Importance of Multiple Cards?

[mcoppadge]

Why is it so important to have multiple memory cards with you when you shoot? I've seen several people state the importance of carrying several cards with you when you shoot. I carry a single 16GB CF card with me. It stays in the camera 24/7 and I have never come close to filling it, so what's the point of having more than one card?

 

[Big Mike]

What would you do if the card stopped working for some reason?

What would be the consequences if you lost the card? (although that's a lot less likely when you don't take it out).

 

[itznfb]

how have you never filled a 16gb card?
i carry a pelican case that holds 8 SD cards. i have 8 8gb extreme iii cards in it. that's 64gbs and those often aren't enough. i have about 15 8gb transcend cards i usually just throw in my bag just in case.

 

[JamieR]

^^^ How can you fill that much memory? Do you never empty them?

 

[harrison]

how have you never filled a 16gb card?
i carry a pelican case that holds 8 SD cards. i have 8 8gb extreme iii cards in it. that's 64gbs and those often aren't enough. i have about 15 8gb transcend cards i usually just throw in my bag just in case.

WOW. You must shoot a lot of RAW. I carry a 4GB and 3 1GB. I could see needing more if I am going on a week long trip, but for the typical 1 to 2hr events I do there just isnt a need. My laptop is normally with me, and I dump them regularly. Thats an insane amount of memory you are carrying.....

 

[itznfb]

when i go out to shoot i usually spend 8-15 hours out. i may hit multiple zoos, aviaries, state parks, beaches... depends on where i am. 8 8gb cards is under 5000 shots. pretty easy to shoot 5000+ shots in a full day.

 

[Josh66]

how have you never filled a 16gb card?
i carry a pelican case that holds 8 SD cards. i have 8 8gb extreme iii cards in it. that's 64gbs and those often aren't enough. i have about 15 8gb transcend cards i usually just throw in my bag just in case.

WOW. You must shoot a lot of RAW. I carry a 4GB and 3 1GB. I could see needing more if I am going on a week long trip, but for the typical 1 to 2hr events I do there just isnt a need. My laptop is normally with me, and I dump them regularly. Thats an insane amount of memory you are carrying.....

Yeah, that's crazy...

How many external hard drives do you have?
I would think you would have a few if you need to carry so much memory...


I just have a 4gb and a 2gb. I've filled the 2gb card once. Never even came close on the 4gb. I can't see needing more unless I was on a long trip, very far away from a computer.

 

[itznfb]

a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots. i'd fill that up in some burst shots lol.
i have 2 2GB wd external mirror drives. so 2gb total external storage. i've only been shooting a lot like this for the past year or so. and i only get to go out 4 or 5 times a month. which is also why i spend the entire day shooting.

i honestly didn't think i'd be the only one... lol

 

[harrison]

a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots. i'd fill that up in some burst shots lol.
i have 2 2GB wd external mirror drives. so 2gb total external storage. i've only been shooting a lot like this for the past year or so. and i only get to go out 4 or 5 times a month. which is also why i spend the entire day shooting.

i honestly didn't think i'd be the only one... lol

I see where you are coming from, but with that many pictures to sort through I would pull me hair out. I take between 500 to 1000 pics during the week and maybe another 500+ on a weekend. Unless I am doing something special or with a difficult exposure, I steer clear of RAW and just go for JPEG Norm. I am guessing you ment 2TB drives??

 

[Josh66]

a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots.

...Your RAWs must be a lot bigger than mine.

I just checked my bag - I actually have 3 cards. 1gb, 2gb, & 4gb. Forgot about the 1gb.

Just going by the counter on an empty card (which is always a little less than the real capacity), I can hold 115 RAWs on the 1gb, 233 on the 2gb, and 469 on the 4gb.

 

[itznfb]

Norm. I am guessing you ment 2TB drives??

lol yes i did. 2gb drives would be pretty useless.

a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots.

...Your RAWs must be a lot bigger than mine.

I just checked my bag - I actually have 3 cards. 1gb, 2gb, & 4gb. Forgot about the 1gb.

Just going by the counter on an empty card (which is always a little less than the real capacity), I can hold 115 RAWs on the 1gb, 233 on the 2gb, and 469 on the 4gb.

the RAW files on my D90 average 11 MB. i have a couple 2GB cards and just judging by the estimation it's about 150 shots.

i would guess if i were doing a portrait shoot or something like that i'd probably only take 200 or so shots. in that case the only reason i'd need more than one card is for backup purposes if the 1st one fails. i try to replace my cards every 20 uses or so just to avoid corruption.

 

[Josh66]

the RAW files on my D90 average 11 MB.

Mine are roughly half of that (350D).

 

[rufus5150]

Expanded capacity and fail-over.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket, basically.

 

[KmH]

when i go out to shoot i usually spend 8-15 hours out. i may hit multiple zoos, aviaries, state parks, beaches... depends on where i am. 8 8gb cards is under 5000 shots. pretty easy to shoot 5000+ shots in a full day.

Frankly, that's OT. Spray and pray, defined.

15 hours is 900 minutes. At 5000 images in 15 hours (let alone 8) that's an average of 5.5 images per minute, an image every 10.8 seconds, no eating, going to the bathroom, changing subjects, going to different locations, swapping lenses, oggleing the girls, changing batteries, handing out a few business cards, answering onlookers questions, etc.

But then, I notice you don't take the time to use the shift key to make capitol letters when you type either. Interesting.

 

[KmH]

Why is it so important to have multiple memory cards with you when you shoot? I've seen several people state the importance of carrying several cards with you when you shoot. I carry a single 16GB CF card with me. It stays in the camera 24/7 and I have never come close to filling it, so what's the point of having more than one card?

Murphy's law: What can go wrong, will go wrong.

You stand to lose every image on the card if it fails. I prefer to change cards frequently rather than risk losing everything I shot since my last download..