larry_walker1 Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 I just received my D70 yesterday, and have noticed an oddity in the exposure counter. When I insert a 512MB CF card and select RAW+Basic, it reads 46 exposures available. When I read the card on the computer, it shows that each RAW file is 5.7MB and each Basic JPG is 786KB. So by my math, each card should hold approx. 512/6.5 = 78 images. And sure enough, if I click off a bunch of exposures, until the LCD displays "Full", then open the card on the computer, I have 75 images! Closer examination show that as each image is written, the exposure counter initially decrements, then after a second or so it increments back up (every other time, or so). Thus I can take about 75 shots, with the exposure counter only ticking down by one on every other shot... This doesn't seem to cause any problems, other than confusion. Is anyone else seeing this? Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phule Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 AFAIK, this is no different than any other digital camera when shooting JPGs. The # of images stored on a card in JPG format is not constant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 This is pretty common and is caused by the fact that the camera does not know how much each RAW file will compress. It guesses and to be absolutely sure that you don't run out of space, it errs on the side of caution. Hence, when using compressed raw you will see that the numbers don't really move with with each click. It's disconcerting at first, but you get pretty used to it. Same on the D2h and D1x when using compressed RAW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry_walker1 Posted March 24, 2004 Author Share Posted March 24, 2004 Well, it certainly makes sense that it has to do some amount of guessing as to the size that a compressed RAW file will end up being. But I've yet to see the D70 generate a RAW file that's anything but 5.7MB and yet it seems to be assuming that each RAW file will end up at around 11MB (512MB / 46 images). So it seems to be guessing based on a very-unlikely case for the compressed RAW size (or just using the uncompressed RAW size?)... Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_j Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 I suspect the reason you get only 75 (not 78) is because a 512MB flash card won't hold 512MB of files. If you really *need* to hold 512MB of files then you should consider a 1024MB card. I found the same with a 128MB USB memory stick, that I wanted to use to transfer a 126MB file. The memory stick could only hold a file of about 124MB - no larger. I suspect the reason for this, is that the flash has to contain a file system, before you can add any files. So when you format the flash, there are bytes of flash memory allocated, that are used to contain the file system information - the records telling the D70, what files go where - and that's before you save any actual files. As for the strange decrementing counter - I suspect you might be right about the D70 estimating using the uncompressed RAW size - never used the compressed RAW on my D100, so I can't say for sure if it's the same. Regards, Lex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregg_johnson Posted March 24, 2004 Share Posted March 24, 2004 "And sure enough, if I click off a bunch of exposures, until the LCD displays "Full", then open the card on the computer, I have 75 images!" <p> If I'm not mistaken, the D70 manual states that when shooting in NEF + Basic, 2 images are created, so the 75 images that you are seeing should not surprise you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miha Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Hi, Larry, you describe the same problem I first noticed with my compact HP camera. The display allways shows less space than it really exists on the memory card. I think the companies make it so just to err on the safe side. It would be horrible if you thought you have place enough to fit 20 pics, but at the end there is place only for 15. Now you can allways have some place left. So, don't worry, just take pictures and enjoy your new camera. Good luck, Miha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry_walker1 Posted March 25, 2004 Author Share Posted March 25, 2004 gregg johnson wrote: "If I'm not mistaken, the D70 manual states that when shooting in NEF + Basic, 2 images are created, so the 75 images that you are seeing should not surprise you" Sorry, I should have been clearer: I was able to store 75 photos, amounting to twice that many files (a RAW and a JPG-Basic of each)... Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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