Nearly four years ago, I got my first digital camera. The Olympus C-3000 was everything I’d hoped for and more—until I realized that technology had changed so much that it had become something of an electronic dinosaur.

Late last year, I added the tiny and powerful Casio Exilim EX-Z55 to my arsenal. It is lighter, more convenient, and an all around fantabulous piece of equipment. However I found that I had to seek out a new kind of digital media. What was soon gifted to me was the perfect compliment to my lovely camera. The SanDisk Secure Digital (SD) 1.0GB card. It was precisely the kind of thing I’d hoped for and is easily the most reasonable and best accessory for the Casio.

Before I go any further into the SanDisk SD card, I have to talk a bit about what Secure Digital is as a technology. SD is a physically small (24mm by 32mm) card that allows for new equipment to be even more compact (hence my Casio’s tiny size). It also allows for large capacity content and is available anywhere from smaller sizes (32MB and 64MB) all the way up to 2GB, 4GB and even 8GB. The large capacity accommodates more than just pictures (as in the case of digital photography). With the proper equipment you can also store music, video, mobile phone, and PDA information. The flexibility extends to the high-speed data transfer rates. Copyright protection and immense expansion capabilities (wireless, digital TV tuners, FM radio, etc…) are also of particular note with SD cards. Secure Digital was developed jointly by Matsushita Electronics (Panasonic), SanDisk, and Toshiba.

A variety of companies manufacture Secure Digital media. Lexar, Kodak, Kingston, Panasonic, and of course SanDisk are but a few examples. The price of comparable cards across brands tends to be similar and is coming down considerably by the week with the proliferation of new technologies. SanDisk focuses their efforts on digital memory in the form of memory cards, USB flash drives, MP3 players, mobile products, and even photo viewers/readers/adapters. They not only make Secure Digital—they also work with Compact Flash, MultiMedia Card, and Memory Stick. I personally feel very comfortable buying products from a company so focused on one goal. Their innovation in the field has been very important and their dedication to quality shows in their products.

My SanDisk 1GB SD card has been very stable for me over the last eight months. I don’t take pictures on a daily basis, but I do enjoy photography as a hobby. The 1GB size is precisely what I need to make my Casio camera exceptionally functional. On this single, stamp-sized card I can get over 400 pictures at the very highest quality. It works quickly (there is little if any lag) and will also store any video I choose to shoot with my capable little camera.

As far as stability goes, the SD card has been very good. I would say “excellent” but in the past few months it has developed some “file error” issues which can be easily cleared up by saving all my pictures to my computer and utilizing the Casio’s built in “format card” function. The reason for this problem is simple. Like with hard drives, the larger the size the more necessary a partition. It’s unlikely that consumers will experience this issue with smaller capacity cards for this reason. I find the problem occurs I've shot a lot of photos, have opened up the battery door (which is not at all necessary) and have not recently formatted. Though, with that said, the problem does not make my camera unusable nor does it cause me to lose data. It is a very minor convenience and one that should be expected for people who continually overwrite and delete data from any digital source.

Finally, there is the matter of price. Late last year when I received my SD 1GB card, it cost around $80 (plus and additional $20 rebate). As new, higher capacity cards are released the retail price has come down. You can now frequently get this SanDisk for just $65 plus any addition manufacturer or in-store rebate offers (watch for them—they happen frequently). Also, I want to note that the higher capacity the SD card is the better value you’re getting. The 512MB card is around $40 while the 256MB still rests at around $30. Even the archaic 128MB is an unbelievable $20. If you ask me, Secure Digital is going to be around for a while—it is, at least in my opinion, the direction to go when choosing storage devices.

SanDisk’s 1GB SD card is a great item. There have been only a few glitches among the thousands of photos I’ve taken in the last eight months. I am relatively certain you can’t say that about good old fashioned 35mm or most any other high capacity media. Is it perfect? No, but thus far I’ve found it technologically reliable. It’s also hard not to appreciate something so large in memory that you don’t have to worry about not having enough capacity when on vacation. There is no more sensible choice in SD for your money.

One final thought: don’t cheap out when it comes to buying a SD card. You may find that some no-name brand is cheaper than SanDisk, but don’t fall into the trap. This is a time when name brands are imperative in getting a quality product.

Recommended: Yes

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