You’ve bought a new camera or smartphone, but your purchase is incomplete without a memory card so you can store more photos or videos. Most devices come with a basic Secure Digital (SD) card with a storage capacity of 2GB/4GB, but it is very important to invest wisely in a good card to get more storage space and memory. There are various options of memory cards available in the market and they can be classified into various types based on speed classes, size and other features.

TYPES OF SD CARDS:

Memory cards are classified into three types based on their storage capacity:

1. South Dakota – Basic SD cards can hold up to 2GB of storage. Older device models may still accept SD cards.
2. SDHC (SD High Capacity) – SDHC cards can store between 4 GB and 32 GB of content. Today, SDHC cards are used in all the latest models of cameras or phones as all devices support high storage capacities.
3. SDXC (SD Extended Capacity) – SDXC cards are the latest and can store data from 32 GB up to 2 TB. They can be inserted into those devices that are compatible with the SDXC standard. They are expensive and rarely used as very few devices support SDXC card.

SIZE:

Before buying a card, it is very important to consider its size, as different electronic devices use different sizes of memory cards.

SD (Secure Digital) cards are mainly available in three sizes:

• Standard SD (with dimensions 32 x 24 mm and weight = 2 g)

• MicroSD (with dimensions 11 x 15 mm and weight=0.8 g)

• MiniSD card (dimensions 21.5 x 20 mm and weight=0.25 g)

Standard SD cards are mostly used in digital cameras, while for smartphones, you would need smaller size cards. MiniSD cards used to be used in mobile phones before, but nowadays they are rarely used. They have been superseded by even smaller sized microSD cards. Apart from mobile phones, microSD cards are also used in laptops or tablets.

SD cards can only be placed in their corresponding slots. You cannot insert an SD card into a smaller card slot or vice versa. In an emergency, you can use an adapter that can help you plug a smaller card into a larger slot.

SPEED CLASS:

Card speed is measured by “Speed ​​Class” and all cards come with variable speeds. Speed ​​class is defined by card manufacturers and the SD association to help consumers select the correct one. To record a high resolution video or images, you should prefer a fast SD card if you want to save the content directly to the card.

There are four types of speed classes as follows:

1. Class 2: Class 2 refers to a speed of 2 MBps and is probably the slowest of all. It is more suitable for recording video and standard definition images. Class 2 memory cards are no longer used. Most smartphones and cameras support classes 4, 6, and 10.
2. Class 4: Class 4 refers to a speed of 4 MBps and is ideal for some videos and still images.
3. Class 6 and 10: Classes 6 and 10 refer to speeds of 6 MBps and 10 MBps respectively. Class 10 is the fastest among all. Class 6 is used for HD video recording and high definition still images. Class 10 provides excellent results when shooting Full HD 1080p video, burst shooting mode, and can capture HD still images.
4. ultra high speed Class (yourHS-1, youHS-3): These cards are the most expensive and are mainly used by professionals for heavy video recording. They are designed for devices that support UHS (Ultra High Speed). UHS-1 memory cards range in speed from 10 MBps to 30 MBps and are used for Full HD video recording. UHS-3 cards are best used for 4K and 2K video recording and can even support speeds of up to 50 MBps. It is always advisable to spend on a good quality memory card from well-known and popular brands like Sandisk, Kingston, Samsung, Sony, etc.