# Importance of Multiple Cards?



## mcoppadge (Jun 17, 2009)

Why is it so important to have multiple memory cards with you when you shoot? I've seen several people state the importance of carrying several cards with you when you shoot. I carry a single 16GB CF card with me. It stays in the camera 24/7 and I have never come close to filling it, so what's the point of having more than one card?


----------



## Big Mike (Jun 17, 2009)

What would you do if the card stopped working for some reason?

What would be the consequences if you lost the card? (although that's a lot less likely when you don't take it out).


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

how have you never filled a 16gb card?
i carry a pelican case that holds 8 SD cards. i have 8 8gb extreme iii cards in it. that's 64gbs and those often aren't enough. i have about 15 8gb transcend cards i usually just throw in my bag just in case.


----------



## JamieR (Jun 17, 2009)

^^^ How can you fill that much memory? Do you never empty them?


----------



## harrison (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> how have you never filled a 16gb card?
> i carry a pelican case that holds 8 SD cards. i have 8 8gb extreme iii cards in it. that's 64gbs and those often aren't enough. i have about 15 8gb transcend cards i usually just throw in my bag just in case.


 
WOW. You must shoot a lot of RAW. I carry a 4GB and 3 1GB. I could see needing more if I am going on a week long trip, but for the typical 1 to 2hr events I do there just isnt a need. My laptop is normally with me, and I dump them regularly. Thats an insane amount of memory you are carrying.....


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

when i go out to shoot i usually spend 8-15 hours out. i may hit multiple zoos, aviaries, state parks, beaches... depends on where i am. 8 8gb cards is under 5000 shots. pretty easy to shoot 5000+ shots in a full day.


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

harrison said:


> itznfb said:
> 
> 
> > how have you never filled a 16gb card?
> ...



Yeah, that's crazy...

How many external hard drives do you have?
I would think you would have a few if you need to carry so much memory...


I just have a 4gb and a 2gb.  I've filled the 2gb card _once_.  Never even came close on the 4gb.  I can't see needing more unless I was on a long trip, very far away from a computer.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots. i'd fill that up in some burst shots lol.
i have 2 2GB wd external mirror drives. so 2gb total external storage. i've only been shooting a lot like this for the past year or so. and i only get to go out 4 or 5 times a month. which is also why i spend the entire day shooting.

i honestly didn't think i'd be the only one... lol


----------



## harrison (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots. i'd fill that up in some burst shots lol.
> i have 2 2GB wd external mirror drives. so 2gb total external storage. i've only been shooting a lot like this for the past year or so. and i only get to go out 4 or 5 times a month. which is also why i spend the entire day shooting.
> 
> i honestly didn't think i'd be the only one... lol


 
I see where you are coming from, but with that many pictures to sort through I would pull me hair out. I take between 500 to 1000 pics during the week and maybe another 500+ on a weekend. Unless I am doing something special or with a difficult exposure, I steer clear of RAW and just go for JPEG Norm. I am guessing you ment 2TB drives??


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots.



...Your RAWs must be a lot bigger than mine.

I just checked my bag - I actually have 3 cards.  1gb, 2gb, & 4gb.  Forgot about the 1gb.

Just going by the counter on an empty card (which is always a little less than the real capacity), I can hold 115 RAWs on the 1gb, 233 on the 2gb, and 469 on the 4gb.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

harrison said:


> Norm. I am guessing you ment 2TB drives??



lol yes i did. 2gb drives would be pretty useless.



O|||||||O said:


> itznfb said:
> 
> 
> > a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots.
> ...



the RAW files on my D90 average 11 MB. i have a couple 2GB cards and just judging by the estimation it's about 150 shots.

i would guess if i were doing a portrait shoot or something like that i'd probably only take 200 or so shots. in that case the only reason i'd need more than one card is for backup purposes if the 1st one fails. i try to replace my cards every 20 uses or so just to avoid corruption.


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> the RAW files on my D90 average 11 MB.



Mine are roughly half of that (350D).


----------



## rufus5150 (Jun 17, 2009)

Expanded capacity and fail-over.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket, basically.


