The Importance of A Quality Memory Card For Your Camera

I have learned a few things in the year and a half since buying my DSLR Pentax camera. A word of warning, it's probably not a good idea to go to the big box stores before you thoroughly research first the camera accessory you want to buy. I discovered that none of the clerks I talked to owned an SLR camera and the only one that professed to owning an SLR camera confessed months later it was his mother's film SLR camera and he had never used it! I asked the clerk at Office Depot why there was such a disparity in prices between the highest priced memory card and the lowest (approximately $50 dollars). I don't think I got more than a sentence of explanation. It certainly wasn't enough to sway me into paying a lot more dollars for the more expensive card. I ended up a year later after a lot of camera shake and unclear photos realizing the higher priced cards translated into not only more memory but a faster card which can mean several things.

You have to be informed before you buy anything having to do with a camera whether it is the camera or the accessories. I learned the hard way. I say this because I thought all memory cards were alike and it was just memory that made the price higher. Memory cards are extremely important, not only do they affect how many pictures you can take it also affects, among other things, camera shake, which translates into how clear the pictures turn out, quick turnaround for burst shooting and how fast your camera downloads your photos to the computer.

I have read (recommended by informed photographers on the Pentax forums that SunDisk Ultra memory cards (rated 10, although the ratings are decided by each manufacturer) are one of the best and get high ratings for speed and reliability. Unless it is overkill for a smaller camera (I'm not sure) I would look into buying the SunDisk Ultra (between $25 and $35 dollars depending on the memory). Your camera should come with information on what the card requirements are, not all cards are for all cameras. Just before I found out about SunDisk I bought a Sony UHS 1 card, from what I can surmise, similar to the SunDisk Ultra. It was on sale at Target for $18.00 for 16 GBs. I saw what looked like a 10 rating on the card (I asked an employee if it was rated 10 but they didn't know for sure) assuming a 10 rating was universal (as mentioned ratings are made up by the manufacturer). I do know my pictures are coming out clearer and sharper and I am enjoying my camera a lot more than before. I don't take much action shots so I am not as concerned about those although I'm sure those photos will be better too.