Memory Card

[jay_emerson]

I just purchased my wife a new Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT for Christmas. It is

our first digital and I know almost nothing about them. My question is

concerning memory cards. I assume the camera will come with some memory, but I

would like to purchase at leat one additonal memeory card. Can anyone give me

information on what would be a good choice for this camera? Also, is there

likely to be anything else that will not come with the camera that I will need

to buy for her to get started? Thanks.

 

Jay

[ronaldo_r]

Normally Canon dSLRs do not come with any memory cards, you need to buy them separately. I'd go for at least a 2GB compact flash card. Any major manuafacturer will do.

[geoffs1]

Ronaldo R, "I'd go for at least a 2GB compact flash card. Any major manuafacturer will do."

 

IMHO a 1 Gb card would do (2 Gb is obviously better), but I'd suggest sticking to major brands of cards like Lexar and SanDisk. The SanDisk Ultra II is a particularly good buy these days; it's fast enough, but one (or two) levels behind the state-of-the-art, so the price is quite reasonable.

 

I'd suggest buying an inexpensive USB CF card-reader. It's usually tons easier to transfer files to your computer that way than to use the camera's USB port.

 

Cheers,

 

Geoff S.

[kurt l]

jay as others said stick to a name brand.

i think the xt is 6 megapixel if not someone will slap me.

@ 6mp you can get about 300 jpeg fine photo's on a 1 gb card.

@jpeg low or basic you can get about 10000 on a 1gb card

@ raw you can get around 170 on a 1gb card.

a 2gb card would be double the above.

this will give an idea on the photos a 1gb card will hold

give or take a few.

a 256 megabyte card would hold 70 jpeg fine photos

@low or basic jpeg it would hold about 270 photos

@ raw it would only hold about 40 photos.

hope this helps with your card purchase. kurt

[ronaldo_r]

The XT is 8 MP. probably around 250 fine JPGs or 110 RAWs per 1 GB.

[jcuknz]

Since your wife is not going to 'work' the camera I would say that 512Mb is probably AOK for starters assuming you use the top jpg setting at full resolution. The suggestions for bigger cards are for from people who only shoot RAW.

 

I shoot 8Mp FINE jpgs and most days I could easilly get away with 256Mb card, and do so with my 5Mp Nikon without cramping my style using either camera. I do of course download on return home unless I have just taken a couple of shots or so ... some people use the camera as a storage device and need more storage ... like when one goes away from homebase. A couple of 512's so she has a spare if she even fills up the first would be a good starting point.

 

I assume that she has an editing programme for her computer? otherwise I'd suggest Adobe Elements v4 or v5, Paint Shop Pro v8 onwards, or if you are being really generous the Adobe CS2 or CS3.

If money is tight then download Irfanview [www.irfanview.com] for free to keep you going until you can get one of the suggested programmes. Happy Christmas to you both, it will be fun for sure:-)

[ericreagan]

You camera, in all likelihood, will not come with a memory card. Might I suggest the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FSanDisk-SDCFH-2048-901-ULTRA-Retail-Package%2Fdp%2FB0001CNMFM%2Fsr%3D8-2%2Fqid%3D1166581067%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics&tag=cyclingshots-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325">SanDisk Ultra II</a> CF cards. A 2GB card is under $50 at Amazon. Not a bad deal at all!

<p>Consider <a href="http://photofloor.blogspot.com/2006/07/memory-cards-and-cameras.html">this blog post</a> as a primer for what you need to know about memory cards.

<p>

Cheers!

[Spearhead]

The SanDisk 2GB regular speed memory card is almost $20 less expensive from the same source and will make absolutely no difference in usage. Buying faster memory cards like the Ultra II has primary benefit to the memory card company, not to you.

[mike_ilnyckyj]

"The SanDisk 2GB regular speed memory card is almost $20 less expensive from the same source and will make absolutely no difference in usage."

 

This statement is almost completely false. The only cameras that won't benefit from faster memory cards are older (like 2002 or earlier) cameras that have slow data transfer speeds themselves. Look at dpreview's review of the rebel xt (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos350d/page12.asp) or any of their other camera reviews for that matter. The difference in speeds between three high end cards is noticeable. Although low end cards aren't benchmarked for the xt, you can find benchmarks including them on some older camera reviews.

 

That being said, I don't think its necessary to buy these "high end" cards, just make sure you get something with a good warranty and an 80x or better rating. I use 150x ridata cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820183019) with my sony R1 and they are much faster than the regular sandisk cards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820171074) and are much cheaper. Additionally, if you get a card reader (which I recommend you do) faster cards will transfer much more quickly.

 

Good luck with the camera!

[al_froio3]

You say you're a newbie so I'll explain in nontechy terms. I hope this helps.