----------



## KmH (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> when i go out to shoot i usually spend 8-15 hours out. i may hit multiple zoos, aviaries, state parks, beaches... depends on where i am. 8 8gb cards is under 5000 shots. pretty easy to shoot 5000+ shots in a full day.


Frankly, that's OT. Spray and pray, defined.

15 hours is 900 minutes. At 5000 images in 15 hours (let alone 8) that's an average of 5.5 images per minute, an image every 10.8 seconds, no eating, going to the bathroom, changing subjects, going to different locations, swapping lenses, oggleing the girls, changing batteries, handing out a few business cards, answering onlookers questions, etc.

But then, I notice you don't take the time to use the shift key to make capitol letters when you type either. Interesting.


----------



## KmH (Jun 17, 2009)

mcoppadge said:


> Why is it so important to have multiple memory cards with you when you shoot? I've seen several people state the importance of carrying several cards with you when you shoot. I carry a single 16GB CF card with me. It stays in the camera 24/7 and I have never come close to filling it, so what's the point of having more than one card?


Murphy's law: What can go wrong, will go wrong.

You stand to lose every image on the card if it fails. I prefer to change cards frequently rather than risk losing everything I shot since my last download..


----------



## harrison (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> a 2gb card is like 150 RAW shots. i'd fill that up in some burst shots lol.


 
Could be a little pray and spray, but when you are taking 4.5 pics per second for a burst, you can fill a card up pretty quickly. *capital* letters are totally obsolete anyways.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

KmH said:


> itznfb said:
> 
> 
> > when i go out to shoot i usually spend 8-15 hours out. i may hit multiple zoos, aviaries, state parks, beaches... depends on where i am. 8 8gb cards is under 5000 shots. pretty easy to shoot 5000+ shots in a full day.
> ...



lol. you must be pretty insecure to attack someone for absolutely no reason at all. excuse me if i take several lengthy bursts on most of my trips. i must be a failure of a photographer and failure of graMMARzz! apparently. please accept my appology oh mighty internet/photo/grammar king. :er:

your post was one of the most useless things i've seen in a while
edit: next to this one


----------



## B Kennedy (Jun 17, 2009)

Take for instance shooting for 10 hours, a dance recital.  Doesn't make sense to shoot raw with the 5dm2, thats like 21mb per image.  I took around 3000 images in the time span of about 10 hours.  There were no breaks, small bathroom breaks in between dances.  Shoot raw? thats like you need to have (8) 8 GB cards.  If I were to shoot for a whole day out doing landscapes, I would still need at least (4) 8gb cards.  So all depending on the camera and file sizes, some people will only need 2gb cards, others 16gb cards.  And the quantity is also relative.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

B Kennedy said:


> 21mb per image.



yikes. i'd be screwed.


----------



## B Kennedy (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> B Kennedy said:
> 
> 
> > 21mb per image.
> ...



yea its definitely a lot, and I just cant justify that space when I need to take thousands of pictures, I'd much rather pack 6-7 2gb cards and shoot jpeg at around 7-8mb per image.

But there are many instances when I would absolutely shoot raw, weddings, sweet 16's, baptisms, etc.  Just not for sports when im looking to turn a profit.  If i were shooting for some kinda magazine, (God I wish! lol), then yea, screw the space and shoot raw and eat those cards up


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

I just can't see *needing* to take that many pictures...


You must have like 10 or 20 copies of every picture (so close that it's almost identical).
Have you ever tried to be more selective and not take a picture of every single thing you see?


Not trying to be rude, sorry if it sounds that way...  I just can't comprehend taking that many pictures...  What percentage of those are keepers?


----------



## mcoppadge (Jun 17, 2009)

Wow. A lots been said since I last came here.

I suppose I can't argue with the whole "Murphy's Law" thing. As to capacity, I take it back...I did fill the card once, but only when I was shooting TIFFs. It didn't matter though because I didn't need to be shooting TIFFs and I had the chance to dump the card before I kept shooting but didnt.

My JPGS are around 6MB. TIFFs are about 35-40MB. I'm not sure how large my RAW files are. I can fit about 1,400 JPGS and 400 TIFFs onto my card. I don't know how itznfb uses all that space. 5000 shots in a day? Even at my most eager I only ever shot 3000.


