Adorama has the following memory cards on sale. I bought my first 2GB card for $99 just over two years ago. Its amazing how prices drop. You do have to play the rebate game. Search for them by SKU.
2 GB, 50x Elite Pro Compact Flash $19.95 (after rebate) SKU: KGCF2GE.
2 GB, 133x Elite Pro Compact Flash $21.95 (after rebate) SKU: KGCF2GU
4 GB, 45x Elite Pro Compact Flash $24.95 (after rebate) SKU: KGCF4GE
4 GB, 133x Elite Pro Compact Flash $29.95 (after rebate) SKU: KGCF4GU
8 GB, 45x Elite Pro Compact Flash $54.95 (after rebate) SKU: KGCF8GE
8 GB, 133x Elite Pro Compact Flash $64.95 (after rebate) SKU: KGCF8GBU
1 GB, 50x Elite Pro Secure Digital $9.50 (after rebate) SKU: KGSD1GE
2 GB, 50x Elite Pro Secure Digital $12.95 (after rebate) SKU: KGSD2GE
Prices are good until 05/25/2007.
I think I need another 4GB card. That would bring me up to 10GB. That should hold me over for a week in Ireland right?
So why did I post mostly CF cards? Because that's what I use. If you need SD or xD (blah!) by all means head over to Adorama and search away.
When you are buying memory cards there are two considerations: 1) Speed of the card; 2) Size.
The latter first.
Size. Bigger is better right? Right. Wrong. Whatever. What is nice about having an 8GB card is that I can shoot about 1000 images on my D70s. That's over 1000 shots without opening the camera up. That can be a very handy feature if say, I was underwater. I could shoot a couple days before I would have to open the underwater housing. That would be very sexy. The downside of course is that if something happens to that card, lost, stolen, flood, fire, corruption, etc. I have just lost over 1000 NEF files. That would be something to cry about. I have a bunch of 2GB cards and 1 4GB card. My 4GB card is in the camera all the time since I bought it. I get something like 712 NEF exposures. Last weekend at the branding I shot 524 exposures. Nebraska is a dusty state anyway, but add a bunch of calves that really don't want to mark up their pretty skin, and you have a really dusty mess. I am glad that I didn't have to open the back ever. So for me, Im thinking another 4GB would serve nicely. That is my comfort zone - double that and I get nervous. I have never had a card corrupt on me - so maybe I am just being paranoid. Having eight 512MB cards to equal to equal a 4GB card is just silly though. You will have a pile of cards. It would be fun to try and keep those organized. Hence, my advice is to never buy a card under 1GB, and anymore, don't buy anything smaller than 2GB. When you are using SD memory, make sure you camera can handle these larger cards.
Speed. So cards come in a variety of speeds. Speed being how fast they can read or write to the card. This effects how many pictures you can take before you get ahead of your camera writing the data on the card. This somewhat depends on your camera and how big the buffer is. Bigger buffer more images can be held in the camera's short term memory before the camera locks you out of taking another picture. When I am shooting NEF files I can get 4 -5 before my camera starts yelling at me to knock it off reminding me that I shoot things that don't move. The write speed becomes important when you have a subject that is moving and you want to capture many images to ensure you have the precious moment when everything just comes together. As I said, my typical subject isn't going anywhere that I need to do this. If I am shooting a flower, its means of escape are pretty nil, so I can take my time between exposures. Go to a football game and try to capture a receiver catching the ball and you will appreciate the added speed of your card. I can count the number of times I have maxed out the buffer of my camera on one hand - morale of the story: unless you are shooting a lot of fast action I would stick with the slower cards. Save your money. Anymore, since cards are getting so cheap if a card isn't working out for you you can always get a faster card and keep your slower one as a backup.
Enjoy.
