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How much memory should one have?

GrissomGrissom Registered Users Posts: 28 Big grins
edited June 29, 2007 in Cameras
My local Fry's has Sandisk Extreme III 8GB for 139.00 "today only"
I do have a 2 GB already, and I am wondering how many photos can I expect to be able to take if I get the 8GB. The camera is a 30D
Thanks in advance!

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    David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,199 moderator
    edited June 21, 2007
    Not a bad price.

    All depends how and what you shoot. If you do JPEG's only, and aren't a sports or wildlife photog with your camera always set to continuous mode, then 8GB is a whopping amount of memory.

    If you shoot RAW, or RAW + JPEG, and routinely come back with hundreds of shots per session, then 8GB isn't an enormous size.

    Also, if your next camera will be 12MP or more (a safe bet), then 8GB will soon be considered only a moderate capacity.

    Something to consider... as others have mentioned on this board, anything beyond 4GB, the write time tends to slow down a bit.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
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    GrissomGrissom Registered Users Posts: 28 Big grins
    edited June 21, 2007
    So then it would be better to have multiple smaller cards?
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    David_S85David_S85 Administrators Posts: 13,199 moderator
    edited June 21, 2007
    Grissom wrote:
    So then it would be better to have multiple smaller cards?

    Maybe. A lot of shooters are hesitant to store many days worth on one large card in case it goes south on them. But also consider convenience in not having to swap outs, and possibly misplace a card.
    My Smugmug
    "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
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    gryphonslair99gryphonslair99 Registered Users Posts: 182 Major grins
    edited June 21, 2007
    David_S85 wrote:
    Maybe. A lot of shooters are hesitant to store many days worth on one large card in case it goes south on them. But also consider convenience in not having to swap outs, and possibly misplace a card.

    Convenience doesn't mean much if you have a card failure and loose everything. Especially if you have a paying customer. They tend to get cranky for some reason. I have 12 gigs of memory in six 2gig cards. All Sandisk Extreeme III's. They are faster than the 30D can use, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. Maybe that 1D MIII will use the full potential. This is the way I see it. Others will probably have a different opinion.
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    CameronCameron Registered Users Posts: 745 Major grins
    edited June 22, 2007
    Grissom wrote:
    My local Fry's has Sandisk Extreme III 8GB for 139.00 "today only"
    I do have a 2 GB already, and I am wondering how many photos can I expect to be able to take if I get the 8GB. The camera is a 30D
    Thanks in advance!

    I can't count the number of times I have said to myself "Wow, that's a great price - I should buy another memory card now while the price is good".. If I need the space, I buy, otherwise I wait - looking back, the "great deals" of 6 months or 1 year ago are old news and current prices are much cheaper.

    That said, I have 8GB of storage in 4 cards (4GB, 2GB, 1GB x 2) and for my everyday shooting I rarely need anything other than my 4GB card (shooting RAW only). If I were shooting weddings or sporting events, I'd likely need more space...

    To help you gauge space requirements:
    Typical 30D file sizes (jpeg size varies greatly depending on how easily your image subject matter is compressed):
    RAW 7,700kb
    JPEG Fine 2,900kb
    JPEG Standard 1,400kb
    (from http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos30d/page11.asp)

    Enjoy!
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    Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited June 22, 2007
    I have a total of 20 gigs in 4 cards....2 - ttrandscend 8gb and 2- lexar 2gb cards.....I have found the trandscend to be very bit as reliable as my lexars and I forced a failure in a transcend to see if it could be recovered....my lexar software (Image rescue 2) performed perfectly recovering all of my raw files.....got off topic there......Personally I believe that there is no such thing as toooo much memory (this comes from a guy that would buy over 100 rolls of film at a time and store it in my chest freezer.).

    It only beomes too much if you can't afford it.......I do shoot wildlife and that 20gigs can go pretty fast on a weekend moring if the animules cooperate....add in some landscapes, flowers a couple of almost macros and it doesn't take me long to fill those cards and hard drives up......