----------



## B Kennedy (Jun 17, 2009)

O|||||||O said:


> I just can't see *needing* to take that many pictures...
> 
> 
> You must have like 10 or 20 copies of every picture (so close that it's almost identical).
> ...




Point is well taken, but its all depending on what your subject matter is.  Now I took almost 3000 pictures, well there was over 300 individual kids in that dance recital, some only in 1 dance.  So if you do the math that really only amounts to an average of 10 pictures per child.  I really hoped to get more than that, as like i said in a previous post, some parents ordered every damn picture I took.

I would say that I prolly editted down maybe 8-10% of that.  And btw, i didnt think you were rude

Now had I only been photographing 1 baseball game, sure I wouldn't have anywhere near that much


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

B Kennedy said:


> Now I took almost 3000 pictures, well there was over 300 individual kids in that dance recital, some only in 1 dance.  So if you do the math that really only amounts to an average of 10 pictures per child.  I really hoped to get more than that, as like i said in a previous post, some parents ordered every damn picture I took.



OK, it doesn't sound so bad in that situation.

I just assumed you were only taking pictures of _your_ kid - not every kid in the dance.


And yeah - if they're buying them up, I guess more is better.


----------



## B Kennedy (Jun 17, 2009)

did you just drop the "k" word on me?

lol no kids for me yet, maybe in a few years lol


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

LOL.  Buy all the gear you can before that...  And make sure it's good stuff so that it lasts for a loooong time.


----------



## B Kennedy (Jun 17, 2009)

O|||||||O said:


> B Kennedy said:
> 
> 
> > Now I took almost 3000 pictures, well there was over 300 individual kids in that dance recital, some only in 1 dance.  So if you do the math that really only amounts to an average of 10 pictures per child.  I really hoped to get more than that, as like i said in a previous post, some parents ordered every damn picture I took.
> ...



I'm happy with what I've made so far, but heres an interesting fact.  Out of all those pictures I've sold about 7%.  So now you throw that into the mix and you say its a waste.  But hey, you never know which parent wanted a picture.  Even after all those, I still had parents contact me that I missed their daughter.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

O|||||||O said:


> I just can't see *needing* to take that many pictures...
> 
> 
> You must have like 10 or 20 copies of every picture (so close that it's almost identical).
> ...



well, i like going to the zoo. when i'm at the pgh zoo (10 minutes from my house) i'll end up with 15-20 80-90 shot bursts. do i need them? no of course not. but when i see animals making funny faces for rolling around or yawning i'll just hold the trigger down so i don't miss a great shot. i could time a great shot but might miss a better one 1/2 a second later.

i love this shot, and this was in the middle of a 60-70 shot set, only one frame out of that many where his tongue was out like this:






if i just go to a state park or something. i'll probably come home with 500 shots because i'm framing every shot, generally using a tripod and just taking 1 or 2 of any given scene. the zoo is probably where i take the most shots. especially if i'm at a zoo i know i won't visit again for a year or two.

as far as % of keepers? from the zoo 4~5% :er:


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> i'll end up with 15-20 80-90 shot bursts.



Oh my god!



Have you looked into a good video camera?  Seriously - it sounds like you would love one.  With the right software, I'm sure you could extract high quality stills from it.


edit
And yeah - that's a pretty good shot.


----------



## mcoppadge (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> well, i like going to the zoo. when i'm at the pgh zoo (10 minutes from my house) i'll end up with 15-20 80-90 shot bursts. do i need them? no of course not.



I did this when I started shooting the concerts they held here at my university. Then I had to go through them, pick out the good ones, and edit them. Now I try to be a little more conservative. But hey, everyone's got their style.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

i do find myself doing this less and less but it is extremely useful at times. i actually enjoy going through them all in post and trying to find the best one. part of the reason why i take so many.

i guess the number of shots i take might be a little much, but as i said, i don't get to go out that often and those shots usually keep me busy after work until i get to go out again. and it's not like a fire off a ton of shots everytime. it's generally under the circumstances i described. though i'll still probably take 100 shots or so at each exhibit.

another reason i love the zoo. most exhibits offer multiple different lighting scenarios and various angles to shoot from. it gives me a lot of practice.


