How many batteries and memory cards?

[eddy-4]

Good evening!

I am planning our first trip to WDW and, boy, am I psyched about it! So many photo ops!

I have promised my family that I will lighten up a little and try to step out of my "photographer" mode. Having said that, though, I plan to take my Sony A700, three batteries, and three compact flash cards (1 8GB, 2 4GB). I also plan to take my Nikon Coolpix S550, three batteries, and 3 4GB SDHC cards.

My question is this: do you think that I have enough memory cards and batteries? I am trying to minimize my pre-vacation expenses, but I worry that I won't have enough cards/batteries to see me through. I've heard that memory cards are very expensive at Disney.

I tend to take a ton of pics--about 500 per 80min soccer game.

How many memory cards/batteries do you think would be sufficient?

Also, I'm planning to take my 50mm f/1.4 and my 18-250mm lenses. Do you think these lenses will be sufficient? I have a 70-200mm, but worry that it's too heavy to carry around the parks.


Look forward to your suggestions. Thanks much and have a great night!

Linda

 

[Snappy in OK]

I think I took 7 SD (6-4G and 1-2G) cards when we were there in Sept (1st visit). I wanted to be able to change cards every day or every other day so that we would not loose all of our pictures if we lost a card or it failed. I had plenty of space for pictures for the week, and I took close to 2700 during the week. I did not shoot in RAW though, so I think you may need more cards if you do shoot in RAW.

Good luck in planning. If you decide you need more cards you may be able to find some good deals on line.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I shoot all in JPG for now and shot 20 GB of pics in the 6 days we were there in Jan.....I may have a slight problem

 

[oregondaddyof2]

I took 2 8 gig cards, and 4 batteries... I only had to use 1 of the cards cause I would unload it to my external hard drive int he evenings and start fresh every morning, but i had a back up just in case... I use a battery grip which takes 2 batteries at once, so I had a back up set in case I rant out during any day... I would have at least 1 back up battery and start with a fully charged one every day... Depending on how much you use the screen, you can shoot a lot of pics with 1 battery... Memory is cheap, so it is better to have more than enough and not use it then to wish you had more... I would bring something to unload the pics to cause i would hate to have a vacation worth of pics get lost or fail on you...

 

[MICKEY88]

I shoot all in JPG for now and shot 20 GB of pics in the 6 days we were there in Jan.....I may have a slight problem

based on my numbers for my January trip, your problem is that you don't take enough pictures...LOL

either that, or I have a problem.. I've been known to take 16 gig or more per day

 

[MICKEY88]

with the numbers you shoot at soccer games I'm thinking you need a lot more memory for WDW

I use 16 gig cards and there were a few days I maxed out a card, now granted I like to kick the drive into high speed mode and shoot shows etc at 5fps occassionally for great action shots. I averaged10-16 gig of pics per day,

I took my laptop, and my dock with 2 1TB hard drives, each night I'd upload the pics to my laptop, then copy them over to the 2 hard drives

3 batteries should be plenty, the issue becomes recharging them each night, how many chargers do you have, I rarely used more than 1 battery per camera per day, so you should be OK,

 

[NateNLogansDad]

based on my numbers for my January trip, your problem is that you don't take enough pictures...LOL

either that, or I have a problem.. I've been known to take 16 gig or more per day

16 GB of JPG'S?

Slowly put the camera down and back away from the table......

 

[mom2rtk]

Here's my rule of thumb, which also applies when buying bags of rock or mulch for landscaping:

Figure what sounds reasonable.... then DOUBLE IT!!!

 

[GrillMouster]

Maybe I missed it in your original post, but how long is your trip?
If it's a couple of days, I'd say that you have PLENTY of memory storage and batteries. You can also recharge the batteries each night and offload the cards onto a laptop/netbook and and external drive.

I think the real problem is that you need to cut down on how many images you're taking. 500 in 80 minutes? At that frame rate you might as well have been shooting video! Be more decisive about the shots you take. When you take so many, the entire collection of images suffer. You should be able to go through a day with a single battery no problem. If you're using more than that, you're taking too many pictures and/or you're reviewing the images too often and for too long on the LCD screen.

 

[gokenin]

I always love these threads they make me feel like I am missing something when I only come back with 400 or so pictures from a week at Disney.

 

[MICKEY88]

16 GB of JPG'S?

Slowly put the camera down and back away from the table......

I shoot raw

 

[eddy-4]

Maybe I missed it in your original post, but how long is your trip?
If it's a couple of days, I'd say that you have PLENTY of memory storage and batteries. You can also recharge the batteries each night and offload the cards onto a laptop/netbook and and external drive.

I think the real problem is that you need to cut down on how many images you're taking. 500 in 80 minutes? At that frame rate you might as well have been shooting video! Be more decisive about the shots you take. When you take so many, the entire collection of images suffer. You should be able to go through a day with a single battery no problem. If you're using more than that, you're taking too many pictures and/or you're reviewing the images too often and for too long on the LCD screen.

