Foolish digital camera question

[Freezermug]

How do the smart media cards work for digital cameras. Can you only use them once like a roll of film or can you take a bunch of pictures, upload them to your hardrive and go take more pictures with the same card.

[rosieox]

They work just like a little thumb drive on your camera. Pictures create files (usually JPG), you can download or erase them.

[Freezermug]

Thanks for the reply. Then a 64 or 128 meg card should be sufficient.

[Bobby]

For the average user, that would be fine. If you tend to take a lot of pics before you can download them, go with either multiple cards or a big one. My camera uses compact flash cards and I use 2 256mb cards.

-Bobby

[stan03]

it also depends how many megapixles your camera is, my 1 mp camer can take like 180 pics of best quality on a 64 mb card.

[Freezermug]

Looking at canon powershot a70. I think its 3 mp. Seems like a fine one for its price. Not interested in spending any more then that due to various accessory cost and a decent warranty.

[Lord09]

The A70 is rated very well, I think it won a comparison over at tomshardware.com

You should be able to get one < $300 or around there.

Good luck...

[Bobby]

The A70 uses compact flash memory. 128mb cards would be the minimum I'd buy for a 3mp camera. I got my Simpletech 256mb cf card at Newegg for $49 shipped.

Canon seems to have some of the best cameras now. Their image quality is awesome. I'm really happy with my S50.

-Bobby

[stan03]

you have an S50?????? NO FAIR. oh well, yea your gonna need more than a 64 now... prolly get a 128 or 256mb or something

[Ravsitar]

Are those Cannons microdrive compatable? I use the Nikon Coolpix 4500 with a 1gb microdrive and it works great. A little slow to save files so i don't use it for sports photos (got a highspeed compact flash 128mb for that). I can't wait till the faster 2-4GB models come out! I'll have to leave myself notes to offload the files. ;)

[Bobby]

I heard that the nikons have speed issues. In other words, they're slow. My sister has a Coolpix 4500 and it's really slow. My bro-in-law asked what he could do to make it faster. I said, not much other than buying a new camera. The problem is with the IC in the camera that controls the images. It's just too slow no matter what you try.

Stan - The S50 is an amazing camera and worth every penny, and then some. My other sister bought an S45 and I was pretty impressed by the features so I ended up getting the S50. Can't let my sister get a better camera :p. I'm impressed every time I take the camera out.

Ravsitar - Yes, the Canons are microdrive compatible.

-Bobby

[Ravsitar]

It is a little slow. It's really noticable if you buy the cheap compact flash. If you buy the higher quality stuff it's better. The delay between pushing the button and taking the picture is anoying though. You really have to think ahead to do action shots.