    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

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    RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,931 moderator
    edited June 22, 2007
    Grissom wrote:
    My local Fry's has Sandisk Extreme III 8GB for 139.00 "today only"
    I do have a 2 GB already, and I am wondering how many photos can I expect to be able to take if I get the 8GB. The camera is a 30D
    Thanks in advance!

    Well, just multiply your current capacity by four and you get the additional amount of storage you will have. How much you need depends on what your shooting habits are. If you shoot in burst mode or bracket often, you can really go through memory quickly. I carry 5 GB, which gives me about 600 RAW shots on a 20D. This is usually plenty when I am at home, but when I am on the road I have to carry a laptop or a portable hard drive. I will probably buy more at some point, but I prefer multiple smaller cards (2 to 4 GB) to avoid the risk of a catastrophic loss.

    Cheers,
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    tsk1979tsk1979 Registered Users Posts: 937 Major grins
    edited June 22, 2007
    Some advice for you...
    Get a memory card that is faster than your camera writing speed.
    So if your camera can write at 80X getting a 100X or a 120X or a 266X card will not make a difference, its just that you will spend more.
    Based on that I would recommend A-data/Transcend etc., cards (4GB)
    4GB card costs = 40$
    You can have 3 cards for 120$(Or even less)
    I would be little scared of having all my photos on a 8GB card.
    I have 1GB card already, so these 2 cards will take my total memory to 9GB.
    I shoot RAW only, so I presume a 4GB card will give me 1000 shots approximately. On vacations 500-600 is the max I shoot, and on a long one, I may do 1000 shots, so two 4GB cards are an overkill for me.
    If you are in a situation where you will shoot 2000 RAWs in once session, you can go for 8GB card. Go for something like 80X-120X which will cost you 80-90$.
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    Scott_QuierScott_Quier Registered Users Posts: 6,524 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2007
    I have 10 x 2GB, but then I shoot all day weddings and need the storage (I don't re-use the cards during the event). I get approx 210 RAW only, images per card. I've not yet used all ten cards during a shoot, but I don't have to worry any more about maybe running out of card before the end of the night. I HATE counting images and attempting to calculate the number left and the number I still need to take...

    That having been said, buy today only what you need today. When you needs increase, the price of memory cards will have dramtically decreased, saving you some major $$.
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    colourboxcolourbox Registered Users Posts: 2,095 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2007
    That having been said, buy today only what you need today. When you needs increase, the price of memory cards will have dramtically decreased, saving you some major $$.

    That is so true. Since the original post is
    Grissom wrote:
    My local Fry's has Sandisk Extreme III 8GB for 139.00 "today only"

    I don't worry about "today only" specials. There is no question that 8GB will be less than $139 in the future, therefore there is no need to jump on "specials" unless you need that capacity immediately. I need some 4GB cards for a trip coming up in a few months, but I know that I should not buy them until a couple weeks before the trip because if I buy them now, I will most certainly pay more than I will in the fall.
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    SeefutlungSeefutlung Registered Users Posts: 2,781 Major grins
    edited June 26, 2007
    My daughter has ADD and could use some better memory than she has ...
    My snaps can be found here:
    Unsharp at any Speed
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    sirsloopsirsloop Registered Users Posts: 866 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2007
    I've got three 8GB cards, a 2GB card, a 1GB card, and three 512MB cards layin around... after last weekend I kinda wish I had another 8 gigger cause I ended up filling all three 8GB cards, and the 2GB card up at a horse show... like 3000+ RAW photos....
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    BigAlBigAl Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2007
    Well just to be different, I only have 2x512MB cards and rotate these, BUT I also have a 40GB PD70x so I'm more than happy with the amount of storage I have :D
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    tsk1979tsk1979 Registered Users Posts: 937 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2007
    I have 10 x 2GB, but then I shoot all day weddings and need the storage (I don't re-use the cards during the event). I get approx 210 RAW only, images per card. I've not yet used all ten cards during a shoot, but I don't have to worry any more about maybe running out of card before the end of the night. I HATE counting images and attempting to calculate the number left and the number I still need to take...

