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AR15.COM
8/13/2009 1:50:03 PM EDT
I've owned a Canon Power Shot A630 for the past two years and have loved it from day one. I did a bit of research online and it seemed to suit my needs (abilities) with room for modest growth. I found out this past week on a trip to the Outer Banks that my 512mb card fills rather quickly. I guess it has something to do with all  the natural beauty, but I got picture happy

I'd like to shoot some movies with this camera, as well as have enough memory for a trip's worth or photos. Are there any downsides to large mb cards? Do the images degrade over time? Seems like I read something about this when card size took a quantum leap a year or so ago.

Konger
8/13/2009 2:13:50 PM EDT
[#1]
the newer cards require new readers to see the data stored



I have 2, 8 giggers for my P&S




some of the older cameras won't work with modern card sizes
8/13/2009 5:20:51 PM EDT
[#2]
Thanks! I'll have to find out if my camera can use the mega cards.

Any other cons for the big cards?


Konger
8/13/2009 5:26:33 PM EDT
[#3]
i shot a 2 camera video shoot today

filled 48 gigs of cards







now i need somewhere to store it...







big cards are cool till you need to download all the images


and if you don't DL often if you lose the camera you lose the images

 
8/13/2009 6:44:25 PM EDT
[#4]
The Best deal in cards are the 2 gig cards...Buy a few of them...and shoot away. If I have a bunch of nice shots I just save the whole card..and buy another. Still cheaper than Film if you only shoot them one time. I have found that with the 4 gig and bigger it makes it harder to manage them on the PC...even with good software. a 2 gig loads faster..
8/13/2009 9:33:59 PM EDT
[#5]
I use an 8 gig card in my Canon.  My laptop has an SD card reader built in and it works fine and quick in there.  It came with a USB card reader too and I haven't had any problems using it with that in any other computer.
8/14/2009 4:18:43 AM EDT
[#6]
Canon's website says that camera can take SD, SDHC, or MMC cards.

Of the 3, MMC is the oldest standard.  SDHC is the newest.  You shouldn't have any compatibility problems.  SHDC cards come in sizes up to 32 GB, but your wallet will probably start to hurt if you look at prices for anything larger than 4 GB.  That's where the sweet spot for price-to-storage ratio seems to be today.
8/14/2009 4:38:34 AM EDT
[#7]
I had to buy my new reader for my sdhc cards



funny thing: I was at a pro shooters conflab this summer with my new canon P&S

and the only way i could read the card was to plug the camera into my laptop via USB

That was a slow transfer.




I went by the canon reps booth and they could not read the card on any of their hardware either




I bought a 10 dollar reader from Walmart and all is good.




My new canon video cams require a "class 4" sd card in order to record at full 1080i





SD Cards and SDHC Cards have Speed Class Ratings defined by the SD Association. The SD Speed Class Ratings specify the following minimum write speeds based on "the best fragmented state where no memory unit is occupied":


8/14/2009 8:33:59 AM EDT
[#8]
So, to consolidate all of the great posts so far, the SDHC card is the preferred card to choose. My camera will accept this type of card. I should choose a 4 GB card if I choose to shoot video, but I will need a card reader if I don't want to spend hours downloading. Otherwise, I will be fine with a 2 GB SDHC card. Correct?

What are the price ranges on these cards? Is Walmart the best place for such things? Any difference in brand quality?

Thanks again for all of the well informed posts!

Konger
8/14/2009 8:48:22 AM EDT
[#9]
walmart sets the national price point
sometimes other places will loss lead them in the sunday advertisements

(Staples, Bestbuy, Office Depot)

I have had great luck buying cards from ebay too




the shipping cost is cheap
8/16/2009 9:22:01 AM EDT
[#10]
I usually use newegg or pricewatch for electronics purchases.

Both my P&S and my NIR cameras use 16gb cards with no problem.  Both are a couple years old.