Memory Card info
as for removeable storage devices containing flash memories which is what the media is that used in all digital cameras)
Standards
right now there are about half dozen to dozen types in use( either in open or propiretary standards)
*Smart media- loosing favor and will be dead in 1-2 years, fairly stable and less prone to corruption, but unfortuantely limited to 128 MBs. speed wise it is as fast as some of the fastest compact flash cards on the market , and suited for short video clip storage.
*Secure Digital/Multi-Media Card: this format is the on the same level as the smart media cards as the both use the same general technology, capacities of cards are similar to compact Flash cards prices is close to or a little higher then CF, used mostly in video cameras and smaller form factor cameras
*Sony has several standards for there memory sticks, but as its mainly a sony only standard it isnt as widely used. Cost is higher then average because it is a propiretary standard
Std memory stick: its similar to that of compact flash in a different form, corruption issues have not been well noted
other forms
Memory stick pro; newer format of MS, that goes up to 1` GB and will go beyond in the future, the price is higher then normal memory sticks average around 4-500 for a 1GB stick
MS Duo is a smaller form factor of memory cards , but are designed for PDA and other small handheld devices. They will work with devices with normal memory stsick devices with adaptor.
Magicgate: same as memory stick but with copyright protection, orginally designed for MP3 players
*Compact Flash: this is the defacto standard for digital imaging(as it is used in everything from small P&S all the way to professional Full frame sensor DSLR's) as it is the most robust and been around the longest. is the fastest of all of the formats, and will probably outlast all of the other formats on the market Price is on average around .25-.60 per MB of storage
*XD: is the newest format and is a joint venture of Fuji and Olympus as a replacement for the smartmedia cards, it is a smaller form factor(about the size of your thumb nail) there is one problem because memory is stacked and the arrangement of the memory leaves it vunerable to loss and corruption without notice, the memory set up is similar to that of a computer raid harddrive array, and that if one chip fails the whole card is gone. also currently is limited to 512mb but plans in future to go over 2gb. price is roughly the same at this point as the sony memory sticks.
if your looking for a comparison of media types, speeds, and costs look at this article
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/mediacompare/ it is mainly on compact flash cards but give you a general idea
Corruption info/data:
you mentioned corruption of data on cards, and here is the general info that is given out about this. alot of the corruption of data/images occurs when either the user has unsafely removed the media from the camera before all data was written, and verified or some sort of ESD (electro-static Discharge) has occurs and has corrupted the data.
to prevent these losses, make sure you have properly dismounted the card reader and media card, and wait until the camera has written the last image to the card and that the buffer is clear before removing the card from the camera.
Memory info/data:
as for brands of memory there are really only 2 producers of flash mamory that is used in these formats, and they are Toshiba, and Ritek(aka Ridata). beyond this the chips are bought and resold to other companiees who put there label on them. Alot of the time you can tell the quality of the chips based on price (but not always) the better quality and faster chips(cards will always be a little more expensive). the brand that i use exclusivly is Ridata CF cards as they are some if not hte fastest CF cards onthe market(they are faster then the buffer on most cameras, so that i can keep firing away and not have to wait on the card to finish).
The thing alot of people look for in memory cards is the lowest price they can get them for but low price doesnt aslways get the better cards, its sort of like film; good film(velva, or kodachrome) cost money and will produce good results, as were cheaper films(kodak royal) will have mixed results. As having done alot of digital photography and used cards on a daily bases so as not to drag a laptop around i knopw which cards work and which dont cut it.
heres the ranking of cards from best to not so good(please note that this is from personal opinon and testing)
Top 3
1. Ridata: fastest cards on the market, and well worth the price, the lifetime warrenty is great and is no questions asked, though i havent had to use it.
2. Lexar (very good, but a little bit behind Ridata, also the WA technology that is in some of the upper level cards only works on certain cameras, ie Pro DSLR's) Lexar is also the company that makes cards that come with the camera initially, but not always(those cards are like 4x speed)
3. Transend: these cards are made by toshiba under the transend label, are quick and fast and price resaonable well, just not widely stocked in many stores
Middle of the road
*Sony: the read write speeds arent all that good and over priced for what you get, the pro sticks are faster but only marginally
*Microtech: second runs of transend cards
Bottom
*Sandisk: are notoriious for using the cheapest chips as possible and charging a premium, even the ultra cards a slow compared to the low end of the top 3s cards. also have a high occurance of DOA or sudden death. also sandisk has the worst record to date on fufilling rebates. ( i have 2 that died 1 week after buying them, 1 was supplied with the camera,and the other was free when i bought the card, sandisk refused to replace them, and i wont use them again)
*Viking: are second runs of sandisk, and normally always have some sort of rebate through amazon(which are almost as bad as Sandisk in getting them fufilled).
hope this helps
Note: sorry if this sounds scatter brained but this was typed in short intervals over 5 hours
