Memory Cards - the Most Flexible of all Digital Camera Accessories

Just like a traditional analogue camera needs film, a digital camera needs memory to store your photographs. Most digital cameras come with a pitiful amount of internal memory, so you are almost required to buy a memory card as your first accessory.

After having bought the first one, you should consider investing in one or more extra memory cards. These cards are an extremely portable accessory and the price of storage is decreasing quickly, and you will be able to do much more with your digital camera if you have the possibility to take lots of pictures between stops to a PC where you can store your pictures. If you are about to take a vacation in remote places where you will be unable to transfer the images, and with no shops readily available in the vicinity, you will quickly appreciate the freedom of not having to ration your pictures.

 The best thing about having lots of memory, and being able to take lots of pictures, is that it will change the way that you use your camera. You will be able to take advantage of advanced settings such as burst mode, to capture sports events or highly dynamic subjects, and to select the best picture at ease afterwards.

Regarding the amount of memory, nowadays storage cards range from one to 32 GB and more. You should take as much memory as you may need and then some more, spread over two or three cards for redundancy.

Also, most digital cameras have a setting that will allow you to take three simultaneous pictures of the same subject - one slightly underexposed and another overexposed - and here also you will be able to choose the best one. You will generally end up taking a higher volume of pictures and therefore having more shots from which to select the best ones. Will it make a difference for you if you are in a remote location for an extended period and are limited to 20 pictures a day, or to 200?

Also, it could happen to you to forget to delete or transfer the contents of the memory to another device like and to find yourself with a full memory when you most need it. Having extra digital storage capacity could mean the difference between taking that wonderful picture and missing out on a priceless moment.

You never know when your existing memory card will fail so keeping an extra card can pay dividends when the time comes. Just be aware though of what type of memory card your digital camera uses as there are various types of cards available for different digital cameras such as SD cards and Sony memory sticks. You don't want to buy a memory card that is not compatible with your digital camera.

Also, if you are going with multiple memory cards as part of your digital camera accessories, you should also consider a card reader, which will allow you to seamlessly transfer your pictures from the card to a PC, or even directly to a digital photo printer, via a USB connection