Educate me on digital camera media! (please)

[chaoticbear]

I'm sitting here with an Olympus C-2040 with optical zoom.

I want a bigger memory stick for it. This (http://www.megacameras.com/product/Olympus-C-2040-Digital-Camera-w/-Optical-Zoom-(C-2040)-824-ad-froogle.html) says that it take "SmartMedia" type. Newegg doesn't have any "SmartMedia" anything besides card readers, eBay doesn't have any 1-gig size (or 512, or 256), and froogle didn't turn up anything useful.

Does "SmartMedia" mean "use whatever kind you want"? Surely not, right?

[Mr. Blue Sky]

SmartMedia (http://www.pcmcia.org/smartmedia.htm) is a specific type of storage.

Plenty of examples on eBay (http://search.ebay.com/smart-media_W0QQfromZR40QQsojsZ1).

[Mr. Blue Sky]

:smack:

You were looking for 512Mb and up.

Sorry 'bout that, Chief.

[RyJae]

I did my best googling and I think your best bet is to by a few 128MB because I am finding that is the top storage capacity for SmartMeda (http://www.lexar.com/digfilm/smartmedia.html)

A couple places also tell you that SmartMedia holds less then other storage mediums. Link (http://www.shortcourses.com/equipment/storage/7-readers.htm)

[RyJae]

Of course I would of said "buy" and "SmartMedia" if I was as smart as you ladies and gents in here.

[Telemark]

SmartMedia is a dead end memory format. No one uses it anymore, I don't think much is still being manufactured. Your best bet is on places like EBay or some liquidators.

[Kiminy]

We have a digital camera that uses SmartMedia. After extensive hunting and digging last spring, prior to a major trip with no computer access to back up the pictures to, I think I can safely state that it does not come in anything larger than 128MB.

In fact, it's virtually impossible to find anymore, and when you do find it, it tends to cost way more than anything else. The best non-eBay deal I found was Walgreen's online, which cost $25 at the time. Now they have it for $15, it looks like. (http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?id=prod1393534&CATID=301440&skuid=sku1393524&V=G&ec=frgl_116459)

I bought a second digital camera for my husband to use, and made sure that it used something else. (Specifically, SD, which we also can use in our Treo's and GPS unit.)

[chaoticbear]

We have a digital camera that uses SmartMedia. After extensive hunting and digging last spring, prior to a major trip with no computer access to back up the pictures to, I think I can safely state that it does not come in anything larger than 128MB.

In fact, it's virtually impossible to find anymore, and when you do find it, it tends to cost way more than anything else. The best non-eBay deal I found was Walgreen's online, which cost $25 at the time. Now they have it for $15, it looks like. (http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?id=prod1393534&CATID=301440&skuid=sku1393524&V=G&ec=frgl_116459)

I bought a second digital camera for my husband to use, and made sure that it used something else. (Specifically, SD, which we also can use in our Treo's and GPS unit.)

I don't think that the WG card is SmartMedia. It looks backwards.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

I don't think that the WG card is SmartMedia. It looks backwards.

# The extremely small (one third of a credit card) Dane-Elec's SmartMedia ™ memory cards are used in digital cameras and MP3 players
# Dane-Elec's SmartMedia ™ memory cards will help you transer your data easily and quickly, with no loss of data over time

It's just a different design.

[Raguleader]

It's just a different design.

Yeah, despite what the description says, that's a picture of a MultiMedia Card (MMC), which is the precursor to Secure Digital (SD).

Most anything that uses SD will use MMC, but not the other way around. Not sure if it's descended from SmartMedia or not.

[Nanoda]

SmartMedia does indeed top out at 128M, and is indeed no longer being used as the main storage media for any new portable device type. (Most card readers include a slot for it still). For any camera that uses it though it'll still give you hundreds of shots, it's just not capacious or fast enough for the new stuff today.

I have an Olympus D-40 that uses it - my only advice is never ever ever format the card in anything other than your camera. Microsoft OSs especially allow you to format the card with a compatible filesystem type, but the result will no longer work in anything but another PC. To the best of my knowledge (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=303612) you can't fix such a card with commercially available combinations of hardware and software.