----------



## kundalini (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> i'll end up with 15-20 80-90 shot bursts.





> i love this shot, and this was in the middle of a 60-70 shot set, only one frame out of that many where his tongue was out like this:


I don't want to call out BS, but I do want to call it foolish.

The D90 does clear the buffer fast, but once it's full, you go from 4.5 fps to 1 fps until you release the shutter button (up to 100). Nikons shut down at 100 to keep heat build-up down.

So in essence, you are unnecessarily putting stress on your camera and very likely will have a shortened life.

Shoot on bro.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

kundalini said:


> itznfb said:
> 
> 
> > i'll end up with 15-20 80-90 shot bursts.
> ...



hardly. with an extreme III it never slows down unless the shot involves a significantly diverse scene. however with the Transcend class 6 cards i only get about 15 shots before it slows down no matter what is in the scene. and it only slows down for a few shots then goes right back to 4.5. so the extreme III probably doesn't keep up with the buffer but it probably catches up in a short enough time span that i don't notice.

as far as wear and tear on the body.... who cares. i don't rely on it for income. it's a toy. if it breaks i'll buy another. if one day i do this for money i'll probably look at things from another (or additional) perspective.


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> as far as wear and tear on the body.... who cares. i don't rely on it for income. it's a toy. if it breaks i'll buy another. if one day i do this for money i'll probably look at things from another (or additional) perspective.



Now, I'm not a working pro - but...

I'm pretty sure that's the _opposite_ of how most people think about it.

If you were doing this professionally, you would have insurance on your gear, so you wouldn't worry about breaking it - if you did, the insurance will pay for it.  As a hobbyist, most don't have insurance on their gear, so if it breaks it's all out of pocket.

If you're loaded and don't mind buying new camera bodies every year or two - why not.  The rest of us have to be more careful though.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

O|||||||O said:


> itznfb said:
> 
> 
> > as far as wear and tear on the body.... who cares. i don't rely on it for income. it's a toy. if it breaks i'll buy another. if one day i do this for money i'll probably look at things from another (or additional) perspective.
> ...



you may have a good point. but does insurance cover equipment failure due to usage?

i realize not everyone is just going to go out and carelessly spend money on their hobby. but we're dual income with no kids (hopefuly it stays that way) and we spend money on our hobbies. so it's generally not a concern. i just figured there would be more people that would come home with several thousand shots after a day.

KmH you can now officially say this thread is off topic


----------



## kundalini (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> hardly. with an extreme III it never slows down unless the shot involves a significantly diverse scene.


The review I was referring to was by Thom Hogan.  He was using the Extreme III card and shooting NEF files.



> as far as wear and tear on the body.... who cares. .


Figures.  :er:

Shoot on bro.


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> you may have a good point. but does insurance cover equipment failure due to usage?


I would assume so, but I don't have it so I don't know.



itznfb said:


> but we're dual income with no kids



That makes a huge difference.  

We're one income - with kids.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

kundalini said:


> > as far as wear and tear on the body.... who cares. .
> 
> 
> Figures.  :er:
> ...



oh c'mon. i purchased a decent dslr to take lots of pictures and get all the fucntionality i could out of it. that's what i'm doing. you make it sound like i'm just throwing it in a pond to see what happens.

EDIT:
my point is.... by using the fast cards i have and not having to worry about space, and firing off as many shots as i can in certain scenarios i end up with some great shots that i'm really happy with that i wouldn't have otherwise...


----------



## PhotoXopher (Jun 17, 2009)

I have to know... how many shots on the clicker of your D90?


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

I know you didn't ask me - but I don't care, I'm answering anyway...lol.

I bought my 350D about 3 years ago.  I just rolled over 7000.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

N0YZE said:


> I have to know... how many shots on the clicker of your D90?



lol... not as many as you would think.  i don't think i've hit 50,000 yet.
i'm over 100,000 on my D50. i'm surprised it hasn't died yet. though i never machine gunned the D50. just years of use.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

O|||||||O said:


> I know you didn't ask me - but I don't care, I'm answering anyway...lol.
> 
> I bought my 350D about 3 years ago.  I just rolled over 7000.





itznfb said:


> N0YZE said:
> 
> 
> > I have to know... how many shots on the clicker of your D90?
> ...



