# Nikon D7000 Shots Left Indicator Problem



## psesinkclee (Mar 8, 2011)

I have my D7000 here with two Sandisk Extreme 16gb cards in it, but the shots left indicator on the screens seems to be incorrect.

On my D90 with one 16gb Sandisk Extreme card (shooting RAW, 12bit) shows 1.0K shots left when empty.  The D7000 shows only 584 shots left with the same settings (RAW, 12bit) with the same card.  It remains the same if I have one or two of these cards in it.  I have the D7000 set t use the second memory card as overflow, so I would expect it to show around 2.0K when they are both empty and the settings remain the same.

Is there something I'm missing here?


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## RockstarPhotography (Mar 8, 2011)

try reformatting the cards in the 7000


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## psesinkclee (Mar 8, 2011)

RockstarPhotography said:


> try reformatting the cards in the 7000


 
Yep, I tried that. 

 Still having the problem.  Would the megapixel difference between the D90 and the D7000 double the amount of space that RAW files take up?


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## djacobox372 (Mar 8, 2011)

psesinkclee said:


> RockstarPhotography said:
> 
> 
> > try reformatting the cards in the 7000
> ...



It will take more space, but not double. The raw compression also may vary a little between the two cameras, but not that much.  I'd double check your compression and file size settings.


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## xjoewhitex (Mar 8, 2011)

If you look at your top display you can see two memory card icons, with one having a number and the other blank. The amount of photos your camera is displaying is off the selected card, once it is filled it will switch to the backup resetting your counter.


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## 480sparky (Mar 8, 2011)

Is your "Image Quality" set to RAW + Jpeg?  Also, is the RAW set to 12- or 14-bit?


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## psesinkclee (Mar 8, 2011)

djacobox372 said:


> psesinkclee said:
> 
> 
> > RockstarPhotography said:
> ...



Compression is set to Loseless Compression.  This makes the files larger than the other Compression type.  Changing it to the other one raises it to around 700 from 584 on a blank 16GB card.  This is a bit more, but not close to what I have on the D90.



xjoewhitex said:


> If you look at your top display you can see two memory card icons, with one having a number and the other blank. The amount of photos your camera is displaying is off the selected card, once it is filled it will switch to the backup resetting your counter.



I understand this, but this means it is showing that I have less than 500 shots per card (and both at 16GB cards).



480sparky said:


> Is your "Image Quality" set to RAW + Jpeg?  Also, is the RAW set to 12- or 14-bit?


 
I have it set to RAW only.  For this test I have it set to 12-bit (to be on par with the D90), but I will normally use it in 14-bit.


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## 480sparky (Mar 8, 2011)

psesinkclee said:


> ...........I have it set to RAW only.  For this test I have it set to 12-bit (to be on par with the D90), but I will normally use it in 14-bit.


 

I set mine to the same settings, and I get 567 shots on a Toshiba 16g card.  Is it set for lossless compressed or compressed?


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## psesinkclee (Mar 8, 2011)

480sparky said:


> psesinkclee said:
> 
> 
> > ...........I have it set to RAW only.  For this test I have it set to 12-bit (to be on par with the D90), but I will normally use it in 14-bit.
> ...


 
I have it set to Loseless Compressed, but I get about the same number of shots when I have it set to Compressed.


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## sierramister (Mar 8, 2011)

There is a similar problem with the D7000 to be aware of.  If you are shooting RAW to card 1 and JPEG to card 2, the cards become synchronous.  For example, you have 267 photos RAW on an 8GB card, then the JPEG card can only hold 267 photos, even though there is tons of room left.


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## psesinkclee (Mar 8, 2011)

sierramister said:


> There is a similar problem with the D7000 to be aware of.  If you are shooting RAW to card 1 and JPEG to card 2, the cards become synchronous.  For example, you have 267 photos RAW on an 8GB card, then the JPEG card can only hold 267 photos, even though there is tons of room left.


 
I don't see that as a problem.  If you're shooting RAW and JPEG it would keep the numbers the same.  

My problem is shooting only RAW and for some reason it just seems to be taking up much mre space than I thought it would  Maybe its the combination of the Compression Types, 12-bit vs. 14-bit, and the Megapixel Difference.


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## 480sparky (Mar 8, 2011)

The D90 is a 12.3 mp, while the 7000 is a 16.2.

Mathematically, that alone accounts for the drop from 1000 shots to 759 (almost 25% less).

The manual will tell you that the numbers shown on the LCD/monitor are approximate.

Is it possible there's some files not in the DCIM/subdirectories?  I don't know if formatting the cards will erase just what's in the subdirectory, or whether it totally wipes out everything.