 

A high speed card should be able to 'aborb' or be written to more quickly by your camera and should 'send' or write to your computer more quickly. In the days of 1.3 and 2 MB cameras, memory card speed was not a big concern. However 8MB pictures now take longer to be stored by your camera and to be downloaded to your computer. That's where a higher speed memory card is an advantage.

 

Hint: Pay little attention to hype such as 'high speed' '133x' '80x'. Look at the TRANSFER RATE of the memory card. If it is 9MB/s or higher, you'll be fine. Then buy by price.

[thomas_sullivan]

Jay....like the above says, Memory Cards and internal memory do not come with DSLRs. So you need at least a memory card. In a pinch, you can use the camera to download pics to your computer, but the suggestion for a card reader is accurate. Actually, depending on the age of your computer and/or printer/scanner, you might already have a card reader. My all-in-one printer has a card reader (althouogh, to be honest, I've never used it....I already had a card reader).

 

Now, as to speed of memory cards. Speed only matters if you are going to use the burst mode. If you shoot one shot at a time, you will NEVER see a difference between cards.........NEVER! Now, burst or multiple pics......machine gun style shooting.....got the idea of what I'm talking about? When do you use that? I use it for my 2 year old twin grandson and youth hockey. That's it. The hockey to increase the odds that I get a good action/puck/stick type shot.......and the twins because they just do some of the wierdest stuff, I just kinda let the camera blast away......sometimes what I'm seeing is not the killer shot with those two.

 

Any sports will need for you to be concerned. BUT, you still don't need the highest speed card, if your camera can't process the info to get it there. So, you buy the card that matches up with your camera's speed, camera buffer, etc. To tell you the truth, I own both the "slowest" basic cards and the Ultra IIs (the ultra IIs were gifts or discounts I couldn't pass up....the last 1 gb Ultra II I bought ended up after discounts and rebates costing me $25)

 

So, my recommendation is to buy the basic 1 or 2 GB card to start with. Then, if you find you actually do need the speed, then buy a faster one. The slower one will still be able to be used becuase not all your shooting will be done machine gun style.

[thomas_sullivan]

oh....by the way, I own the Canon 20d........just to give you info for comparison.

[Spearhead]

<i>This statement is almost completely false. The only cameras that won't benefit from faster memory cards are older (like 2002 or earlier) cameras that have slow data transfer speeds themselves. Look at dpreview's review of the rebel xt (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos350d/page12.asp) or any of their other camera reviews for that matter. The difference in speeds between three high end cards is noticeable. Although low end cards aren't benchmarked for the xt, you can find benchmarks including them on some older camera reviews.</i><p>

 

The difference in speed only matters if you fill the buffer. That's why what I said is definitely not false. The only people who fill the buffer on recent cameras are professional sports shooters and pjs. I shoot sports professionally and have yet to fill the buffer on a 1DMkII, in other words, the speed of the card doesn't matter.<p>

 

Now if you are shooting for SI which expects a thousand shots in a football game, that's different, or if you're shooting in the crush of a hundred other pjs with the camera over your head, not exactly sure what you're getting, it matters.<p>

 

Citing dpreview is pointless - the technical specs don't correspond to actual shooting. It's like reviews in the car magazines - who is going to drive their car at 162mph in the US?

[jay_emerson]

Thanks for all of the help. Does the camera come with a certain amount of memory? In other words, when we take it out of the box can it be used to take pictures or do I need to buy a card in order to use the camera at all? Thanks again.

 

Jay

[thomas_sullivan]

well, that depends. What EXACTLY did you buy? You can buy that camera in a lot of configurations.

 

1) Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT Body only - you only get the body and the associated software, manuals, battery, battery charger...NO lens even, no memory card. AND you have to charge the battery first.....from scratch, probably a 5 hour wait. So, forget Christmas day for shooting......well, at least till later that night given you open it first thing in the morning. Unless, of course you open it now and charge the battery for her before Christmas......heh.

 

2) Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT with Kit lens (18-55mm zoom.....i think that's the lens that Canon themselves package with it these days........what ever, you get a zoom lens)........plus every thing I said above. Still no memeory card.

 

That ends how Canon themselves package the camera.

 

Now, the store you bought it from may have what they call kits. Their own kits, on top of what Canon packages. There are a dozen ways of making a kit, but a very popular kit would most definitely include a memory card. What store did you buy from..........do they have a web site. That's the only way, short of opening the box now, that you could find out. Maybe the receipt might say it......depends on the store.

 

Please note, you could have, not knowing anything about DSLRs have bought the cam without a lens. But most definitely have the possiblity of no memory card. It is NOT normal to have a memory card packaged with a Digital SLR.

[jay_emerson]

Thomas, thanks for the reply and information. It did come with a lense and I just looked at the box but saw no mention of a memory card. Looks like I'll have to go back shopping after all. I appreciate everyones help.

 

Jay