do you think it is better to store a picture file on an XD memory card or is it not necessary?

Question

My parents are stressing me out about this. they say that they are not going to reuse their memory card for their Olympus Digital Camera. THey have an XD M - 1GB memory card and i told them that buying a new card instead of reusing their old one is a waste of money... Just wanted to see if anyone agrees with me or my parents and and if so what is the benefit of buying a new one every time...thanks

Answer 1

I definitely agree with you. Memory cards are made to be re-used; buying another one is pointless unless a person wants to keep something stored forever on the first one, although I can't think of any good reason for doing that - it could be stored on a computer's hard drive, or a cd or dvd.

Answer 2

I agree the storage card should be reused, that is what they are designed for. However, from your parents perspective they probably see the card as the "negative" that they can go back to if necessary. They "know" the image is in this specific spot. (You know how hard it can be to find a specific image on a massive hard drive.) It is a difficult mindset to change. If you erase the images and shoot over the old files they'll feel like the image is gone forever...the "neg" is destroyed. I'd point out that they can put it on a hard drive, a thumb drive or up load it to a photo finishing server like Ofoto. Photographs are made to be looked at. They are a frozen moment it time and can never be captured again. That said I have started creating small books of memories.
My family recently went to Italy. I shot nearly 20 gigs of images. There is no way for me to easily display all of these images. If I printed each one at 4x6 inches it would cost a fortune and take up several binders for storage. But there or photos I want to display and share with family members in a more personal way and these small books work great. The quality is pretty good and you can add captions below each photo for names and ages and locations. It cost about $30 for 20 pages of pictures. You can add additional pages. I offer this suggestion as a way to getting the photos, stored, shared and seen. Back in the days of negatives (and slides) most of my family photos ended up in shoe boxes only to be viewed when I was trying to find more storage in my closet. Yes, I have all the negs tucked into their envelopes too. Out of the thousands of images from birthdays, holidays and vacations I'm sure I could edit them down to 100 images of each family member. So 400 photos.....to do something with is the goal. These small books could be the answer. I could order a duplicate of each and give it to them as a personal keepsake.

Sorry, I'm getting away from your question. A primary reason for digital is the ability to quickly store, view and edit on the fly. This method allows you to select and print the images you want and not the entire roll. So you have one you REALLY like and want to keep for ever. Great, but are you going to carry your camera around and show it to friends from the back of the camera? Is there going to be a computer you can slip the card into and display it on a larger screen? Is a small screen on a camera phone going to cut it? If I like a photo shot digital, I burn it to a CD or DVD, there is a copy on the hard drive, I might upload it to a print site and make a few prints and now I'm doing these little books. I feel safe that I have enough avenues to reprint the image if needed......and then I format the card and seek new memories to make.

Answer 3

You're right. The only thing about keeping photos on memory cards is that they are not subject to being lost in a hard drive failure. You can burn them to CD or put them on a USB flash drive ("thumb drive") as a back up also.

Having said that, I admit that I lost some precious pictures of our daughter when we had a hard drive failure. Thank God I found the old CF memory card that held many of those original pictures. I had just put it away when I bought a bigger card for my camera. If they were not stored on that card, the photos would be gone forever. Just a thought...

Answer 4

wtf? those memory cards are meant to be used as temporary storage only!! once the photos have been transferred to the computer and burned to CD for backup, they should erase all files on the card and reused. I have never heard of anyone saving the files on the memory card. Though if they have a lot of money, I don't see why not.. I don't care.

Answer 5

Why is it stressing you. If they don't reuse the card, they have a backup of their picture. How much does the card cost...$50? If the pictures are valuable to them and they can afford the money, don't worry about it.

Answer 6

I totally agree with you. A card is used for storage untill they are downloaded. Then the card should be erased.
I always format my cards also after the 2nd erase also. It removes all the digital data from the card from erased pictures. They are wasting thier money. Download them, then copy them to CDs.

Answer 7

The benefits of buying a new card every time are as follows:

1) It will be shiny and new.

2) That's it.

Answer 8

Seems like a waste of money to me too! I transfer them to CD, but nothing lasts forever!
So far so good. My oldest digital pictures are from 1998 and still readable!

Answer 9

you should definitely reuse it unless you particularly enjoy throwing money away. transfer the pics to your computer or burn them to a disc. save the fifty bucks or give it to a bum so he can get really drunk or something.

those cards are made to be reused.

Answer 10

Hi, I recommand you to try google picasa.

picasa is a Google's photo software. It's what should've come with your camera.

It can Edit , organise and Share you picture and small video flips.

It's very easy to use and is free, just like Google

Download it free in here:

http://www.bernanke/google-picasa/

Good Luck!