SD memory card question

[Biggs88]

I had a D5000, now I have a D300s. I use 4gb sandisk ultra SD cards.

Now from my understanding, the D5000 and the D300s have the same sensors, megapix, and resolution.

Here is the question.

Why did the D5000 show I had 500+ photos until memorycard full and the D300s only shows 357 photos untill memorycard full?

That's with both cameras set to JPEG fine, image size large.

 

[Big Mike]

Good question :scratch:

According to Dpreview, the D300s, while having the same number of effective pixels, actually has more 'Sensor Photo Detectors'. Maybe that's it?

 

[enzodm]

Are sensors really the same (not only size)?
If for some reason there are more details in the d300 pictures, JPEG will output more pixels, being equal quality level. In case, the meaning of "fine" could be slightly different in terms of quality level (which is 0 to 100).

 

[Studio7Four]

Several possibilities come to mind.
-Are you shooting similar images? As enzodm hinted at, there is much more information contained in a busy, colorful shot than, for example, an entirely black scene (lens cap on, anyone?). And even if shooting similar scenes, if you've gotten better with your exposure there is likely more information being captured.
-The image sensor might be the same (or close enough), but how do the processors compare? As noted on many threads here, jpg is an edited format, with the baseline editing being done in-camera. Any combination of settings that are different between the two camera (either factory settings which are transparent to the user or, say, picture style settings) can produce different editing of the same scene.

 

[Biggs88]

Its not due to the type or colors of shots. The cameras are telling me howmany shots I have left on the card untill its full. On the D5000 its on the info menu, on the D300s its on the top LCD display. Both show the number in the view finder aswell.

I guess the cameras just compress the files different? The D300s does to compress as much to retain quality??


I dunno. I will just buy more cards. I gotta get a few compact flash cards anyway since I have none.

 

[KmH]

1. The D300s and the D5000 do not have the same image sensor, and do not have the same quality low-pass filter in front of the image sensor.

2. The D5000 makes Compressed 12-bit NEF (RAW) files that are losslessly compressed 60% to 80%. If you select JPEG, the JPEGs are made from the compressed Raw file.

The D300s has an option allowing you to select the same Compressed 12-bit NEF format used by the D5000.

The number of shots a card can hold is only an estimate because image file size varies with the detail in the image. More detail, bigger image file size.