Memory Card Question

[Down to Earth]

I have an Olympus Stylus 400 Digital and would like the ability to take more pictures on my camera. What kind of memory card do I need to get? Is this something in which I need to find a Olympus brand card or will another brand work as well? Also what size do you recommend? The one I have now is the one that came with the camera and it is a 16mb. Thanks.

Andy

[Steve Foss]

Andy:

There are quite a few styles of memory cards. Look on yours, and tell us what style it is. Then we can help you. And tell us the megapixel capacity of your camera. If you want more pics, you're going to have to get a card with more memory.

You likely won't have to get a card the same brand as your camera. There are some cameras that only use their own, proprietary cards, but they are few and far between.

Until we know what style card, however, it's hard to answer that question.

[Steve Foss]

OK, Andy, I've done a quickie Internet search, and have found that your 4 megapixel camera uses an XD picture card for a memory card. There are several brands, including top brands such as SanDisk and Lexar. They range up to 1 Gb cards. If you wonder how many more images you can get on a 1 Gb card than on your 16 Mb card, just multiply by about 60.

I'd recommend a card of at least 256 Mb. You can take a ton of images and not have to worry about running out of card. A 512 Mb would be better, but without knowing your habits re photos it's hard to know what capabilities you need.

[MN Shutterbug]

Andy, I also checked into your camera online and the specs I read in Epinions says that your camera will accept a memory card from 16 mb - 256 mb. It's possible that when your camera came out they only had XD picture cards up to 256 mb but it might make sense to check into it fully before purchasing anything larger.

[island guy]

I also have a question. Do the memory cards wear out? If so how do you know when they need replacement. I have a 512 mb and I usually delete all the pics once a week or so after I've saved them to disc or my computer. How long can I do this on the same card without it getting wore out or affecting the quality?

[Down to Earth]

Thanks, I checked and like you said it is a XD picture card. I will try and get to Best Buy this week to try and pick one up. I'll probably go with the 256mb. For the most part the 16mb card is enough, but I'm going on a weekend fishing trip so I'm thinking I'm going to need a bit more(or at least I'm hoping). Thanks for the help.

Andy

[hobbydog]

Quote:

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I also have a question. Do the memory cards wear out? If so how do you know when they need replacement. I have a 512 mb and I usually delete all the pics once a week or so after I've saved them to disc or my computer. How long can I do this on the same card without it getting wore out or affecting the quality?

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They do wear out but it takes several thousand read/writes....some sooner. If you ever get an error it is time to change. If you get an error reading the card it can usually be fixed and the files that were not corrupted saved.

[MN Shutterbug]

A 256mb card will yield you about 128 images at high resolution with a 4 mega pixel camera.

Memory cards have a limited life expectancy. The report I read states that multi layer cards will allow 10,000 to 15,000 read-write actions and a single layer memory card could yield up to 100,000. Either way, a casual photographer will probably never wear one out.