D300 - Not reading CF Card correctly

xendless xurbia

A bit of a weird one here folks.

I just purchased the D300 this past week, and I noticed something odd.

For example, I have a 1GB SanDisk Extreme III card in my camera, which, when empty, reads 96 shots left, on JPEG>fine>Large. When I take a picture, the shot total does not go down for 10 shots. After 10 or so shots, I see 95.

I find this quite weird. Can someone give me a clue as to what is going on? Is it the D300's firware? Is it the CF card?

Thanks,

Jason

Richard

xendless xurbia wrote:

I find this quite weird. Can someone give me a clue as to what is going on? Is it the D300's firware? Is it the CF card?

Thanks,

Jason

Jason,

There is probably nothing wrong at all. Most cameras recalculate the predicted number of shots left based on how much space the average shot already on the card consumes. The space a JPG occupies can vary greatly depending on the complexity of the scene--how many edges, color changes, etc. So as you shoot, the camera corrects its prediction based on what you are shooting. It's actually a clever idea, but it can be disconcerting at first.

ziggy53

Richard wrote:

Jason,

There is probably nothing wrong at all. Most cameras recalculate the predicted number of shots left based on how much space the average shot already on the card consumes. The space a JPG occupies can vary greatly depending on the complexity of the scene--how many edges, color changes, etc. So as you shoot, the camera corrects its prediction based on what you are shooting. It's actually a clever idea, but it can be disconcerting at first.

I very much agree with Richard. The "remaining shots counter" is really just a calculated "estimation" of remaining shots. It becomes more accurate as the number of shots increases but cannot be relied upon for complete accuracy because it cannot guess with certainty what "your" next file size will be.

Likewise, never rely on the counter to squeeze in that "last shot" on a card. The counter is not that accurate and you will often loose that last shot, especially if you have to field delete images (which I don't recommend.)

xendless xurbia

Thanks for your replies. I just found it contradicting that these exact same cards that I have (3 of them), have an acurate countdown reading on my old D70s, but not on my D300.

jonh68

xendless xurbia wrote:

Thanks for your replies. I just found it contradicting that these exact same cards that I have (3 of them), have an acurate countdown reading on my old D70s, but not on my D300.

I think the "problem" is the D300 is getting so much more information, and depending on your active lighting, ISO noise settings, color, etc, that there are so many variables that the camera can't give an accurate reading. I fyou look at the file sizes, you will see there can be a big difference between the sizes. The camera has to make a best guest. It's not contradicting at all.

InsuredDisaster

Don't worry man. The way see it, your camera is a bit "conservative." My D300 does the same thing. I'd of course be pissed if it said 20 but I only got 10, but since its the other way, I'm ok with it.

I only shoot raw but it does the same thing.

bkatz

It also depends on your settings. In the D300 you have two choices for your jpeg saving - one optimizes the image and one makes it smaller (I may have it slightly wrong) but the jpegs will be different sizes. If you take an all black shot (lens cap on) it will be different sized then one with edges etc as mentioned earlier.

xendless xurbia

Thanks for all the replies. I've become less concerned to the point that I don't even think about it anymore. Appreciate all the help.