The 'proper' number of card slots...

[Designer]

One thing that the Nikon sports that’s missing from the Fuji, tho, is IBIS, which is a big deal.

A prospective purchaser might want to ask if it is switchable. To turn it off when mounted on a tripod, for instance, or at any other time the shooter doesn't want IS.

Oh, who am I kidding? That function is reserved for professional grade cameras.

 

[andrewdoeshair]

When I was shooting solely on a pair of 5Diii’s I thought the second slot seemed excessive and so it was always empty. But then I eventually threw in a second card and set that slot to save small JPEGs, so when we were traveling or something and my wife wanted a quick photo for IG without me going through the whole laptop process I was able to throw her a JPEG through a lightning/SD adapter.

Now I’ve sold my 5Diii’s to get a small army of 6D’s (needed more angles for haircut videos) and I miss the second slot. The thing I miss more though (sorry to go off topic) is customizing the file name prefix. So my answer is two slots. Not for insurance reasons but because it saves me .5 seconds to change the file type in the event that I just need a quick jpeg on the fly.

 

[greybeard]

The proper number of card slots is at least one and the most two. I'm OK with one as I just use the 2nd one for overflow and with these huge cards available today I never need it. When I shoot weddings (usually for free for a friends kid) I take a complete backup of everything, body, lens, and flash just incase. Back in the bad old days of film and I was shooting for money, I had a Mamiya C330 jamup on me. I had to shoot the rest of the event with my trusty old Minolta 201. Things came out just fine.

 

[Designer]

Things came out just fine.

Shall I presume you mean to say that a pro will have two cameras?

So in the OP question, we can call these cameras "professional grade" as long as the professional has two cameras with him on important assignments.

I'll go along with that. So instead of wanting two card slots in one camera, you just get a second camera and have two memory cards.

Of course, you will still need to know when the one card has failed, and still have enough time and daylight to re-shoot the job with your second camera. Ask the wedding party to reassemble and go through the ceremony one more time. Easily done.

 

[greybeard]

Things came out just fine.

Shall I presume you mean to say that a pro will have two cameras?

So in the OP question, we can call these cameras "professional grade" as long as the professional has two cameras with him on important assignments.

I'll go along with that. So instead of wanting two card slots in one camera, you just get a second camera and have two memory cards.

Of course, you will still need to know when the one card has failed, and still have enough time and daylight to re-shoot the job with your second camera. Ask the wedding party to reassemble and go through the ceremony one more time. Easily done.

Let me add, that I have never had a card fail but I have had a camera to jam. We all have to use tools that we are comfortable with.

 

[Derrel]

When I was shooting solely on a pair of 5Diii’s I thought the second slot seemed excessive and so it was always empty. But then I eventually threw in a second card and set that slot to save small JPEGs, so when we were traveling or something and my wife wanted a quick photo for IG without me going through the whole laptop process I was able to throw her a JPEG through a lightning/SD adapter.

Now I’ve sold my 5Diii’s to get a small army of 6D’s (needed more angles for haircut videos) and I miss the second slot. The thing I miss more though (sorry to go off topic) is customizing the file name prefix. So my answer is two slots. Not for insurance reasons but because it saves me .5 seconds to change the file type in the event that I just need a quick jpeg on the fly.

In the newer Nikons I have (since the D3x from 2007, or was it 2009?) I can easily create a post-capture, camera-created .JPEG file from any of my .NEF raw files, and the image can be trimmed and edited a bit in-camera. So, if I want a .JPEG file without the need for a computer to edit a RAW into a JPEG, I just select the raw file, then make an in-camera JPEG of it, then put the memory card into whatever device will read the card.

My Nikons allow the file name prefix to be customized as well. I have in the past used one name prefix for sRGB and another for Adobe RGB images. I have also gone with the camera body name, so that I can keep track of the "era" of the images..the images I shot prefixed D3X_ were from 2012 to 2017, so I know that any of my images from that era will have that prefix.

 

[DanOstergren]

One is fine for me. Keeps things simple, and I buy high quality cards that have never failed me.

