Memory Cards

[email_shell]

Alright I am in a quandry. I have no idea how many/what size SDHC cards to bring with my camera. It is 10MP and I will want to take small amounts of video. I hear from some that you should have a separate card for each day just in case. That seems excessive when you are there 7 days. What on earth do you do with the cards afterward??? But I do not want to lose my pictures in case of card failure.

I have a 8 GB and a 4 GB now. I need to purchase another card ASAP if I am going to because we leave in 2 weeks. Any thoughts? Is there a place on site where you can download pictures from SDHC like at a WalMart and have a disk made? I thought I heard that somewhere.

My husband is also toying with the idea of bringing our laptop. I am not sure I am comfortable with that. I guess I hate the thought of leaving it lying around in our room while we are in the parks.

So WWYD?

 

[chill15]

We had a 4MB card and had to clear it once on our 7 day trip. I guess it depends on how many pictures you take.

Check with you hotel and see if they have a safe in the room. Ours did and I just locked up my laptop whenever we left. Made me a lot more comfortable.

 

[J Le]

Although photography is my hobby I am by no means an expert on memory cards - but here's some info.

The number of photos/amount of video your memory card(s) will hold depends on a variety of factors from the format you use to the compression to even the complexity of the scene. A rough rule of thumb is to divide card capacity by the average file size of your images. So....keeping in mind chimpanzees have better math skills than I do...4 GB=4000 MB. If your average photo is 4 MB you'd get approximately 1000 photos on that card. There are so many variables its really difficult to judge, especially if you add video to the mix! Your camera likely has a feature telling you how many photos are left on the card. If you switch the compression (from 'best' to 'low' for example) you'll see that number go up. That being said, I find taking photos at the highest level gives me the most flexibility later on - use what works best for you!

Every non-Disney vaca I take is for the purposes of photography so I empty my cards every night. I have not invested in a portable storage device (they are pricey) and I often start editing right away so for the most part I use my laptop. My paranoid self makes a DVD of the raw photos before I format the memory card for the next day.

As far as keeping things safe, my carry-on is designed for photography and includes security features which make me comfortable leaving it behind in the room (locked and locked to something that doesn't move). Even though its Disney I understand that may be a naive point of view. For shorter vacas or if I just don't want to lug everything I do bring extra memory cards. I look for deals (like this Friday) where you can get a reputable 4 GB card for under $10 and an 8 GB for $20.

Hope this helps and have a great trip!

 

[seashoreCM]

I bring enough cards so I don't have to empty and re-use them during the vacation. Also I shoot at maximum quality which means not as many pictures per card. Then I bring them all home and copy them to at least two other places (such as CD and hard drive).

In the actual case I brought along a specialized portable hard drive into which I could dump the contents of the memory card. I still kept the card intact so as I came home I had two copies of everything.

Call me paranoic when it comes to losing pictures because of memory card problems.

Digital camera hints: http://www.cockam.com/digicam.htm

(copied from another forum) It is better not to use a card larger than the camera is rated for. Unpredictable things could happen for example using a 4 GB card in a 2 GB camera, you might keep on shooting and take a 3'rd GB worth of pictures and they overwrite the first GB (the 4'th GB overwrites the 2'nd).

 

[henryclein]

I took a palm mobile where i want to fill in some music & videos in the SD 2GB card Model No. Kingston SD-M02G. when i inserted through card reader to the USB port of computer. I tried to fill music in but it says the disk is write protected, although the disk is empty. so, i want to know should i download some software to my memory card or any other procedure... pls. let me know. pls. help me...

Thanks.

 

[seashoreCM]

Most memory cards have a tab or slider that turns on write protection. I suppose devices like Palm Pilots and iPods also have some switch or menu password for this.

I considered the use of an iPod to back up camera memory cards to but I needed many more gigabytes than the typical iPod comes with.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

We took a laptop last year and I emptied every night. I'm so glad we did it that way or I would have ran out of room 1/2 way into the week. I may have taken a few more pics than most people would though Put it this way, a disney vaca can be a few thousand for the week. A memory card is 20 or so. Take more than you know you'll need...they'll stll work after you get home for other events!

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

You could purchase some sort of media storage solution. Download your daily images onto that...

 

[tinkmom2]

I had a cam corder with a 8 MG chip and took about 4 hours of video and my camera has a 1GB chip. I took over 550 pics with that this last week. If you are planning on taking video with your camera I would suggest getting a separate chip for that. We recently went to a Jonas Brothers concert and I was only able to take about 100 pics and a few minutes of video before filling up my memory card. We didn't bring our laptop because I heard the TSA can make a copy of your hard drive. We were stopped in security on the way home because of the chip in my daughters' Nintendo DS.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

TSA will make you turn on a laptop if you have it as a carry on (Which I HIGHLY RECCOMEND!) along with other handheld games or devices that are electronic. Unfortunately that is the standard SOP.

On the subject of copying your hard drive. I was just about to post how my industry and that of the TSA work very closely and also my company does especially. I was also going to say that most TSA agents you find at the airport aren't always the sharpest tack. I was than going to search for, and post, a link to show that this was just an urban legion.

HOWEVER

What I did find was that this isn't unheard of.......to a point. If you're speaking of, when they wipe their magic wand over the laptop, or put it through the X-ray machine, no they can't copy it. As far as I can see, TSA isn't who you need to worry about. The problem you may have is if you cross international borders. It's actually the guys from Customs you need to think about. They actually have federal authority given to them by Homeland Security to tell you to put in your password and inspect your files. They look for explicit material, Copyrite Violations (music, movies, software,) and anything suspicious that may have to do with terroristic threats or drug smuggling. Unfortunately they also have the right to seize your laptop/electronic device for an infinite amount of time. This isn't just the U.S. it's also partnering countries.

BUT

I have taken my laptop a few times on planes and such within the US through TSA lines with no problems at all. Personally I'd say as long as you aren't crossing the border you should have no problems at all.

P.S. Electronic devices are ANYTHING that can hold data- Laptops, External Hard Drives, Camers, CD's, DVD's, IPOD's (yes they can find out if you paid for that music)

 

[WildGrits]

I'm another vote for bringing the laptop.

Staying on-site we have brought all sorts of eletronics with no problems.

Our next trip is for 2 weeks. For my kids leaving their laptops at home would be equal to me going just as long without coffee.

 

[nothnbutherainsir]

I bring a laptop too. We're lucky to have a small one so it's not really a hassel. I also bring along a flash drive to backup the photos on because I am paranoid!

 

[safetymom]

They don't usually make you turn the laptop on when you go through security. You should have a charged battery in case they do.

You should take your images at the highest resolution possible. You should use two different memory cards in case you have problems with the first one. You won't lose all your images that way.

You should format your memory card often. Don't delete images from the memory card in the camera. Do a format of the card after you have verified that you have the images on your computer.

My work flow is is to backup to the computer and make an additional copy before I start to do anything with the images.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

If you fly out of PHL they have to have you turn in on EVERY time you go through security. I ran into some guys from Customs last night but didn't get a chance to really talk about all this. If I get an answer from them on what goes on and procedures I'll post it here.

 

[safetymom]

This must be something fairly new. I have flown in and out of PHL many times and didn't have to turn on the laptop.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I know it was sometime in the last 3-5 yrs. If you check it, you're fine but carry on's need to be turned on.

 

[safetymom]

Maybe it depends where you go through security but I have flown through PHL in the last 3-5 years and didn't need to have the laptop turned on.

You should never put a computer in your luggage if you ever want to see it again.