How much memory?

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So how much memory do you normally use or have handy in your bag?

Since I got my camera I've been using a single 2GB CF card and has done pretty well. However I just recently found 8GB (2 4GB cards) for $40 at Costco and couldn't pass it up. Recently looked at the same brand at Best Buy and one card would have run me $50. The deal at Costco also included 50 free prints at the photo center. Score! :thumbup::D

Should come in handy too! Heading to Norway to see some family and may not get a chance to download images while I'm over there.
 
My God, I wish this kind of thread was in the Equipment Forum...
 
My God, I wish this kind of thread was in the Equipment Forum...

No kidding. For a forum that bills its self as the "Premiere" photography website, and the administrators, let alone members can't differentiate simple categories, well, ... it's just a sad state attesting to the quality of information relayed here.

I'm wondering if this growing trend is due to some type of psychological need for a response, or is it because of lack of desire, or capability to understand what "ethical challenges, abstract ideas, and other non-technical matters", are?
 
May I thank both of you for taking the time to report the matter using the appropriate
report.gif
icon.
 
In answer to the IP: enough for the projected 'shoot'.

That also translates into rolls of film. Curiously, for film the answer is the same.
 
In answer to the original question, up until recently, I found that a bunch of 2 Gb cards was plenty (5 or 6 I think). Since acquiring the 5DII though, I've added 2 x 4Gb, 3 x 8Gb & a 16Gb card, which means I've no got around 60Gb storage in CF cards.
 
My God, I wish this kind of thread was in the Equipment Forum...

No kidding. For a forum that bills its self as the "Premiere" photography website, and the administrators, let alone members can't differentiate simple categories, well, ... it's just a sad state attesting to the quality of information relayed here.

I'm wondering if this growing trend is due to some type of psychological need for a response, or is it because of lack of desire, or capability to understand what "ethical challenges, abstract ideas, and other non-technical matters", are?

Wow.. what would I ever do without you two to correct me! And your wonderful sense sarcasm! Thank you! Thank you! You made my day complete! :er:

And for such a "Premiere" website I'm glad everyone is so respectful of each other and doesn't needlessly put people down for a simple mistake when a simple "hey this goes here" would have sufficed!

I messed up, so sue me, its fixed, relax.


@Chris of Arabia: So how long does the 60gb last you? Or do you ever even fill it up?
 
@Chris of Arabia: So how long does the 60gb last you? Or do you ever even fill it up?

Well up until about 10 days ago, I didn't have the 3 x 8Gb or the 16Gb. What I had before I have filled though. I'd ordered the 8s, but due to something else delaying the order they weren't delivered. As I was concerned about not having enough storage for the TPF meet in Rutland, I went and bought the 16Gb card to cover me - in the end though, the 8s appeared on the morning we travelled to Rutland.

I'm not anticipating filling all the cards up any time soon. Bear in mind though that I always have the 5DII set in RAW and you get roughly the number of images below on each size:

2Gb = 60
4Gb = 125
8Gb = 250
16Gb = 530

I know the maths doesn't quite add up, but that's roughly what I see with each size.
 
One thing I found when I got my new fancy card is that I started photographing a lot of crap. With seemingly limitless space compared to before I stopped caring about what I was taking photos of assuming that something good would come from the 500 photos I took when I get home.

Now I'm back to a single 4GB card for a weekend, unless I'm doing something like a wedding or some such. I can always delete the crap photos in camera, but really I do think a lot more about what I am doing if there is limited space on the card.
 
Because I shoot a lot of event photography, I often do not have time to check pictures on the fly as well I can be on a location for up to 12 hours with no time to download.

Because of this I tend to carry 4 gig cards, last count I had 10 of them in my bag. So about 40 gig on me at any given time.

One of the keys to shooting this many cards if to have a fast card reader and fast cards. USB card reader do not cut it, who has 20 min to wait a card to download when you have 10 of them.

If you start to shoot multiple cards, try a firewire card reader, you can add firewire to a PC for $20. once set up with the correct reader it take 2-3 min to download a card.
 
For my own personal shooting on a weekend, I usually use 1 8gb card and don't often fill it up. This would be for landscapes, cityscapes and other "walk around the city" style pictures.

When I shoot an event, I usually carry with my 2x 4gb and 1x 8gb.

I also don't fill up the card entirely. I was shooting a demonstration / rally not long ago and had 2x 4gb with me. I was shooting the before, the march and then the speeches. During the march, my first card was almost full. As I was swapping out cards, something interesting happened and I didn't have the time to capture it.

So I try to swap the cards during a quiet time.
 
Bear in mind though that I always have the 5DII set in RAW and you get roughly the number of images below on each size:

2Gb = 60
4Gb = 125
8Gb = 250
16Gb = 530

I shoot with someone that has the 5D mk II and can confirm that if you get over 245 shots on a 8gb card, you are doing well.

That puppy puts out some HUGE files!

On my D700, at just a touch over 12MP, I am getting about 310 shots per that same 8gb card, but I do not comress the RAW files like the Canon does, I shoot straight 14-bit RAW uncompressed.

What needs to be looked at, more importantly than card size, is card quality. You can get a 8gb Transcender card for $28... but I can guarantee you that it will die within a year... and taking several hundred pics with it as it dies it's slow and painful death.

Nothing but a SanDisk Extreme IV 8 or 16gb or SanDisk Ducati 8gb touch my camera. These are known reliable cards, IMHO, the best on the market.

To help decide what size is best for you, one needs to estimate their worst case scenario. Example, if you do a wedding, and do not want to put all your eggs in one basket (huge cards), but then again, do not want to have so many cards that your chances of loosing them increases, you need to compromise and take not the biggest, nor the smallest and divide that up against your largest predicted # of pictures per day... assuming you will off-load the cards at least once a day. So, if you shoot a wedding and shall NEVER do more than 2500 pics in that day, you do not want a 4gb card, nor a 32gb card... the compromises would be the 8 or 16 gb cards.

I shoot 4 8gb cards and 2 16gb cards. That gives me a total of 2560 pictures... perfect for my needs in 2 ways... I use the smaller cards for shorter events (groom dressing, bride dressing each get a card, a 2nd one is available if needed, church gets gets a 32 gb card and the reception gets a 32gb card). In this manner I separate not only the pics on various cards, but various parts of the day get their own card, making the event easier to catagorize.

Use what method best suits your needs, but have enough... like guns and condoms, it is better to have more and not need it... than need more and not have it. ;)
 
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I keep two cards in my bag - a 2 gig and a 4 gig.

That's pretty much all I need. I have only filled the 2 gig one time (air show, before I got the 4 gig).

The 4gb card can hold probably 500 RAWs. I think the most I've ever had on it was 250.
 
500? Damn; my 8GB can hold around 450 RAWs on from my camera.

I keep an 8GB in the camera, and another 8GB and 4GB (my first card) in the bag. All Lexar SDHC Platinum II, which suits me just fine. I might add another 8GB to my set-up soon though, for the times when I'm out all day at say, a festival, and can't afford to lug my laptop around, nor do I wish to shoot frugaly.
 
500? Damn; my 8GB can hold around 450 RAWs on from my camera.

Really? I've never filled it up before, but it says 469 after a format - it usually turns out to be higher than the 'estimate' on an empty card, so 500 is really just a guess.

My RAWs are usually between 6 & 8 MB. (350D)
 

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