How to Choose an SD Card for Your Camera

A memory card used to be a set-and-forget type item in my camera kit. Buy once, plug in and use, then only worry about it once I need more capacity, right? Well, it started to become a concern a few camera upgrades back- with more consideration for multiple card slots in a camera, how much 4K and HD video I could cram in a card, read and write speeds…… and the list went on. Choosing the right memory card, especially with secure digital (SD) cards doesn’t have to be a complicated affair, but nailing down the main points of criteria is going to be helpful in the long run.

Many devices use SD cards along with most DSLR cameras, such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets, all requiring different sizes and capacities. We will cover here the main considerations to help you pick out the right SD card for your needs.

Speed

SD cards, especially used for cameras need to be considered from their speed performance. Basically, SD cards read and write at different speeds depending on which you buy. Which speeds you choose will really depend on your usage. If you’re firing off lots of photos in quick succession, you will need a fast write speed. The same goes for high-resolution video. If you’re only taking a few images here and there, then you can get away with slower write speeds. The faster the read and write speeds, the more…