    That having been said, buy today only what you need today. When you needs increase, the price of memory cards will have dramtically decreased, saving you some major $$.
    You are treading a dangerous line my friend.
    CF cards frequent change can bend the pins inside and lead to expensive damage. I suggest you get atleast 1 4GB card (or even 8GB if you are brave).
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    entropysedgeentropysedge Registered Users Posts: 190 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2007
    I was shooting an event last evening and went thru a 4GB card, 2 2GB and 3/4 of the way on a third 2GB card. I'm really happy that I made that stop to Staples on my way to the event :D I'd like to get at least a couple more 2GB cards.
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    Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2007
    tsk1979 wrote:
    Get a memory card that is faster than your camera writing speed.
    So if your camera can write at 80X getting a 100X or a 120X or a 266X card will not make a difference, its just that you will spend more.
    Based on that I would recommend A-data/Transcend etc., cards (4GB)
    4GB card costs = 40$
    You can have 3 cards for 120$(Or even less)
    I would be little scared of having all my photos on a 8GB card.
    I have 1GB card already, so these 2 cards will take my total memory to 9GB.
    I shoot RAW only, so I presume a 4GB card will give me 1000 shots approximately. On vacations 500-600 is the max I shoot, and on a long one, I may do 1000 shots, so two 4GB cards are an overkill for me.
    If you are in a situation where you will shoot 2000 RAWs in once session, you can go for 8GB card. Go for something like 80X-120X which will cost you 80-90$.

    I will vouch for the transcend cards....as my signature shows I use both lexar and transcend.....I get just a little over 500 shots per 8gb card and as of now I have 20gbs of CF cards.....my KM 7D is slightly over 6MP.....I believe it is actually 6.2 but hey lets not quibble over .2mp.......so with 4 cards I get a touch over1400 raw shots.....Oh...that is raw +jpg......jpg's are used for chimpin' since the KM7D will not allow the raw fiiles to be enlarged on the lcd finder.......

    Something to consider also is that if you want to upgrade your camera and you have mediocre cards (40 - 80 X write speeds) and you get a camera that can write above those numbers...well the cards won;t perform as you would like in a time of real speed need.........I always try to buy a card that is as fast as I can afford at the time of purcase and so far all of my cards were....I stress WERE....top speed of the brand when purchased.....

    I moved from lexar to transcend when I spent time on the phone with both....and my contact at transcend gave me a guarantee I could not pass up.....then I punished that card for over 2 months before I gave a recommendation for it to anyone......Trandscend actually ahd better specs for their cards when I purcyhased my 1st 8gb card....especially in the operating temp range...for me that means a lot.....as I am not shooting a lot of weddings but I am out in adverse weather a lot...heat, extreme cold and humidity.....I have never had to warm a card even when shooting in well below 0* F (I mean below -20*F) wind chill factor not included....my camera batteries die from the cold before the card even shivers.

    The standard PRO transcend card has operating temp range that rivals other companies extreme cards.....

    How much flash memory do you need.....IN all honesty you need ALL THAT YOU CAN AFFORD......simply put I would much rather carry 30 or more cards than a laptop or even a portable HDD...they get heavy......also I would recommend a really good recovery software.....when I mentioned I punished my first card.....I caused it to fail more than once so that I could recover the images from it.....I used the software from Lexar - Image rescue 2 ....it reovered the jps and the raw files....but my only prob is that it re-numbers them.....also IMage Rescue lets you recover either or of the files.......so my choice is to recover just the raw as the jps were just for chimping......

    I also like the large (8gb and above) cards as I am prone to bracketing, especially now that most of my landscapes will be becoming HDR'ed in the near future...so I can get that POP that the HDR affords............

    Also if shooting a weding and you don't want all your eggs on one card...well just shoot a hundreed or so and switch cards......but if you only have 1 or 2gb cards and you get into a situation where you need to do some major bracketing......those 4 and gb cards can be a real life saver.

    New Egg . com is a great plce for memory....lots of specials from week to week.

    So for the length and spelling.....

