The
digital photo storage of pictures
The
digital storage of photos is needed at two stages of the digital
photo process:
- The
storage of the digital photo in the camera
- The
storage of the digital photo files when they leave the camera.
Here
we will take a look at the possibilities of the digital
photo storage in the camera first.
Traditional
photography uses film as a storage medium. When one film is used
up, simply take it out and pop in a new one. The film is eventually
developed and the stored images printed. Digital photography also
has a form of removable storage - memory cards.
The advantage of these cards over film is that they can be erased
and reused. Images stored on memory cards can be transferred to
a computer for further processing and permanent storage, or they
can be transferred directly to a printer. Memory cards are not the
only medium for image storage, but they are the most common. Other
storage media include removable hard drives and optical disks.
Memory
cards come in a variety of sizes, so you need to figure
out how much storage space is required for your photos. This can
vary according to the megapixel rating of your camera, the type
of storage format, and the amount of compression used to store the
images.
The
most common type of compression is JPEG, but this
is a 'lossy' format. This means that some of the data that makes
up your image is discarded and cannot be retrieved. For most purposes
this loss of data is not critical to the quality of the image and
the savings in terms of storage space more than compensate for the
lost data. Sometimes, however, lossy formats are not acceptable
so the image has to be stored without any compression at all. This
requires significantly more storage space than JPEG.
CompactFlash
cards
CompactFlash
cards are the most popular type of memory cards for digital cameras.
It is relatively inexpensive and is widely available. It is used
by a number of different camera manufacturers, so if you buy a new
camera, chances are it can use CompactFlash. There are two kinds
of CompactFlash cards -- Type I and Type II. Some cameras can only
accept one type, so it is important to know which one you need for
your camera.
Secure
Digital / MultiMedia Card (SD/MMC)
SD/MMC
cards are the smallest type available. SD/MMC are identical except
that SD cards have a write-protect switch which prevents images
from being accidentally erased. They can be used in ultracompact
cameras and also in personal entertainment devices like MP3 players.
SD/MMC cards have less maximum storage capacity than CompactFlash
cards (currently at 1 GB) but still offer enough space for most
digital photography needs.
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Picture Cards
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Picture Cards are also very small -- less than 1 inch square. They
were developed by Olympus and Fuji and are most commonly used in
those brands of camera. They can be used in other types of cameras
with a CompactFlash adapter.
Memory
Stick / Sony memory sticks
Memory
Stick was developed by Sony and is used in almost all Sony digital
cameras. It can also be used in other Sony devices like MP3 players
and PDAs. Memory Sticks are used on very few other cameras beside
Sony cameras, so switching to another brand will most likely mean
being unable to use this memory.
MicroDrive
from IBM or other manufactures
A MicroDrive
is an actual hard drive housed in a CompactFlash Type II casing.
Because they are mechanical drives with moving parts, they are somewhat
more delicate than flash memory cards. They must be handled with
care and are more prone to breakage. MicroDrives also have a slower
access time than CompactFlash cards, but have the advantage of larger
storage capacity at cheaper prices.
Digital
photo storage solutions outside the digital camera
When you come
home with your digital camera and your memory cards of the one kind
or another you need to have a safe place to keep these digital files.
In fact you should never go for keeping all files, as I am sure
some of your photos should be deleted and the earlier the better.
The reason is
that you quickly end up with a lot of less than perfect versions
of some of the same objects. Because it doesn't cost you anything
except the space on the momory card every time you take som extra
frames = digital photo files, you need to edit them so you can concentrate
all further efforts on your 'keepers' i.e. the digital photos you
are really happy for and want to keep.
The obvious
failures can be deleted in the camera but the more tuff editing
is taking place on your computer. May be you have 4 photos of the
same situation but with small differencies. If it is a group of
persons some of the ayes might be partly closed some faces are looking
unhappy or other problems. But the best advice is to make the hard
dicision and just keep one photo of the very similar photos. Delete
the others so you are not wasting your space for digital photo storage.
- Or in fact waste your time later by surching through many similar
variations of the same object and situation.
You can have
your main digital photo storage inside or outside of your computer,
or both.
I use
a number of external hard disks and back-up at CD and DVD medias.
If you use your
computer as your only storage for your photos you have to realize
the vulnarablity of that. If choosing that simple solution you have
to be aware that your photos are stored at a harddisk and this harddisk
is being activating (and being wearing down) every time you start
your computer and do anything with you keybord.
As
a minimum you should defenitely keep a back-up on another external
harddisk or on CD or DVD medias.
Harddisk
space is cheap nowadays, and DVDs will cover a lot of your
needs for digital photo storage.
As a supplement
you can make use of online
photo storage, see this special website.
Photo
Soren
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