# Memory cards



## Photog38 (Jun 27, 2007)

To put it simply, is it better to have several low capacity memory cards, or a few high capacity memory cards? I've heard that some people prefer to have several lower capacity cards because then they don't have to put all their "eggs" in one "basket". I'm trying to find out if it is better to buy several cards that are, say, 1GB, or just buy one card that is 2 or maybe 4 GB. I realize though, that after a while, you probably accumulate many cards.


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## ann (Jun 27, 2007)

you are going to get lots of suggestions, for myself, i use 1GB cards so i don't have all my "eggs " in one basket.  As i shoot only raw files, it isn't helpful to use anything smaller than a 1gb card

I have spent many  years changing rolls of film quickly so changing a card is no big thing and takes less time than a roll of film and yes one4 does begin to accumulate cards; especially when one finds a great sale, hard to pass up lol


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## bytch_mynickname (Jun 27, 2007)

I much prefer several smaller cards. All of my cards are 1GB, I have 9 of them.


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## Garbz (Jun 27, 2007)

What do you mean eggs in one basket? The only thing I can think of is loosing the memory card. But since I only have one big one and it never leaves my camera it would be the least of my worries.

If you are worried about something going electrically wrong. I wouldn't. I have seen these things go through washing machines, get pulled out of the ocean, I even found one in the city one day, after 3 straight days of rain, and it worked fine.


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## tr0gd0o0r (Jun 27, 2007)

> I have seen these things go through washing machines



I can vouch for this one.  

Perhaps i'm an optimist, but i think it is high unlikely that the card will fail.  However, the answer to this question lies in personal preference.  How frequently do you want to have to change cards.  Also, if you're shooting anything other than raw, you won't often need more than one or two gigs.


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## darich (Jun 28, 2007)

i prefer more cards with smaller capacity.

I've had a 256mb CF card fail for my Nikon compact a while back. Lost a few images.
I had a Lexar card lose images due to an issue with Canon cameras. Lexar replaced the card free of charge but i still lost images.
I currently have 4x1gb and 2x2gb cards. I have a Fuji 256mb card in my compact and have had 2 cards lose images as detailed.
So that's 2CF cards out of 9 I've ever owned. Maybe I've been unlucky but my cards are protected in a special wallet when not in the camera so i know they're not mistreated.
If it happened to me then it could happen to anyone.

More smaller cards is better - it takes next to no time to switch cards.


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## Alex_B (Jun 28, 2007)

I have 4 x 4 GB .. all Sandisk, no failure so far.


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## cherrymoose (Jun 28, 2007)

I bought 4 extra 2G memory cards for my Mediterranean trip (which I just got back from, oh my, I think I might die from 38 hours of sleep withdrawal-- it's a long story) and ended up only filling one and a half of the cards. So I now have 3 blank cards that I doubt I'll ever use, since it's not likely I'll be going on a longer trip any time soon. I'm thinking of selling them... but _anyways_, they do work well, and are pretty reliable... for memory cards.


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## Photog38 (Jun 28, 2007)

Garbz said:


> What do you mean eggs in one basket? The only thing I can think of is loosing the memory card.


 
Exactly. I've heard somewhere that it is better to use several smaller cards (512mb or 1gb) than a single large card (4 or 8 gb). That way, if one card is lost or damaged, you still have the others. Maybe this is being too paranoid?


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## ERS1121 (Jun 28, 2007)

I too use several small cards, although that does not guarantee you won't still have a problem. I did a prom recently, half way through the card stopped recording images. I swapped cards and hoped for the best. The next day I tried to download the images from the first card and all I got was the "no images" message, 200 images gone. Luckily I found a card recovery program that did Get them all back. From now on several cards go with me.


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## Garbz (Jun 28, 2007)

Hi ERS1121 and weclome to the forum.

The only thing that can happen to cards is that writing fails. When it does it does for good. The ability to update the File table is normally the first thing to go. I have never heard of a case where the existing data is not recoverable from the card. Even then flash memory has a large write/rewrite number so this "should" only happen to old cards.

