Just like a traditional analogue camera needs film, a digital camera needs memory to store your photographs. Most digital cameras come with a pitiful amount of internal memory, so you are almost required to buy a memory card as your first accessory.
You should get several digital camera storage cards as soon as you buy a new camera. Storage cards are tiny, so they are easy to carry around, they are also cheap as the price of circuitry is coming down fast, and they give you the freedom to take lots and lots of pictures.
For example, if you are about to go on a remote trip, somewhere where it will be difficult to transfer the images to a computer on a regular basis, such as on a sailing boat for instance, having a lot of digital camera memory cards will allow you to take more pictures.
The best thing about having lots of memory, and being able to take lots of pictures, is that it will change the way that you use your camera. You will be able to take advantage of advanced settings such as burst mode, to capture sports events or highly dynamic subjects, and to select the best picture at ease afterwards.
Also, most digital cameras have a setting that will allow you to take three simultaneous pictures of the same subject - one slightly underexposed and another overexposed - and here also you will be able to choose the best one.
Imagine being in a remote location and being able to take a daily average of two hundred of pictures of interesting subjects, and not of twenty. Would that make a difference on the way that you photograph?
Also, it could happen to you to forget to delete or transfer the contents of the memory to another device like and to find yourself with a full memory when you most need it. Having extra digital storage capacity could mean the difference between taking that wonderful picture and missing out on a priceless moment.
So as you can see, there are several reasons why extra digital camera memory cards as accessories is a sensible proposition. When you buy them, be especially attentive to getting the ones that are the right format for your camera, there are several manufacturers and not all storage cards are compatible across cameras.
You will find digital camera storage cards with 32 gigabytes or more, but don't put all your eggs in one basket by buying a single one, spread your storage across several memory cards for security, should one card fail.
If you get the recommended digital camera storage cards, you should also consider buying a memory card reader, which makes transfer very easy, whether to a computer or directly to a digital photo printer.