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## psesinkclee (Mar 8, 2011)

480sparky said:


> The D90 is a 12.3 mp, while the 7000 is a 16.2.
> 
> Mathematically, that alone accounts for the drop from 1000 shots to 759 (almost 25% less).
> 
> ...




I figured they were approximate since the number goes up by around 3 or 4 after every 10 shots done in rapid succession.  These were new cards from the box, and I just checked them.  They only have the image directories on them.

Although, my shots have been reduced to around 580.  Just seemed like a big drop to me, but I could be wrong.


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## 480sparky (Mar 8, 2011)

Maybe it has to do with Nikon's Expeed 2 processor.. it dips into the card memory as a buffer just like your computer can dip into your HD memory.


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## KmH (Mar 9, 2011)

The number shown is only an approximation. It has to be approximate, because image file size varies with content.

Also each camera model has a unique Raw file format so your D90 and D7000 are not directly comparable relative to Raw image file size. The D7000 will likely have more metadata in the file than the D90 will.


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## imLOSTirl (Mar 9, 2011)

I thought this was odd aswell. 

The number shown is the number of images left on one card. When this is full, the counter resets for the second card. 

It's a bit weird.


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## benhasajeep (Mar 9, 2011)

According to the Nikon manuals the average D90 Raw file size is 10.8mb (D90 is 12bit). In the D7000 with compressed 12 bit raw they are 13.6mb, and lossless compressed 12 bit they are 15.5mb. At 14bit lossless they are 19.4. If you were in 14bit on the D7000 your numbers would be close to correct. As the file is nearly double the size as the D90's.

Do you still have the 90?  Do a side by side comparison of the same scene?  Look at actual file size from the D7000 to the D90's.  That would be the defenitive answer.


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## 480sparky (Mar 9, 2011)

sierramister said:


> There is a similar problem with the D7000 to  be aware of.  If you are shooting RAW to card 1 and JPEG to card 2, the  cards become synchronous.  For example, you have 267 photos RAW on an  8GB card, then the JPEG card can only hold 267 photos, even though there  is tons of room left.



Swap the cards halfway through.


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## KmH (Mar 9, 2011)

You would also have to change the capture mode to JPEG only.


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## ghache (Mar 9, 2011)

mine only shows like 250(i dont remember the exact numbers) shots for an 8 gig card shooting raw 14. so your numbers are about right. 


Just a side notes 

Nikons indicator gives you the worst possible number since it uses the maximum file size. all your files are not at maximum size in real life. 
i was able to shoot close to 350 shots on a 8 gig card before it acutally jumped to the other one.


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## adversus (Mar 9, 2011)

Like ghache above me, I get around 250-270 shots per 8gb card in 14 bit RAW.  

Sounds like you are experiencing data shock overload from the upgrade


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## 480sparky (Mar 9, 2011)

adversus said:


> ................Sounds like you are experiencing data shock overload from the upgrade



I couldn't have cared less about file size when I moved up from the D60 to the D7000.  I just replaced all my 2g cards with 16s.

It's the improved image quality that blows me away!


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## adversus (Mar 9, 2011)

Right. And to get better image quality, you need to store more data.

The punchline is your cards/camera are fine.  Shoot away!


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## Dagwood (Sep 14, 2011)

If I allready have pictures on the card in slot 2 and set for overflow , you can't check how much space is left on the card in slot 2 at current settings?


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## neilmoralee (Feb 2, 2012)

adversus said:


> Right. And to get better image quality, you need to store more data.
> 
> The punchline is your cards/camera are fine.  Shoot away!




I have the same problem with my D7000, BUT  dont worry even when the camera suggests I can only get 451 shots on my 16GB cards it puts over 700 on the card..... a bit annoying .
Neil


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## cichy_de (Jan 19, 2013)

neilmoralee said:


> adversus said:
> 
> 
> > Right. And to get better image quality, you need to store more data.
> ...



I recognised, that you write this a long time ago, but I think you are still now interested on this, why such thing happens. Thera are some aspects, why: 
1. D90 and most of Nikon cameras until this time only offers lossy compression. Above this, D7000 offers you also to change the kind of JPEG - nearly the same size or better quality. Depending on what you shot, the lossless compression is much more varying size than the lossy. If you photograph landscapes it can very much compress the files because of big areas of nearly same colors and less details as e.g. a street.
2. The camera is very pessimistic at calculation time, because it's better for the photographer to take 100 photos on a SD on which the camera shows 60 at start as taking 60 photos on a cartrige on which camera shows 100 and you didn't got second one.

Regards

Waldemar


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