Photog38, one could argue if you only have one card than it would be hard to loose since it's always in the camera. But if you are paranoid you could always take along a spare smaller one in case the large one stops working half way through the day. I hardly think it is justified for this reason though to carry 4 or 5 smaller cards rather than 1 large one and perhaps a backup. Unless you camera can't read large ones XD


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## sabbath999 (Jun 28, 2007)

I went on a weekend trip to Kansas and I completely filled a 4gb card, shooting jpeg. Then again I take a lot of pictures.


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## DeepSpring (Jun 28, 2007)

I have 3x1gb. Mainly because when I get enough money I just buy another one. Not patient enough to wait until i can buy a bigger one because recently ive had a need for more memory.


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## gubak (Jul 2, 2007)

Photog38 said:


> To put it simply, is it better to have several low capacity memory cards, or a few high capacity memory cards? I've heard that some people prefer to have several lower capacity cards because then they don't have to put all their "eggs" in one "basket". I'm trying to find out if it is better to buy several cards that are, say, 1GB, or just buy one card that is 2 or maybe 4 GB. I realize though, that after a while, you probably accumulate many cards.


There is one big problem with cards. They don't like to take they out and put they in the camera (especialy when the camera is on!) many times. If you have a card reader and you need to take the card out of the camera in order to download the pictures, it is recommended to format the card after puting it in to the camera! 
So in the case if you have a card reader it's better to buy several low capacity cards!


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## Garbz (Jul 3, 2007)

Hey Gubak can you provide a source for that information? The CF socket was designed to eliminate exactly the problems you described. They are guided so you can't bend pins, my extremely cheap fake "sandisk" card has been removed countless times and I can't feel any difference between it and a new card as far as the clamping on the connections is concerned. And as for the electrical issues The pin arrangement in the CF socket ensures grounding happens before any signal pins are connected (prevent static spikes) and the power is connected last (so as to not violate setup/hold times on the data), infact My electronics background makes me inclined to believe it's safer to plug them in while a the device is on than to power it down.


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## ksmattfish (Jul 3, 2007)

Put all the eggs in one basket, because it's easier to protect/keep track of one basket, or divide the eggs between several small baskets in case one is damaged or lost?  I can see how each strategy might be advantageous depending on different situations.  I've decided that I'm a lot more worried about losing a card, than having a card fail.  I figure the more cards I handle the better my chances are of misplacing one.  

I started out with a half dozen 1gb cards which would each hold approx 100 raw files from my 20D.  Then I bought a few 2gb cards, and getting 200 shots to a card was nice.  Then I bought a 5D, and all of a sudden it was like using rolls of film the cards filled up so fast   .  I bought a couple of 8gb cards which I get almost 500 5D raw files on, and I love it!  I'm shooting weddings with a couple of 20Ds loaded with 2gb and 4gb cards, and a 5D with an 8gb card, and I usually don't have to change a card all day.


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## ShaCow (Jul 4, 2007)

I prefer to use a larger card because im kinda useless when it comes to remembering where ive put things... and the last thing I want to do it loose my photos again....
I use a 256mb (got it free from canon )
A 1gb (got it free from jessops )
and a 4gb sandisk extreme iv which I got off ebay dirt cheap hehe

I think its personal preference at the end of the day.. but I do think its cheaper to buy say several 4gb cards then it is to by the same in 1gb cards.


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## jstuedle (Jul 4, 2007)

As I mentioned in another thread, I have had 2 cards fail in the last 7-8 years. I currently  prefer to use 1 gig cards instead of larger cards for this reason .  Just be aware, eventually all things fail. Memory cards are rated per the number of write cycles, they don't last forever.


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## S2K1 (Jul 8, 2007)

I currently have 3 x 2GB Cards and a 512MB(bought in '99 and still kicking). I think 2GB is as large as I want to go. I usually don't use up a single 2GB card in a shoot, but 1GB wouldn't be enough so it works out. I did manage to go through all the cards in a weekend once.


