Memory card question

[filemanager]

I'm not sure where I should ask this... but anyway...

For those of you who shoot RAW, what size memory cards do you use?

I've been shooting JPEG for 3 years now, and I'm thinking maybe I want to try my hand at RAW?

I have mostly 2GB memory cards, and one 4GB one... should I be getting bigger ones?

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by filemanager

I'm not sure where I should ask this... but anyway...

For those of you who shoot RAW, what size memory cards do you use?

I've been shooting JPEG for 3 years now, and I'm thinking maybe I want to try my hand at RAW?

I have mostly 2GB memory cards, and one 4GB one... should I be getting bigger ones?

depends on how many images you shoot a session and how large your RAW files are based on your camera...

[navcom]

I shoot RAW exclusively and I use 4 and 8gb cards. I've never had a problem with space on a shoot. I always have an extra card with me but I've rarely had to use it. But I'm also a landscape photographer and not a portrait or sports shooter. Those genres can lend themselves to burst shooting which will eat up space quicker. But even when I have done some portrait work, it's still never been an issue.

[filemanager]

Thanks guys!

[dbevisjr]

Originally Posted by filemanager

I'm not sure where I should ask this... but anyway...

For those of you who shoot RAW, what size memory cards do you use?

I've been shooting JPEG for 3 years now, and I'm thinking maybe I want to try my hand at RAW?

I have mostly 2GB memory cards, and one 4GB one... should I be getting bigger ones?

I have a D60 (10.2mp) and I use 4gb cards. I shoot raw+jpg and the approximate capacity is 360 images per card. Never shot that many in one outing. I've shot around 200 and still had well over 100 left. On the D60 the display will show approximately how many you have left based on average file size and your card volume. Depends on file size for your camera though.

One bit of advice is to shoot raw+jpg until you develope some confidence and speed in your ability to process the raw. I use the jpg as a comparison and my raw processing skills are improving.

[ravncat]

I shoot raw and use multiple 4 gig cards. It seems to be a good compromise between space, price and fallback - such that I can fit several images, and should one card go bad, I`d risk losing fewer images.

If I ever double my current resolution, I may have to go to 8 or 16 gig cards. (and a new computer)

[oldwolf]

I shoot RAW with 4GB and 8GB cards. This is on the 40D and the 7D. A friend that has a D3 shoots RAW on 1GB and 2GB cards. Personal preference really.

He does a lot of studio fashion stuff and his reasoning is that he can fill up a 1GB fairly fast and if he's just not feeling the outfit or the mood then he can use changing the cards out to give his brain and the model a break. They can also change outfits or he could maybe change the lighting or location (if he's shooting outdoors).

[filemanager]

Originally Posted by dbevisjr

One bit of advice is to shoot raw+jpg until you develope some confidence and speed in your ability to process the raw. I use the jpg as a comparison and my raw processing skills are improving.

Yep, that's just what I plan on doing!

[Jim Bryant]

I shoot RAW have and (3) one gig, (15) two gig and (13) 4 gig and three eight gig cards. Depending on the type of assignment depends on the size of card I'll use. I surely won't use a one gig card to shoot sports. I only use the 8 gig cards when shooting with my EOS MKII Ds because of the large file size.

It's always best to use the lower size cards 1 - 4 gigs. That old saying, "It's best not to put all your eggs in one basket" is true. One could have a card failure and loose all their images on a card higher than eight and above. I'd rather have to swap out cards instead of relying on a 8 - 16 gig card to store the images on. But that's me. Once I had to use Image Rescue to retrieve images on a card that went bad in the middle of a baseball game, pissed me off as I had to deal with that instead of shooting because of that damn East Coast deadline, which depending on the time of year is two or three hours ahead of the West Cast.

[OsmosisStudios]

When I was using my D80 I used 4x2GB and 1x4GB SD cards. I still have them as last-ditch backups
Now with the D300s I use 4x4GB CF cards, and havent needed to swap them out too much even on vacation. Of course, as I said, I make sure I have the SDs as backups (since the D300s takes both).

I never leave the house without almost 30GB of storage.