how much memory to take?

[Octoberbabiesrus]

I'm seriously packing 2 extra batteries, and thinking along the lines of 20gb of memory (per day used) and dumping the memory at night to my laptop and burn it to disc for security.

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

32 views and no comments?

 

[ukcatfan]

It might help to tell us how big your file sizes are and if you plan to shoot in JPG or RAW. I bring 2 4GB, 1 2GB, and 2 1GB cards. My file size is 10-11MB in RAW and I have never even come close to filling all the cards. I also prefer to take a mid day break at the room to rest and cool off. I usually clear the cards then as well.

 

[proteus]

20 gb of pictures per day??? Wow. That would be about 3,000 pictures for my 6 megapixel SLR. What the heck you shooting with?

 

[noryen]

I'm seriously packing 2 extra batteries, and thinking along the lines of 20gb of memory (per day used) and dumping the memory at night to my laptop and burn it to disc for security.

I think most everyone would agree that 20gb per day should be more than enough.

Assuming you were shooting RAW files with a 12 megapixel camera, you would be able to take about 1700 pics per day; or 7000 pics using JPG format. I'd think you'd need more batteries if you're planning on taking that many photos.

Or was 20gb a typo and you really meant to say 2gb? If that's the case, I'd recommend getting another 4gb just to be safe.

 

[fhirleighinn]

My plan is having 6-7 GB, with two batteries for my D80. Everyone else in the family will have a point and shoot with 2 gb. No plans to backup every night (not bringing laptop).

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Figure out how big a typical picture file is for you. Determine how many pictures you think you'll take in a day. Add a margin for error. Do the math.

It's impossible for someone here to give you the answer without knowing how big your picture files are and how many pictures you'll take a day. Some cameras take 1/2 meg files and others take 10+ meg files. Some people shoot a few shots per day while others shoot well over 1,000.

If you plan on going through 20 gig per day and burning for safety, you'll have busy evenings. That's 4 DVDs to burn every night. What a pain. At anything above 10 gig per day, I'd switch to using a laptop and external hard disk or two for backups.

 

[handicap18]

I'm seriously packing 2 extra batteries, and thinking along the lines of 20gb of memory (per day used) and dumping the memory at night to my laptop and burn it to disc for security.

IIRC, your using either a Nikon D40x or D80. Are you shooting RAW or JPEG?

My last trip I shot RAW with my D50. I get about 330 or so images on 1 2GB card. I brought 6 2GB cards and had to reformat 2 of them because I didn't have enough cards. I downloaded 2 cards worth to the laptop and the external hard drive (my laptop is WAY to slow to have downloaded more than that). If I didn't have the laptop I don't know what I would have done.

In June '06 we went for 4 days. I was only shooting JPEG at that time. I had 3 1GB cards. I got about 330 or so images on 1 card (my RAW files are about twice the size of JPEG files) and again I should have had an extra card because I had to transfer 1 cards worth to the very slow laptop to make room for 1 more day at the parks.

The knowledge you need is how many files you get on one card on each camera based on the resolution that you shoot at. Then how much you plan on shooting. If you plan on about 300 or images per day then figure how many days and then figure how many cards you need to fill that. Then add at least 1 extra card to be safe.

 

[seashoreCM]

(copied from another post)
On a recent trip I planned for about 500 pictures per day, which turned out to be one 2GB memory card per day. As it turned out I took between 350 and 400 pictures per day.

Digital camera hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/digicam.htm

 

[Groucho]

20g per day seems pretty outrageous, but stranger things could happen...

On my last trip, I was there for seven days and knocked out just over 4,000 shots. My 14.6mp RAWs average somewhere around 13 megs each - all told, it was, oh, 52 gigs or so for seven days. That averages out to almost 7.5g per day. (I remember back when a 1.6g hard drive was huge! )

That being said, I mainly used two 8g cards, and I think that was plenty most of the time... maybe one day, I had to move onto one of my 4g cards, but that was unusual. Cards are cheap enough that I'm sure I'll buy another 8g (or bigger) between now and my next trip (especially since one is noticably slower than the other.)

I did bring along a laptop, empty the cards nightly, and burn DVDs. (And post updates on here. )

 

[broberts]

I have a question, not totally off topic. What is the advantage of RAW vs. JPG. When you are talking about anything over 8 megapixels, I wouldn't think it would be very easy to notice the difference.

Brian

 

[Groucho]

That's a common topic, there is a lot of information but to sum it up, the big reasons are more latitude to adjust exposure (less chance of blowing highlights or losing detail in dark areas), more control over things like sharpness, contrast, etc after the fact, and a huge one IMHO is the ability to adjust white balance seamlessly after the fact. No more yellowed interiors or brown skies at night and no need to fiddle with it manually when shooting!

 

[YesDear]

Very simply a RAW file is unprocessed in the camera. That gives you the ability to change a reasonable amount of the image in programs like Photoshop. In a JPG image the camera has processed the image just like you taking a role of film to Walmart and having them process the film and printing the picture.

Yes you can change JPGs but you are working with an image that has already been processed once.

It makes a MAJOR difference in how the final picture turns out no matter how large the image is.

 

[boBQuincy]

I have a question, not totally off topic. What is the advantage of RAW vs. JPG. When you are talking about anything over 8 megapixels, I wouldn't think it would be very easy to notice the difference.

Brian

A common misconception, the advantage of RAW over JPG is the amount of information contained in each pixel. The difference can be very noticeable regardless of the number of pixels.

http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/u-raw-files.shtml

How much memory to take? Enough so you can shoot in RAW.

 

[broberts]

Cool. Love it when I learn something new. Such a wealth of information here. Thanks for the speedy response.

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

It might help to tell us how big your file sizes are and if you plan to shoot in JPG or RAW. I bring 2 4GB, 1 2GB, and 2 1GB cards. My file size is 10-11MB in RAW and I have never even come close to filling all the cards. I also prefer to take a mid day break at the room to rest and cool off. I usually clear the cards then as well.

Ohh good questions. Didnt even think! Thanks for reminding me to include.

I Will be shooting raw. Come to think, I never paid attention to file size as it was never really relevant.

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

20 gb of pictures per day??? Wow. That would be about 3,000 pictures for my 6 megapixel SLR. What the heck you shooting with?

I have a 10.2 DSLR, and I litterally live up to my nickname/name of my business, The Mommy Paparazzi. I practically pee myself when I hear some other cameras firing off at their max fps. I take LOADS of pics. I mean seriously, I practically live life through my camera. My family is used to it...heck my 5 yr old is the ham for the camera.

I like taking pics of my kids, the obscure/things you wouldnt even think of shooting. Plus then the archiectecture of disney, signs to remember to replicate for disney.

 

[Octoberbabiesrus]

I think most everyone would agree that 20gb per day should be more than enough.

Assuming you were shooting RAW files with a 12 megapixel camera, you would be able to take about 1700 pics per day; or 7000 pics using JPG format. I'd think you'd need more batteries if you're planning on taking that many photos.

Or was 20gb a typo and you really meant to say 2gb? If that's the case, I'd recommend getting another 4gb just to be safe.

No I really said 20...lol

I have 6 2gb, 7 1gb, and was looking at picking up 2 4gb. I was hoping to use one card a day at each park, but knowing my shooting habits, I'll be using 2 a day, plus whatever fireworks each night... I'd like a dedicated card for each park, plus the fireworks.
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