 

[deep_sea_sailor]

Been shooting for 10 years as a serious landscape hobbyist and I've only ever had one card fail on me because it was so old that it physically broke apart because the glue finally failed. Don't skimp on quality SD cards and always reformat before use.

I can see why wedding photographers want the redundancy, but the vast majority of us will never have a use for multiple card slots seeing as how quality cards are 99.999% reliable these days.

I think we also need to understand who the target market for these new mirrorless cameras. It's not pros, it's folks like me, the serious hobbyists. Nikon designed a camera that's accessable to the majority of their market; us non-professionals. Had they designed it with all the features the pros wanted along with a full line of lenses right out the gate, the price point would have made it so that only pros would consider it. And even then, the majority of them would balk at the idea of buying an untested product. Nikon knows what they're doing. They marketed their product to a demographic that will snap it up quickly but won't complain bad enough that their reputation would be in jepordy should there be a fatal flaw. Believe me, I can wait for a camera to be fixed, a professional can't. Y'all need to calm yourselves and be patient. You'll get your 10 card slot 200 FPS 90mp mirrorless soon.

 

[Mike Carnevale]

I think what's most intriguing about the new Nikon's without a second card slot, is that dual s lots have been around for a long time and taken for granted to be in the top line cameras. Nobody is complaining about a backup lens mount spot in case the threads jam, or a second shutter release button.... because we've never had those and they are not expected. The missing dual slot though seems like a step backwards. A second slot is like insurance. You may very well never need it, but's it's comforting to know it's there in case you ever do.

Just because you never we're in an accident or never had your your editing computer have issues does not mean it will never. A pro also need insurance on proper photography backups for files at studio. People pay us to be pros, why would we not take the insurance or require it? Makes no sense at all to put all of our eggs in one basket (card). The one time it happens and you followed your rules of only shooting so many images on the card, swapped it out ten times with a new card but still lost the kiss at the wedding or something special. Then you will cry wolf. It's been around for years so we should expect it on pro gear just like we expect a car to have seatbelts .

 

[greybeard]

Been shooting for 10 years as a serious landscape hobbyist and I've only ever had one card fail on me because it was so old that it physically broke apart because the glue finally failed. Don't skimp on quality SD cards and always reformat before use.

I can see why wedding photographers want the redundancy, but the vast majority of us will never have a use for multiple card slots seeing as how quality cards are 99.999% reliable these days.

I think we also need to understand who the target market for these new mirrorless cameras. It's not pros, it's folks like me, the serious hobbyists. Nikon designed a camera that's accessable to the majority of their market; us non-professionals. Had they designed it with all the features the pros wanted along with a full line of lenses right out the gate, the price point would have made it so that only pros would consider it. And even then, the majority of them would balk at the idea of buying an untested product. Nikon knows what they're doing. They marketed their product to a demographic that will snap it up quickly but won't complain bad enough that their reputation would be in jepordy should there be a fatal flaw. Believe me, I can wait for a camera to be fixed, a professional can't. Y'all need to calm yourselves and be patient. You'll get your 10 card slot 200 FPS 90mp mirrorless soon.

My thoughts exactly, well said. If I were shooting weddings I would go with a dual card setup just for peace of mind. If I were shooting weddings, the last thing I would buy would be an unproven 1st generation camera no matter how many card slots it had.

 

[mBurris]

I recently passed on the new Nikon Z6 and Z7 based on (0nly) one card slot. I did the same on the Nikon D7500 last year for the same reason: CDS ("Card Deficiency Syndrome"). HOWEVER, merely one card was just fine for me when I pulled the trigger on a Fuji X-T20, as my intended use for that camera was totally different.

So, it really kinda depends, but what I'm interested in is this: in an ideal world, what is the 'proper' number of card slots in a camera, to have a camera configured to your liking?

Please comment! Thanks

I have a Sony 7aIII So I never know how many slots I can use. It’s alwats a surprise. Sometimes one. Sometimes two. So far I haven’t had zero.