    Good luck
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

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    claudermilkclaudermilk Registered Users Posts: 2,756 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2007
    tsk1979 wrote:
    You are treading a dangerous line my friend.
    CF cards frequent change can bend the pins inside and lead to expensive damage. I suggest you get atleast 1 4GB card (or even 8GB if you are brave).

    Nah. I don't have as many cards, but I'll bet that during a shoot I swap at least as frequently as I'd expect Scott to be, if not more (I swap about every 3-5 minutes for 2-3 hours). If you don't force things you're fine; that means when you feel unusual resistance, back off, re-align, and try again, not jam harder.deal.gif
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    sirsloopsirsloop Registered Users Posts: 866 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2007
    The whole eggs in a basket thing... I think a camera is a lot more likely to fail than a CF card. Get two camera's, put an 8GB CF card in each, shoot away. On a 8-10MP camera thats upwards of 1800-2000 photos without ever touching the CF. No CF fallong our of pockets, no pin wear, no fuss. Besides that logic gives you the right to walk around with two cameras, like any self respecting photog should!! rolleyes1.gif
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    RhuarcRhuarc Registered Users Posts: 1,464 Major grins
    edited June 27, 2007
    How much memory? That is a nice easy one word answer!

    MORE! :D
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    Scott_QuierScott_Quier Registered Users Posts: 6,524 Major grins
    edited June 28, 2007
    Nah. I don't have as many cards, but I'll bet that during a shoot I swap at least as frequently as I'd expect Scott to be, if not more (I swap about every 3-5 minutes for 2-3 hours). If you don't force things you're fine; that means when you feel unusual resistance, back off, re-align, and try again, not jam harder.deal.gif
    My shooting is not that fast-paced. Depending on the action at the time, a card can last 1/4 hour or it can last 3/4 hour or more. A couple of weeks ago, I satisfied a contract for coverage of a 14-hour event. Of my 10x2GB cards, I still had 1 or 2 left that had not yet been into a camera. Obviously, there was some slack time during the day!

    I swap the cards between the action when I have time that I don't have to rush it. This way, I can take my time, make sure things are lined up, and gently push the card into the slot until it seats.
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    claudermilkclaudermilk Registered Users Posts: 2,756 Major grins
    edited June 28, 2007
    lol3.gif So I guess that makes me the worst culprit for repeated rapid card swapping. :marlinI do makes certain things are seated correctly--even when rushing in the dark.

    One thing that I thought of responding to antoher thread. There is another downside of those huge cards if you look at RG's performance database. THe 8GB cards are slower than the smaller ones. It seems the 2GB is about the sweet spot for capacity vs performance. Go over that and it starts taking longer to read and write. Could make a difference, since when shooting action every bit of write speed counts. This is part of why I have not bothered with the 4GB+ cards.
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    evorywareevoryware Registered Users Posts: 1,330 Major grins
    edited June 29, 2007
    I want one 4GB Extreme III.
    http://www.compusabusiness.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=SEARCH&Ntt=sandisk+compact+flash&N=0&Dx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&D=sandisk+compact+flash&No=20&Ns=display%5Fprice%7C1&Ntk=All&product_code=341528&Pn=Extreme_III_4GB_CompactFlash_Flash_Memory_Card

    Trips to Cancun and a cruise shot raw, and Africa shot jpg, I've never needed to use more than my 2GB card because we have the laptop and i now carry a 250 (? maybe 300) GB hard drive also. Even on Safari in Africa we had electricity so...
    I get @ 200 pics on my 2GB card RAW. One RAW shot is usually 8-11MB. I have a shot on my card now that's 10.9MB. A JPG is usually 2-3MB.
    Just wish my cam shot RAW+S Jpeg.
    Canon 40D : Canon 400D : Canon Elan 7NE : Canon 580EX : 2 x Canon 430EX : Canon 24-70 f2.8L : Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM : Canon 28-135mm f/3.5 IS : 18-55mm f/3.5 : 4GB Sandisk Extreme III : 2GB Sandisk Extreme III : 2 x 1GB Sandisk Ultra II : Sekonik L358

    dak.smugmug.com
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