how much memory

Hi. I'm gearing up for my first wedding in a months time and wondering if

I've enough memory. I've got 4x1Gig and 1x2Gig.

 

My reasoning is that I'm better off with several smaller cards than one big

one in case anything goes wrong with one of them. In that way I don't lose

everything.

 

I am only just making the transition from JPEGs to RAW but will probably shoot

RAW even though my workflow will be longer.

 

Many thanks

 

Marten

depends on what camera you are using...6 gigs of memory shooting RAW on an 8mp camera may give you a little over 450 shots. I'm using my 20D as an example here. I can get I think close to 79 shots on a 1 gig card shooting RAW. 79x6=474 shots. On a higher mp camera even less or course. In my opinion this would be more than enough for me. I shoot half and half though. Candid stuff is usually shot in jpeg anyways.

 

But I'm not a pro at this so many may chime in and say different.

 

Good luck and I'm sure you'll get some great info from this website. It's the best place to come when you need help!

Marten,

 

unfortunately, you don't mention what camera you'll be using ...

but since the size of the rawfile depends on the camera, there is no answer to your question.

 

Just assumed your average raw file has a size of 9MB and you plan to take 1000 pictures .... then you need 9GB space on your flashcards,

or you have a laptop to download the pictures to.

 

Rainer

First of all: which camera are you using?

I have about the same memory, and for my 10D, this is enough (not too much), when shooting in RAW, but for my 5D, this is waaaaay too little.

The reasoning of the several smaller cards is a good one, especially if you have someone with you who can start saving the cards in the meantime. But again, the question is, which camera. With the 5D, approx 60 images fit on a 1Gb card, which means you will have to change cards alot, which means you have alot of chances to miss out on something because you were swapping cards.

Sorry. Camera is Nikon D200 (10 mega pix) with a D70 (6 megapix) as the backup.

 

Marten

I have the same set up as you .... D200 w/ D70 as a backup. The D200 raw file is on average depending on the image about 15mb per file with the D70 averaging about 5mb per image. A 2GB card will hold about 125+/- images per card on the D200.

 

I've got roughly about 15GB worth of CF cards, with the intention of buying more.... 6 2GB cards and a mix match of other sizes. You can never have too much memory with you.

You need to analize how may images you think you will shoot. You are the only one who can answer that. I typically shoot 1200+ images. I get 77 images per gig. That means I will need about 16 gigs. I usually have about 25 gigs with me. What if your 2 gig card fails right when you put it in? Now you are down to only 4 gigs. You always have the option of shooting jpeg if you think you will run out of memory, but I would only do that if you are 100% sure on all you settings... including exposure, flash, and white balancce.

Here's a rule I've learned and you can see if it applies to your set up of equipment.

 

If you find yourself asking if "is this enough" then it Isn't.

 

Get More.

 

It's better to have a few extra. The alternative is finding yourself short on memory Or finding that you are pacing your shoots to meet the needs of your equipment shortage: this is Not a good way to approach a bridal couple and their families on a wedding day.

 

Get More ... if you find it's not needed then you can sell and recover almost the entire cost. Did I suggest you get more?

 

Good luck to you!

I carry 12 Gigs. I own two 2Gig cards. The rest are 1Gig. Yes, stay with smaller cards. DO NOT put hundreds of hundreds of images on one card. Cards will fail.

 

I shoot with 12 gigs of memory. Just about the right amount of memory for me. I usually use 9-10 gigs worth. I shoot RAW.

Redundancy always comes to a point of diminishing return. The more cards you have the MORE likely it is that you will have a card failure. Yet, if it happens there are not that many photos affected but it may still be important ones in which case you still need to do everything in your power to retrieve them - which may be rather expensive.

 

IMHO it would be best to use both cameras all the time, only have a few larger high quality cards and backup the images to another device as often as possible. And format the cards in the camera before use.

Get more. Its cheap (sorry, inexpensive) now. Double what you think you will need and that should be good.

 

I take 80+ gigs to a wedding even though I personally only use about 15 - 20 of that.

Memory is cheap and getting cheaper by the day! I carry 18 Gig...a lot of the time, because I can! LOL Sometimes, I find it fun just to go crazy...and on the way home from a shoot, it seems I always see something interesting that could work for an idea I have for some of my fine art work...it's nice to have the extra.

Michelle

I think that, if reading this right, I need to get some more memory! Thanks everyone for you advice. No doubt I'll have other questions as the big day approaches.

 

Marten

A little more couldn't hurt. Depending on length, I usually carry around 10gb with me (shooting a D200), and expect that I'll pick up another 4gb card (or two) as soon as finances allow.

I've accumulated about 25 gigs and and extra 8 gigs of microdrive (SCARY).

 

Currently, I use two 8 gig Ridata cards and a 4 gig Lexar, with several 1 gigs as backup. The microdrives are emergency backup stuff only.

 

The reason I use the large cards is I fear erasing a 1 gig switching so many times.

 

To fight card failure, a solution I'm pondering is to buy an 80gig Epson or other portable backup device and download during the breaks in action. Likely will duplicate my 8/8/4 gig cards as well and just rotate them, leaving a copy on the cards, and multiple copies on the Epson. If my clocks are in sync, then it shouldn't matter.

marten - depends how much you shoot. I can get around 110-120 raw images on a 1 gig CF card - even though the camera usually 89 when I start shooting.

 

I encourage you to try jpgs and raw and see what you prefer. I havne't shot a job in JPG for nearly two years, but that's me. do what suits you best.

 

some people say that a higher # of smaller cards is better b/c then you spread your risks around. other people say that a lower # of larger cards is better b/c you change cards less and you have a lower risk of bending a pin. no idea which is right.

The precise answer is `it depends how you shoot and what you shoot with`:

 

The safe answer is you are way way way too short on memory to be safe.

 

Whilst there is no definitive, I wouldn`t like to see you leave home without 20Gb to 25Gb.

 

Note well the point made above DO NOT completely fill any one card, as a guide; I leave about 5% to 8% free.

 

Regards

 

WW

Marten,

 

I also have the same set up as you - D200 and D70 backup. I currently have 8 GB of memory. I do have a laptop to backup to - but I am afraid that I may not have time to do so - so I am definitely going to be getting more.

 

Question: All of my current cards are SanDisk brand. eBay has some great looking deals for CF cards - the ones I saw were Toshiba Brand. Does the brand make a lot of difference??

 

Thanks, Val

I'm photographing a wedding with a Canon 1D camera and the raw files from there are right around 4MB. With each 2 GB card I can usually photograph around 400 images. I carry 2 2GB Lexar cards and 2 1GB Lexar cards to a wedding and that has never been a problem for me at all. I do bring a laptop with me just to download images. It really depends on your camera and the output size that the raw files are... but a typical wedding for 8 hours is around 1000 images.

Although accepting everyones advice that I need to get more memory (already bought some more) I was still struggling to really believe I need so much - until yesterday. Yesterday I spent an hour photographing a friend for a piece of coursework and got through 3 Gigs. Now I know!

As always, thanks to everyone that replied.

"Question: All of my current cards are SanDisk brand. eBay has some great looking deals for CF cards - the ones I saw were Toshiba Brand. Does the brand make a lot of difference??

 

Thanks, Val"

 

AVOID EBAY at all costs when it comes to buying memory cards - 95% of all cards sold on Ebay are fake ( this info comes from Ebay themselves )