 

[EJA64]

I recently passed on the new Nikon Z6 and Z7 based on (0nly) one card slot. I did the same on the Nikon D7500 last year for the same reason: CDS ("Card Deficiency Syndrome"). HOWEVER, merely one card was just fine for me when I pulled the trigger on a Fuji X-T20, as my intended use for that camera was totally different.

So, it really kinda depends, but what I'm interested in is this: in an ideal world, what is the 'proper' number of card slots in a camera, to have a camera configured to your liking?

Please comment! Thanks

The less serious you are about your photos, the less you need more than one card slot. The more serious you are, about your photos, the more you want two card slots. Snapshooters, newbies who will probably soon abandon photography, etc, can get by with one memory card / slot. Serious photographers / Pros generally want the security of two card slots, so they can record duplicate images to each card, and have a backup in case one card is damaged. I have an old Nikon D3300, with one card slot, and that serves well enough when I want to use it. It cost me just over $400.00 years ago. Generally, I now use a camera with two card slots, such as my Nikon D7200, or a D750. When it comes to paying prices near $1,000.00, let alone $2,000.00, or more, I demand two card slots. I won't be moving to mirrorless until I am offered a camera with two card slots. I can get by with my current DSLR system until either Nikon offers me a two card mirrorless camera, or I decide to get a two card slot camera from some other manufacturer.

 

[greybeard]

I recently passed on the new Nikon Z6 and Z7 based on (0nly) one card slot. I did the same on the Nikon D7500 last year for the same reason: CDS ("Card Deficiency Syndrome"). HOWEVER, merely one card was just fine for me when I pulled the trigger on a Fuji X-T20, as my intended use for that camera was totally different.

So, it really kinda depends, but what I'm interested in is this: in an ideal world, what is the 'proper' number of card slots in a camera, to have a camera configured to your liking?

Please comment! Thanks

The less serious you are about your photos, the less you need more than one card slot. The more serious you are, about your photos, the more you want two card slots. Snapshooters, newbies who will probably soon abandon photography, etc, can get by with one memory card / slot. Serious photographers / Pros generally want the security of two card slots, so they can record duplicate images to each card, and have a backup in case one card is damaged. I have an old Nikon D3300, with one card slot, and that serves well enough when I want to use it. It cost me just over $400.00 years ago. Generally, I now use a camera with two card slots, such as my Nikon D7200, or a D750. When it comes to paying prices near $1,000.00, let alone $2,000.00, or more, I demand two card slots. I won't be moving to mirrorless until I am offered a camera with two card slots. I can get by with my current DSLR system until either Nikon offers me a two card mirrorless camera, or I decide to get a two card slot camera from some other manufacturer.

Makes sense

 

[Gary A.]

I recently passed on the new Nikon Z6 and Z7 based on (0nly) one card slot. I did the same on the Nikon D7500 last year for the same reason: CDS ("Card Deficiency Syndrome"). HOWEVER, merely one card was just fine for me when I pulled the trigger on a Fuji X-T20, as my intended use for that camera was totally different.

So, it really kinda depends, but what I'm interested in is this: in an ideal world, what is the 'proper' number of card slots in a camera, to have a camera configured to your liking?

Please comment! Thanks

The less serious you are about your photos, the less you need more than one card slot. The more serious you are, about your photos, the more you want two card slots. Snapshooters, newbies who will probably soon abandon photography, etc, can get by with one memory card / slot. Serious photographers / Pros generally want the security of two card slots, so they can record duplicate images to each card, and have a backup in case one card is damaged. I have an old Nikon D3300, with one card slot, and that serves well enough when I want to use it. It cost me just over $400.00 years ago. Generally, I now use a camera with two card slots, such as my Nikon D7200, or a D750. When it comes to paying prices near $1,000.00, let alone $2,000.00, or more, I demand two card slots. I won't be moving to mirrorless until I am offered a camera with two card slots. I can get by with my current DSLR system until either Nikon offers me a two card mirrorless camera, or I decide to get a two card slot camera from some other manufacturer.

Sony, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Leica all have mirrorless cameras with dual card slots.

 

[Peeb]

Earlier today:

Brand new card from Wal-mart:

They are an amazing company with a fantastic product, but in the words of Forrest Gump: "Sh*t happens".