by Paul Cowan

Created on: April 01, 2008   Last Updated: August 31, 2010

Mega memory cards are a real boon for professional photographers but may be of limited use to the amateur. As with everything in life, it is wise to get the thing that meets your needs, without wasting money on features that you don't need.

The idea that 512 gigabytes is the threshold between an "ordinary" digital memory card and a "mega" one obviously goes back four or five years, to the time when six-megapixel cameras were considered top-of-the-range and sensors recording one or two megapixels per shot were the norm.

Just four years ago, a 512GB compact flash card cost more than $100. Today, that card is difficult to find, but a new one with twice the memory can be bought for less than $10. The bottom end "mega memory" cards are now considered so small that manufacturers have stopped making them.

There are good reasons for that. Each new generation of digital cameras takes larger images than its predecessors, eating up more and more memory. What's more, all digital SLR cameras, those allowing you to change lenses, offer the option of recording every image in both RAW format, containing all the original information, and as a compressed JPEG. That uses up about four times as much memory as just recording the high-quality JPEG file.

In practical terms, this means that in a 12MP camera, a 2GB card will record about 100 different photos in RAW + JPEG mode before it fills up. In high-quality JPEG mode, 2GB will record about 400 12MP photos and 1,000 at 4MP.

For the ordinary, family photographer, RAW files are not really necessary, most "point and shoot" cameras don't even offer the option, and even with a 12MP camera a one gigabyte card, costing a mere $10 will provide more than enough memory for recording a day's outing.

For most uses, a 6MP file is large enough as it will print up to A4 size. Set your camera to 6MP, plug in a 1MB card and you will be able to record almost 400 high quality JPEGs. And, of course, you can copy them to your computer and reuse the card indefinitely.

Compare that with the cost of film (a single roll can cost as much as a 1MB card) and it is obvious what tremendous advantages the digital revolution has had for photography.

Another advantage of memory cards is that with the steady fall in their price, it is now possible to start thinking of them as part of a permanent storage system. It is always wise to back-up files in case something happens to the original. Compact disks sometimes degrade and computer hard-drives can fail. Flash memory

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