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## darich (Jul 8, 2007)

jstuedle said:


> As I mentioned in another thread, I have had 2 cards fail in the last 7-8 years.



I've had 2 fail since around 2002 - 2 out of the 9 i've ever owned have died.
I much prefer more smaller cards to fewer larger ones.


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## killcrazy (Jul 8, 2007)

i currently have 2 x 2Gb Toshiba cards
1x2Gb Play.com ultra cheapo "i only bought this cos i needed one desperatly" card, and 1x2Gb Sandisk extreme III 

basically, i shoot with 2Gb cards, Large enough to shoot lots of pics in one go without changing (purely cos im lazy) 
but small enough so that i can "afford" to lose one, and not lose too many photos, 

generally ill fill one in a night/days shooting, then use a differnet one the next day, so that iv got the hard copy of the photos on my PC, and still on a card for a least a few days if something happens to my PC.


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## Lars Leber (Jul 8, 2007)

I usually just use one 8GB card. It is very convenient and I never had any problems. I have some older cards (4GB, 2GB, 1GB) that get used only when the 8GB card is full ... it does not happen very often.


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## jstuedle (Jul 8, 2007)

Something not mentioned that I thought I would through out there. For a while I resisted replacing my 512 meg cards with larger ones. I found the 512 the right size for transferring to CD's. I believe that a burned CD has a longer shelf life than a DVD if for no other reason than the bit density is lower. a full 512 will almost fill a 640 or 700 meg CD. My workflow used to include burning to a CD before downloading the files to my computer. I am still a little uneasy about skipping this step first in the workflow process. JMHO

And Lars, how long have you been using that 8 gig card? Do you ever shoot for money? It's been my experience that when you most depend on a piece of equipment, is when it will let you down. I think it's a sub-chapter requirement of Murphy's Law.


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## Garbz (Jul 8, 2007)

Use common sense. Data can still be recovered from a dead card, but can no longer be written to it. If you are a pro you should probably use 2 cards. If one dies toss the other one in. If you do really mission critical work you should replace your cards every 50000 images or so.


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## Jon, The Elder (Jul 11, 2007)

I shoot for money.  My wife and I shoot horse events.  depending on on the situation, we will be switching between RAW and .jpg formats on-the-fly.  4 to 6 Gb a day each.  If one of us needs to borrow a card its helpful to carry a half dozen 2Gb each.


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## D-76 (Jul 15, 2007)

My Lexar Platinum II 2GB CF card recently froze up. The camera, Rebel XT, says no images and the card reader can even access the card.  Can anyone recommend recovery software or a recovery company?

 Thanks.


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## Garbz (Jul 15, 2007)

Most of our local photo labs have a service for this. A quick google turned up this list of software: http://www.ultimateslr.com/memory-card-recovery.php


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## Photog38 (Jul 16, 2007)

Another question that I have is about the speed of memory cards. I like SanDisk and am considering the extreme III. It does not cost that much more than the ultra II, so I figured I might as well spend a few dollars more and get the faster card. Then I see that they have an extreme IV. Is the speed worth the jump in price?


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## Sweetsomedays (Jul 17, 2007)

I have a Lexar 2gb and 4gb. They seem to be all I need for now. I told my husband the 2gb's are a good stocking stuffer though


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## S2K1 (Jul 17, 2007)

I know UDMA enabled cards need a camera and a firewire card reader to utilize they're speed and the Extreme IV is just a few MB/s slower than the UDMA, so I don't know if you need the firewire reader to utilize it. I'm probably going to stick with Extreme III as it's plenty fast downloading and works fine shooting 5fps RAW+JPEG.


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## Lars Leber (Jul 17, 2007)

jstuedle said:


> And Lars, how long have you been using that 8 gig card? Do you ever shoot for money? It's been my experience that when you most depend on a piece of equipment, is when it will let you down. I think it's a sub-chapter requirement of Murphy's Law.


 
For a few months. Yes, I shoot for money. In that case I think having a backup camera, backup lenses, backup flashes, and some additional memory cards is the priority and not dividing the images over multiple smaller memory cards.


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