secure Digital (SD), the memory stick and the compact flash card. The majority of SLRs will use a compact flash card. Compact flash cards are rated by two integral criteria: speed performance and capacity. Memory card speed is the card's performance with regard to how quickly data can be transferred to or from it. The card speed is often stated as 12X, 40X etc (just as the speed of recordable CD's and DVD's is measured), and sometimes more specifically in megabytes per second (Mb/s). Ultra high speed transfer rates are up as high as 266Xand 300X are becoming more common. Just what do the transfer rates mean? A 1X speed will write to a card at 0.15MB per sec. A 16X speed card will write at 2.4MB per sec. and so on. The faster the transfer rate the less time you have to wait for the data to be transferred to the card. Purchase the card with the fastest transfer rate you can afford,in order to take advantage of all the features of your DSLR. It doesn't make sense to have a fancy new camera and use a slow flash card. These are two benefits of a high-speed memory card. Not only are you able to increase the number of photos you take, but you can also improve on the speed with which you take them. While using a high-capacity card greatly reduces the need to stop and change cards. A high-speed card is important if you are photographing a fast-paced sporting event or an important occasion. More importantly, high-speed memory cards make a huge difference in post-production work. With transfer rates and upload times significantly reduced, photographers enjoy a huge time savings. This gives photographers more time for photo editing, working on other projects, and promoting their business. Reliability is probably the most critical component for any memory card and it is the single most important thing to all photographers. Whether you're shooting a family wedding or taking your own vacation photos, you need to have the peace of mind of knowing your images are all being stored safely rest assured that there will be no file corruption. A high-quality, high-speed memory card ensures you don't lose any images-ever. Whether you're a budding photographer or a seasoned pro, there are many reasons for adding a high-speed memory card to your arsenal. Besides enhancing in-camera functions and greatly reducing photo transfer time, you get the added enhancements of security and memory features that make selecting a high-speed memory card an easy choice. If you're not using a speed-rated memory card, now's the time to make the switch! Capacities of compact flash cards range from 1GB to 16GB. You will take up more capacity in your flash card if you shoot raw and/or you shoot higher ISOs. It is a good idea to have two flash cards, and use one for a back up. Flash cards have dramatically come down in price in recent years and are now very affordable. The top manufacturers for flash cards are Lexar Media and Scandisk. Lexar evens goes so far as to have recovery software; if you lose your images by accidentally erasing them, the software will recover them. If you are photographing weddings or events, I highly recommend this software.
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