If you care about your data, you can't just use any old brand of digital memory card, and here's why.

When I started digital photography in 2000, I used SimpleTech compact flash (CF) cards. They worked very well until about a year ago, in 2005, when I got increased errors and corrupted image files. Some images were just plain lost to corruption of data, and even image recovery software recovered only partial images. As a photojournalist and nature photographer who relies on a camera as much as a car, this is unacceptable to me, and I no longer rely on consumer brands like SimpleTech.

I then switched to Lexar Professional compact flash cards ($54 for one  gigabyte [GB]). All you need to know about Lexar cards is that they're used by many professionals, they're durable, and I've had no problems with them. However, they are the most expensive.

When looking to add more cards to my collection, I considered an alternative professional brand, SanDisk. Since switching to SanDisk Ultra II CF cards ($48-1GB), I have had no problems with recording or corrupted image files, and I have saved significant costs by buying a less expensive brand.

There's not a lot you need to know about memory cards in terms of quality. Just pick the type that fits your device, and stick with SanDisk or Lexar. You might find makers like Kingston with low-ball prices on memory, and their memory is probably OK. But if you absolutely don't want to risk errors, stick with the top two brands. Their prices are very affordable.

My personal recommendation to anyone wondering which brand of digital memory to buy if they are serious about photography is to go with SanDisk. They invented compact flash memory. SanDisk makes any type of card you might need, from MiniSD to CF. They also make a more expensive Extreme IV CF card, but I find the Ultra II CF works just fine for my needs. I use them with my Nikon D100 and D200 cameras.

As far as size, you must consider how you plan to use the card. If you want to use it regularly for photos and music, 1GB is a good starting point. In a 10.2-megapixel camera like the Nikon D200, a 1GB card will store about 113 large images. To put that in perspective, in a 5-megapixel camera 1GB will store about 226 images. Double the size of the card, double the storage. In terms of music, 1GB will store about 240 songs of average length. Bigger cards will often come at a small savings, i.e. one 2GB card will be cheaper than two 1GB cards. The best advice is buy what you need. If you use a fast digital SLR camera, 2GB is a good starting point because the card will fill up quickly.

One last thing: some digital photographers question the pros and cons of CF vs. micro drives (miniature hard drives, just like it sounds). I debated this myself when I started shooting digital images. I based my decision to go with CF on one thing: I didn't feel confident that the micro drives, with their moving parts, would stand up to as much use as compact flash. I believe CF, a solid state memory, is much more stable and reliable, very fast, and these days the top brands are cheap enough for anyone to afford.

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