DSLR memory cards are not an accessory when it comes to taking photographs, but rather they are a necessity. You cannot take photographs with a DSLR camera unless you have a compatible memory card, and memory cards are never actually included when you make the initial purchase of the camera. Because you can buy a wide variety of different memory cards, it is important to know which ones are best going to benefit you. The two basic types of memory cards that you can choose from are Compact Flash memory cards and SD memory cards. The type of camera that you buy is going to influence the memory that you need.
Compact Flash DSLR memory cards are small square-sized memory cards that are approximately half of the size of a regular credit card but around five times as thick. For many years, Compact Flash memory cards were the only type of memory card that you could use for a DSLR camera. This was quite beneficial when it came to consumers because the tough competition within the market greatly lowered the price of the memory cards, increasing their storage capacities significantly. At the time, 1 GB DSLR cards were impressive, but today these cards are also available in 64 GB versions.
Manufacturers are now moving toward DLSR cameras that are lighter and smaller, and as such, they are trying to reduce the weights of their cameras in any way possible. Compact Flash cards may not weigh a lot, but SD memory cards are significantly smaller and lighter. SD DSLR memory cards are approximately the size of postage stamps and they are nearly as thin as postage stamps as well. The biggest advantage is that many compact cameras and many other portable devices are capable of using SD cards as their source of memory, meaning that a user can use the same SD card for digital cameras, MP3 players and other devices as well.
DSLR memory cards have storage capacities that are measured in terms of megabytes. Cameras with more megapixels require more megabytes of storage space in order to store the photographs that you take. The common capacities for memory cards range from 256 MB to several gigabytes. Today's memory cards easily span to 32 GB and 64 GB depending on the needs of the photographer. Photographers can choose from numerous different memory cards to suit their needs.
When it comes to memory cards, there are certain characteristics that manufacturers are constantly trying to improve upon. Storage capabilities and reading and writing speeds are especially important when it comes to using memory cards to their fullest extent. The CompactFlash 5.0 specification is still in the works, but according to the CompactFlash Association, there are some exciting things happening with the future of CompactFlash. At current, having any actual memory cards or cameras that support them are still quite a ways off, the standard that they are creating is looking promising.
Right now the CompactFlash 5.0 standard is paving the way for an increase from 28 bit addressing to 48 bit addressing. This standard also offers an increased unit size for data transfer from 128 KB per second to 32 MB per second. What might be best of all is that the current theoretical maximum capacity of 137 GB is going to increase significantly to 144 petabytes. There are a number of other advancements as well, including a video performance guarantee which is aimed to suit professional video cameras, easier card design, better card design and what is known as interface electrical specification which complies more fluidly with ATA standards.
There are a number of key features of the CompactFlash 5.0 specification. For example, 48 bit addressing is mandatory, offering capacity points that are beyond the current limitations. Data set management command and trim are also mandatory which leads to a more efficient cleanup of the unused space on a memory card. Another key feature is an update of ATA references to both ATA 6 and ATA 8, which is going to offer access to ATA standard enhancements. Video performance guarantee and performance control are optional but will increase card performance as well as quality of service regarding video capture application.
The CompactFlash 5.0 work group was initially formed in November of 2008. The primary goals of this work group is to take the CompactFlash 4.1 specification and add some key features to it based on the newer Parallel ATA interface. The brand new CompactFlash specification is adding a number of key benefits to the memory card trade that are going to revolutionize the digital photography revolution and increase capabilities for photography and video recording with DSLR cameras. While CompactFlash's newest incarnation is not yet on the market, it is offering promising results that photographers can look forward to.