[cantara]

Yes, the SmartMedia is no longer a going concern. A couple of years ago Olympus and Fuji got together and created the xD card format. When they did that, Olympus abandoned the SmartMedia.

Be aware that some of the Olympus cameras that use the SmartMedia can only read some of the smaller capacity cards. My father-in-law bought a 2Mpixel camera a few years back and it won't work with cards larger than 64MB.

[SemperFi]

Yeah, despite what the description says, that's a picture of a MultiMedia Card (MMC), which is the precursor to Secure Digital (SD).

Most anything that uses SD will use MMC, but not the other way around. Not sure if it's descended from SmartMedia or not.
MMC and SD are related, the standard having been principally originated and promoted by Matsushita/Panasonic.

SmartMedia is the predecessor to xD, which uses essentially the same technology but has larger capacity (and is not interchangeable or compatible with SmartMedia because they have different form factors). Both were designed and OEMd by Toshiba, who marketed them in an alliance with Fuji and Olympus.

CompactFlash is a third standard originated by . . . Sandisk? I forget.

Finally, Memory Sticks are Sony's version of flash.

[chaoticbear]

Be aware that some of the Olympus cameras that use the SmartMedia can only read some of the smaller capacity cards. My father-in-law bought a 2Mpixel camera a few years back and it won't work with cards larger than 64MB.

Oh, fcuk. I've already ordered two 128 meg cards. And it's a 2.x megapixel that's a couple of years old. ::bites nails::

[Padeye]

Does anyone know what the size limit, if there is one, of SD media?

[Cynical Optimist]

What I learned while shopping for cameras:

Smart Media is largely obsolete, replaced in spirit by xD Picturedisk (neither forward nor backward compatible). Small number of brands means higher prices per volume storage.

Compact Flash is in and of itself largely obsolete, but Micro Drive is forward compatible with it (MD devies can usually use CF media, not vice versa). Popular with high-end devices due to it's multi-gigabyte capacity, until recently unavailable in other form factors.

Multi Media Card is obsolete, but Secure Digital is forward compatible with it (per MD/CF above). This is the most widely-used form factor.

Memory Stick is made by Sony and priced accordingly.

My advice is to buy the largest capacity your device supports. I bought a 256MB SD card for my Samsung 4 megapixel camera, yielding a rough equivalent of 7 rolls of film.

[minor7flat5]

Does anyone know what the size limit, if there is one, of SD media?I suppose that what is important is the limit of your device. My mouse pointer was pixels away from the "submit order" button when I decided to do a quick check on the camera I was ordering and found that it supported up to 512mb. Of course, there was a 1GB SD card sitting in my cart, which I quickly switched for 2x512mb. I am pleased that I found this out in time.

[Una Persson]

What I learned while shopping for cameras:

Compact Flash is in and of itself largely obsolete, but Micro Drive is forward compatible with it (MD devies can usually use CF media, not vice versa). Popular with high-end devices due to it's multi-gigabyte capacity, until recently unavailable in other form factors.
I hear this a lot, and yet so many of the top of the line cameras use this, and CompactFlash seems to be gaining in popularity, not waning. The new Canon Digital Rebel XT I bought for Fierra uses CF, the same level Nikons I looked at use CF, and AFAIK the next gen Nikons use CF as well. An awful lot of our laptops at work use CF (several thousands).

If you have them available, I'd like to see some cites that CF is really "largely obsolete", because that has not been what I have found. I'm not saying you are incorrect, but saying that my experience is different, and it would be nice to know what's really going on.

[GaryM]

I suppose that what is important is the limit of your device. My mouse pointer was pixels away from the "submit order" button when I decided to do a quick check on the camera I was ordering and found that it supported up to 512mb. Of course, there was a 1GB SD card sitting in my cart, which I quickly switched for 2x512mb. I am pleased that I found this out in time.

The reason for this limit is that the controller for the SmartMedia card is built into the device, while the controller for the CompactFlash is built into the card itself. That enables CF devices to use later edition (larger capacity) cards, while SM devices are generally limited to the largest size available at the time of device release.