Hey, GrillMouster,

I'm going to be at WDW for 6 days and 1 at Universal. Then, going to Captiva Island. I tend to shoot a lot of photos and then weed through them after I pull them into PhotoShop. I definitely agree that I'm taking too many photos, but can't let go of that fear that I'll miss that priceless photo op, if I don't. I've promised my family that I'll work on that for this vacation.

I am taking a laptop so I can download my pics every night.

I prefer to shoot RAW, but might do jpeg for the trip to ensure that I have enough card space.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.

Linda

 

[eddy-4]

with the numbers you shoot at soccer games I'm thinking you need a lot more memory for WDW

I use 16 gig cards and there were a few days I maxed out a card, now granted I like to kick the drive into high speed mode and shoot shows etc at 5fps occassionally for great action shots. I averaged10-16 gig of pics per day,

I took my laptop, and my dock with 2 1TB hard drives, each night I'd upload the pics to my laptop, then copy them over to the 2 hard drives

3 batteries should be plenty, the issue becomes recharging them each night, how many chargers do you have, I rarely used more than 1 battery per camera per day, so you should be OK,

Like you, I to shoot on burst mode if there is any action. Since I shoot raw, I tend to max out my cards and I must admit that I can't resist reviewing my pix over the LCD--which definitely kills the battery. I have two battery chargers each for the Nikon Coolpix and the Sony A700.

So many things to think about--booking the trip was easy. Figuring out how to record those priceless memories is the hard part.

Thanks much for your help.

 

[Me!Thatswho]

On my last trip to WDW this past January, I brought 2 8gb, 4 4gb, 2 2gb and 2 batteries for my k20d, which I alternated each day (re: used one, charged it, then used it next day as the spare). I figured the 8s and 4s would be enough for me, and the 2s would be for DS(9)'s Canon S3is. Oh, and FYI, I shoot in dual mode (jpg & raw), so that way there is no rush placed on me by my kids to process everything immediately so they can see the pics. By the last day, I was erasing what I hoped were bad & blurry shots (didn't bring my laptop, so I was going only on what I saw on the view finder) on even DS's 2s to make room for a few more shots. Somehow, after deleting what amounts to too many images, I managed to save enough room to take 1 last shot of DS & DD(7) on the plane, after which the "CARD IS FULL" message reappeared. While I probably should have just bought a card at WDW, ironically I managed to come home with about 90% of photos that I was satisfied with. But, I definitely learned my lesson. Next time, I'm going to add a few 16gbs to stack, that's for sure.

 

[eddy-4]

I think I took 7 SD (6-4G and 1-2G) cards when we were there in Sept (1st visit). I wanted to be able to change cards every day or every other day so that we would not loose all of our pictures if we lost a card or it failed. I had plenty of space for pictures for the week, and I took close to 2700 during the week. I did not shoot in RAW though, so I think you may need more cards if you do shoot in RAW.

Good luck in planning. If you decide you need more cards you may be able to find some good deals on line.

Thank you so much! I love Disboards--everyone is so helpful!

 

[eddy-4]

On my last trip to WDW this past January, I brought 2 8gb, 4 4gb, 2 2gb and 2 batteries for my k20d, which I alternated each day (re: used one, charged it, then used it next day as the spare). I figured the 8s and 4s would be enough for me, and the 2s would be for DS(9)'s Canon S3is. Oh, and FYI, I shoot in dual mode (jpg & raw), so that way there is no rush placed on me by my kids to process everything immediately so they can see the pics. By the last day, I was erasing what I hoped were bad & blurry shots (didn't bring my laptop, so I was going only on what I saw on the view finder) on even DS's 2s to make room for a few more shots. Somehow, after deleting what amounts to too many images, I managed to save enough room to take 1 last shot of DS & DD(7) on the plane, after which the "CARD IS FULL" message reappeared. While I probably should have just bought a card at WDW, ironically I managed to come home with about 90% of photos that I was satisfied with. But, I definitely learned my lesson. Next time, I'm going to add a few 16gbs to stack, that's for sure.

Okay, you've convinced me--I'd rather have too many cards than not enough. Better budget more money for vacation prep.

 

[MICKEY88]

Hey, GrillMouster,

I'm going to be at WDW for 6 days and 1 at Universal. Then, going to Captiva Island. I tend to shoot a lot of photos and then weed through them after I pull them into PhotoShop. I definitely agree that I'm taking too many photos, but can't let go of that fear that I'll miss that priceless photo op, if I don't. I've promised my family that I'll work on that for this vacation.

I am taking a laptop so I can download my pics every night.

I prefer to shoot RAW, but might do jpeg for the trip to ensure that I have enough card space.

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.

Linda

I'd get more memory and shoot raw if that is what you are used to