Vacation & memory cards....

[RainbowsMist]

What does everyone do for memory cards on vacation?

I have ordered a 2GB xD picture card with my new Fuji S6000. I found a place online that says it should hold abot 600 pictures based on a camera that's 6mp. I know I'll be taking LOTS more pictures than that. So what are my options other than buying more picture cards?

I'm a newbie in the photo field as you can tell.

 

[handicap18]

Some people bring their laptop and download their pictures to the laptops harddrive and also burn a copy to CD or DVD. There are portable hard drives that come with a card reader that don't need a computer to transfer from the media card to the portable hard drive.

Prices for media cards have come down so much and are so affordable that maybe getting more cards might be less expensive. I don't know prices for xD, but I know SD cards are very cheep. I'm thinking of getting more myself. I currently have 3 1GB cards and 1 2GB card. With my 6.1MP camera set to the highest JPEG setting I can get somewhere around 650 or so pictures depending on the lighting conditions for the subject (the file size for night pictures is smaller). Each of my 1GB cards hold about 330 pics.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I usually bring a laptop and dump pictures to the computer each night. Others dump photos to their ipod or to something like an Epson p3000.

 

[RainbowsMist]

Some people bring their laptop and download their pictures to the laptops harddrive and also burn a copy to CD or DVD. There are portable hard drives that come with a card reader that don't need a computer to transfer from the media card to the portable hard drive.

Prices for media cards have come down so much and are so affordable that maybe getting more cards might be less expensive. I don't know prices for xD, but I know SD cards are very cheep. I'm thinking of getting more myself. I currently have 3 1GB cards and 1 2GB card. With my 6.1MP camera set to the highest JPEG setting I can get somewhere around 650 or so pictures depending on the lighting conditions for the subject (the file size for night pictures is smaller). Each of my 1GB cards hold about 330 pics.

Hmmmm..we'll I don't have a laptop so that options not there. I have an external zip drive and a USB storage key. Could I somehow use any of those?

 

[Lachesis00]

Go to Walmart and get them put on CD's. Thats what I ended up doing. I would get 100-200 per CD (my camera is 8mp) and the CD's are under $3.00. I assume Kmart and other stores like it could do this as well. It is normally done under an hour. I just tootle around the store.

 

[jann1033]

there was a thread a few days ago..charade started it, about a $30 cd writer that didn't need a computer and took memory cards...seemed like a good value just for such an occasion

 

[RainbowsMist]

there was a thread a few days ago..charade started it, about a $30 cd writer that didn't need a computer and took memory cards...seemed like a good value just for such an occasion

Thanks! I checked it out and was quite excited until I read you have to connect it to your PC. Unfortunately I won't have a PC or laptop with me. My 2GB xD card retails for $80. I'm not sure how many cards I would need but I know I would need a LOT for our upcoming trip.

The Walmart suggestion was a good idea however I would probably find myself there on a daily basis

I'm not considering buying a used Laptop off of Ebay. It seems like there must be something I'm missing though.

 

[Groucho]

Your camera manual will give you a more accurate assessment of how many photos can fit on a memory card of a given size.

Memory cards are also a safer place to keep your photos than on a laptop hard drive. If you have nowhere to dump your photos, I would lean towards more memory cards. Also spend some time at night going through and culling any obviously failed photos.

That standalone CD writer does not need a PC, that's the advantage of it. However, I'm not sure how it deals with memory cards that are bigger than a CD (it takes around three CDs to hold a full 2gb memory card.) I would assume it has some procedure but that's something I'd make sure of before purchasing.

 

[RainbowsMist]

Your camera manual will give you a more accurate assessment of how many photos can fit on a memory card of a given size.

Thank you. I actually looked it up and it's rather "foreign" to me

F(6m) - 680
N(6m) - 1360
3:2 - 1360
3M - 2558
2M - 3198
03M - 15992
RAW - 152

Memory cards are also a safer place to keep your photos than on a laptop hard drive. If you have nowhere to dump your photos, I would lean towards more memory cards. Also spend some time at night going through and culling any obviously failed photos.

I'm sure there will be LOTS to cull.

