Memory Cards

cfaulds · Dec 28, 2009

Im 16 and have just started taking photography seriously.

I just acquired the Canon 500D, 18-55mm, 50mm f/1.8, 55-250mm lens and some other accessories

(i like to make 'mini businesses' which makes me a few thousand - some of which i spent on this kit)

Now for a memory card, i got a Sandisk 8GB extreme 3 (20mb/s read/write speed)

Is this ok?

Do i need a bigger one? Do i need a faster one?

I cant think where/when i will take more than 1000 photos in a day (ill just back them up to external hard drive/laptop at the end of the day.
- How many do you take a day?

Is 20mb/s fast enough? I think it is as thats almost 4 photos a second. Is it worth upgrading to the 30 mb/s ?

Thanks in advance,
Callum

Nikkor · Dec 28, 2009

8 is ok honestly, as long as you're dumping it regularly and not going to run out of room while shooting a session.
I got my 16GB SDHC (the HC just means high capacity) card from Amazon brand new for $30. That's awesome. On my best setting on my D60 I can hold over 2,000 pictures.

cfaulds · Dec 28, 2009

Hi thanks for the quick response.

Yes sorry i meant SDHC.

I was thinking of getting a 16Gb. But i keep telling myself i dont need it. However if i go on holiday and on 1 day run out ill be really pis**d off with myself!

Callum

Nikkor · Dec 28, 2009

Haha, trust me, I thought I didn't need it either and now I don't know how I survived without it.

cfaulds · Dec 28, 2009

Thank you for your experience

GFreg · Dec 28, 2009

If you already have an 8gb card then why don't you just look at buying another 8gb card. It comes down to personal preference but I know quite a few people who are of the same opinion that more cards is safer. Personally I use 4gb cards and couldn't even imagine filling up one in a single shoot anyway. In terms of speed, yes you should be fine. I am not sure how fast your camera can shoot but I think you are more likely to hit the limitations on that before you find your memory card to be too slow.

cfaulds · Dec 28, 2009

I think im going to stick it out with the 8GB, see on average how many i take in a day of shooting on average, and then see if i should get another one. Im going skiing in Feb, and so ill see how many i take then - i can back them up at lunch and at end of day if need be! - But im sure ill be skiing more than taking photos!

KmH · Dec 28, 2009

GFreg said:
If you already have an 8gb card then why don't you just look at buying another 8gb card. It comes down to personal preference but I know quite a few people who are of the same opinion that more cards is safer. Personally I use 4gb cards and couldn't even imagine filling up one in a single shoot anyway. In terms of speed, yes you should be fine. I am not sure how fast your camera can shoot but I think you are more likely to hit the limitations on that before you find your memory card to be too slow.

4 GB is the largest I use.

About half my cards are 4 GB and the other half are 2 GB. I don't want to loose more than 4 GB if a card craps out, and they do from time to time.

Swapping cards is quick and easy.