Nikon D300S Users - Please read....

[bburzycki]

So I recentalyl upgraded to the D300s from a D100 and I have a strange anomoly happening with CF cards and the ammount of photos the camera claims I can shoot vs. what I can shoot.

Camera: 49 avaiilable
Real world:90 plus shots taken

Thats a major discrepency.

Are others having this issue?

 

[Sw1tchFX]

are you shooting compressed NEF or jpeg? if so, the initial number is just an estimate, not actual. when you shoot 14 bit uncompressed nef or jpeg size priority, the number is generally more accurate.

 

[bburzycki]

I am getting an idea that all the numbers no matter what I set it too are just very bad estimates of frames able to be shot..

In this case I am set to NEF - Non-Compressed which should give me a huge file - yet the number does not change when I go to compressed or lossless compression.

Looks like lossless compression might be good but that might only be able to be unpacked properly Nikon only software editing suites..

Man way to many options... just give me a RAW and treat it the same across mutiple editing programs.

 

[KmH]

I am getting an idea that all the numbers no matter what I set it too are just very bad estimates of frames able to be shot..

In this case I am set to NEF - Non-Compressed which should give me a huge file - yet the number does not change when I go to compressed or lossless compression.

Looks like lossless compression might be good but that might only be able to be unpacked properly Nikon only software editing suites..

Man way to many options... just give me a RAW and treat it the same across mutiple editing programs.

Each image you make has a different amount of information and thus a different total file size.

Since Nikon doesn't know what you will be making images of, they can only estimate how many images each GB of card storage space can hold.

Perhaps, you would been happier with the much simpler D90.

 

[bburzycki]

Yeh ok - I have been shooting for years with mutiple Nikon bodies and needing a simplier camera is not the case..

There is a stunning difference between 49 estimated frames and then being able to shoot 90 frames - as long at the setting is not changed the estimage should be accurate...or at least more accurate.. my D100 was right on the money and that camera was made 4 years ago...

I can understand the # changes based on content and level of detail picked but 40 plus frames.. that seems lazy to me.. so in a professional marketplace I am shoooting and look down to see a number that means nothing to me and I just shoot till the cards stops recording... thats not a great solution that is like a gun with random qty of ammunition - or an idiot light on a car.

 

[Wolverinepwnes]

go to your menu setting and select the option where the file size is kept constant regardless of image and see if that makes the issue go away if it doesn't i would call up nikon I have never had that problem with my D300s.

 

[KmH]

Yeh ok - I have been shooting for years with mutiple Nikon bodies and needing a simplier camera is not the case..

... Man way to many options... .

:scratch:

 

[bburzycki]

go to your menu setting and select the option where the file size is kept constant regardless of image and see if that makes the issue go away if it doesn't i would call up nikon I have never had that problem with my D300s.

What card types and sizes are you running?

What ammounts are you seeing when in the typical modes you are shooting?

 

[bburzycki]

Yeh ok - I have been shooting for years with mutiple Nikon bodies and needing a simplier camera is not the case..

... Man way to many options... .

:scratch:

This appears you do not understand.... can I help to solve your :scratch:

 

[SpeedTrap]

It is not so much a matter of Quality (Raw or Jpg) what the camera is estimating is the data. Take a Picture of a solid white backdrop, then a sold black and then a mixed color. You will find the file size is different for every one if using compressed RAW or just RAW.

I would rather have my camera underestimate my space than over estimate it.

 

[Mike_E]

I know this is a stupid question but did you format your card/ and does it happen with every card?

 

[bburzycki]

Fully formated - happens on all my 2GB cards - they are not the newest things in the world but never had similiar issues in the past...

I will have time this wekeend to sit down and really look into the issue...

But I am pretty sure I covered every obvious base at this point..

 

[chip]

Nikon estimates are very pessimistic - since the camera does not know what type of pictures you will take, it assumes the worse case scenario - a complex scene with a great deal of details.

 

[PhotoXopher]

Estimate at 49 shots? I think your card is just too small

I shoot with an 8GB card and it says around 350 when formatted (from memory, not exact). I've never filled the 8GB, but have filled up a 4GB and it was pretty accurate I guess.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

yeah, the 4GB cards I use in my D700 are pretty accurate as far as how many images it can hold. Than again, the camera never goes out of 14 bit uncompressed.