That standalone CD writer does not need a PC, that's the advantage of it. However, I'm not sure how it deals with memory cards that are bigger than a CD (it takes around three CDs to hold a full 2gb memory card.) I would assume it has some procedure but that's something I'd make sure of before purchasing.

Had I read this correctly the first time ....... This is a wonderful device. I'm definitely looking into. Great Site! Thanks for whoever posted it! Bonus, great prices and they ship to Canada!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

F(6m) - 680
N(6m) - 1360
3:2 - 1360
3M - 2558
2M - 3198
03M - 15992
RAW - 152

I'm guessing, but I think that means that it can hold 680 when shooting in the best quality JPEG mode (F=fine) and the highest resolution (6 megapixels). It can hold 1380 in a lower quality JPEG mode (N=normal) at the same resolution. 3:2 is a mystery to me. 3M, 2M, and 03M are probably lower resolution modes. RAW is a special format that records essentially what the sensor captured and doesn't translate it into JPG. That will give you the best picture quality, but it is much more work to use. In that mode, it looks like you'd only get 152 shots on a card.

 

[jann1033]

Thanks! I checked it out and was quite excited until I read you have to connect it to your PC. Unfortunately I won't have a PC or laptop with me. My 2GB xD card retails for $80. I'm not sure how many cards I would need but I know I would need a LOT for our upcoming trip.

The Walmart suggestion was a good idea however I would probably find myself there on a daily basis

I'm not considering buying a used Laptop off of Ebay. It seems like there must be something I'm missing though.

no you can connect to computer but don't have to, i think that 's why they call it standalone ( however maybe someone more techo correct should say for sure)

edited cause i really need to start reading all the posts before i add my $.2 sorry for the repeat

 

[RainbowsMist]

no you can connect to computer but don't have to, i think that 's why they call it standalone ( however maybe someone more techo correct should say for sure)

edited cause i really need to start reading all the posts before i add my $.2 sorry for the repeat

I should have re-read mine as well.
That should have read "I am "NOW" considering buying a laptop. Longgggg day."

 

[Groucho]

I'm guessing, but I think that means that it can hold 680 when shooting in the best quality JPEG mode (F=fine) and the highest resolution (6 megapixels). It can hold 1380 in a lower quality JPEG mode (N=normal) at the same resolution. 3:2 is a mystery to me. 3M, 2M, and 03M are probably lower resolution modes. RAW is a special format that records essentially what the sensor captured and doesn't translate it into JPG. That will give you the best picture quality, but it is much more work to use. In that mode, it looks like you'd only get 152 shots on a card.

Without seeing the manual, I would guess that the 3:2 is the aspect ratio, it probably normally shoots 4:3 resolution, like a standard-def television size - that's the common standard for PnSs, while DSLRs are usually 3:2. For example, my wife's 6mp PnS takes photos at 2816x2112 while my 6mp DSLR takes them at 3008x2008. Probably one is slightly "faked" as obviously the sensor is either one or the other, but the software can adjust it to look like something else. I'd bet that the 3:2 chops off the top and bottom and stretches the picture horizontally.

I'd agree on the resolutions; 3 megapixel, 2 megapixel, and 0.3 megapixel (probably 640x480? I'm too lazy to do the basic math there!)

RainbowsMist, a used laptop can be a good deal, but make 100% sure that the hard drive is up to snuff - they can seem to run fine but still have bad sectors. If possible, have the seller run diagnostic software on it, and definitely run it yourself when you get the laptop. Most every drive manufacturer has their own software that you download from their site, and it will make a floppy or bootable CD and do a full scan of the hard drive to make 100% sure that it's error-free. (Well, a drive that's slowly failing can still pass, but generally speaking, it's a reliable test.) If there are any failures, see if the drive is under warranty (probably not, for a used laptop), and if not, purchase another drive yourself and install it. The actual swapping of the drives is fairly trivial but you will need to re-install Windows, and hopefully the laptop will come with an XP install CD or "restore CDs" that will put back the exact software that the laptop shipped with originally.

 

[jann1033]

i just saw KEH.com has refurbished laptops now...lots of people are happy with their used camera stuff so maybe that would be another place along with ebay not to look for your laptop