I have an older Nikon CoolPix 950 and I've used 1Gig CF cards with no problems.

[SemperFi]

The reason for this limit is that the controller for the SmartMedia card is built into the device, while the controller for the CompactFlash is built into the card itself. That enables CF devices to use later edition (larger capacity) cards, while SM devices are generally limited to the largest size available at the time of device release.
I'm not strictly speaking sure that's true, not that it matters. The SM spec. was written anticipating future higher-volume cards, beyond those that were made available right away.

Also, though it makes little difference, the SM 'controller' is in most instances provided by firmware in the camera, whereas the CF controller is an onboard (as you note) hardware controller on the card. xD (successor to SM) also has a camera-based controller program.

[GaryM]

Semperfi, you could be correct. My comment is based on information gleaned from the www.dcresource.com digital camera discussion board.
It's the answer supplied whenever someone wanted to know if they could use a larger capacity SM card in their camera.

And I did not mean to say by using the word controller that there was a discrete device involved. Just that the maximum card capacity for a SM device was due to constraints built into the device rather than into the card.

[Padeye]

Compact Flash is in and of itself largely obsolete, but Micro Drive is forward compatible with it (MD devies can usually use CF media, not vice versa). Popular with high-end devices due to it's multi-gigabyte capacity, until recently unavailable in other form factors.Whaaaa? AFAIK all professional DSLR cameras use compact flash. I can think of only one amateur DSLR that uses a different medium. The new entry level D50 from Nikon uses SD but they continue to make the CF/Microdrive compatible D70 as well as their professional cameras which use the CFI/II format cards.

Microdrives have some popularity because they have a lower cost per megabyte but on the down side they slower than CF, consume more power and are more fragie. I have been using a 1GB microdrive for nearly four years but I trust it less and less.

What other flash memory formats besides CF and Sony memory stick have a multi gigabyte capacity?

minor7flat5, the only SD device I have is a Palm Tungsten E and have a 1gb card for it so I can use it as an MP3 player.

[critter42]

CF cards also have a true IDE mode on their controller - hence the MicroDrives.

I own an Epson PhotoPC 700 (from about 1998 or so), and all the equipment specs I can find state that the max it can take is Type I 32MB - that's even what their tech support said a couple of years ago when I was going to be a 64MB card for vacation. Well, so far I haven't found a limit other than the number of available pictures left counter (I maxed it out at 999 with a 512 CF card :)).

[Cynical Optimist]

I hear this a lot, and yet so many of the top of the line cameras use this, and CompactFlash seems to be gaining in popularity, not waning. The new Canon Digital Rebel XT I bought for Fierra uses CF, the same level Nikons I looked at use CF, and AFAIK the next gen Nikons use CF as well. An awful lot of our laptops at work use CF (several thousands).

Regarding higher end equipment you may well be right. I was researching consumer-level items. There were plenty of CF cameras available in the 1.0-2.0 megapixel non-bells-and-whistles range but not so much anymore. Most of the devices I've shopped for have switched to SD (or xD/SM depending on manufacturer). I have no use for laptops so haven't looked into those, my comments were strictly about lower-end cameras.

[Telemark]

I suppose that what is important is the limit of your device. My mouse pointer was pixels away from the "submit order" button when I decided to do a quick check on the camera I was ordering and found that it supported up to 512mb. Of course, there was a 1GB SD card sitting in my cart, which I quickly switched for 2x512mb. I am pleased that I found this out in time.

If you are talking about SD then you would have been just fine with a 1 gig card. While most manufacturers only test their cameras up to a certain point, I've never heard of one that doens't work with a 1 gig SD card, which are pretty standard these days.

The reason for this limit is that the controller for the SmartMedia card is built into the device, while the controller for the CompactFlash is built into the card itself.
This is my understanding as well from when I had an SmartMedia camera.

Compact Flash is most certainly not dead. In fact, the cards have gotten so large that there's not much point in getting a microDrive anymore, what with their slowness, increased battery use, and catastrophic failure mode. True, they are more common in dSLRs but they are still available in many consumer camera models. They currently come in 8gig size. The maximum size for SD is 2gig.