:meh: 7000? 3yrs?  okay. maybe you guys are right. maybe i'm just nuts.


----------



## PhotoXopher (Jun 17, 2009)

Good to know, keep gunning it - I want reassurance on how long mine will last with casual use lol.

Then again it's always the car you beat on that won't die...


----------



## bhop (Jun 17, 2009)

When i'm shooting automotive events, I usually shoot around 500 shots, give or take a few..  I have had cards mess up, or fill up, so I always pack a spare or two.

on topic for the off topic = machine gunning the zoo is definitely overkill, IMO.  Personally, I prefer to take my time and enjoy taking photos and mashing the "trigger" isn't my idea of enjoyment.  ..but *shrug* to each his own.. do what you love, i'm not one to judge


----------



## kundalini (Jun 17, 2009)

Sorry for the off topic. :blushing:


I carry 3x 4GB Extreme IV cards and 2x 2GB Extreme III cards. I have had ocassions where I filled 4+ of them over weekend shoots using two bodies. Only one was gripped, but my burst, uhmm, short burst rates are 6.5 & 8 fps. I shoot RAW almost 100%, there are a few ocassions I guess...... Eventually, one will fail and I'd rather have a spare. Same with batteries, I keep a spare.


----------



## KmH (Jun 17, 2009)

itznfb said:


> KmH said:
> 
> 
> > itznfb said:
> ...


apology accepted. 
 :thumbup: your post was one of the most useless things i've seen in a while
edit: next to this one


----------



## mcoppadge (Jun 17, 2009)

kundalini said:


> Same with batteries, I keep a spare.



I've got tons of spare batteries. For some reason the battery indicator goes from full to 2 bars immediately. So I never have forewarning when my battery is getting lower.

As a side note, if anyone happens to know why it does this, please let me know. I shoot with a batter grip so maybe that has something to do with it.


----------



## kundalini (Jun 17, 2009)

are you using AAs in the grip or the EN-ELe or the EN-EL4?


----------



## mcoppadge (Jun 17, 2009)

kundalini said:


> are you using AAs in the grip or the EN-ELe or the EN-EL4?



I've got 16 AAs--two sets of four to use for the speedlight (one set for backup) and 8 for the grip. I've also got an extra EN-EL3e battery in a grip cartridge on standby.


----------



## itznfb (Jun 17, 2009)

D300 and D3 have known battery issues with symptoms similar to what you describe. just google "D300 dead battery syndrome"

might not be the same thing you're experiencing.


----------



## Josh66 (Jun 17, 2009)

mcoppadge said:


> kundalini said:
> 
> 
> > are you using AAs in the grip or the EN-ELe or the EN-EL4?
> ...



Are they rechargable?  From what I understand - they're known to die suddenly...


----------



## iflynething (Jun 17, 2009)

B Kennedy said:


> Take for instance shooting for 10 hours, a dance recital.



That's actually what I do. I usually shoot at 6.9MP on my D300 and might even bump it down to 3.1. I get rought 1,000 shots on a 4GB card. I have 3x 4GB cards and a Lexar 2GB but it's only 33x speed and downloads incredibly slow so I stick to the 4GB's.

If I lost one card with 1,000 images, that could be $2,000 lost because of pictures I wouldn't have to sell to clients. That's why IIIIII use multiple cards...

~Michael~


----------



## kundalini (Jun 17, 2009)

Yes, the first of D300 had issues with dead batteries.  I can't remember whether it was actually the battery or the charge indicator on the LCD.  There was quite a bit of chatter on NikonCafe about it, which was one of the reasons I held off for a while...... okay, the price tag was another.

I have mine set to use the battery in the grip first, then got to the in camera.  But I only use AAs in the grip and knock on wood, no battery problems for me.  Also, my AAs are sets of 2500 & 2900mah NiMH.


----------



## mcoppadge (Jun 18, 2009)

kundalini said:


> Yes, the first of D300 had issues with dead batteries.  I can't remember whether it was actually the battery or the charge indicator on the LCD.  There was quite a bit of chatter on NikonCafe about it, which was one of the reasons I held off for a while...... okay, the price tag was another.
> 
> I have mine set to use the battery in the grip first, then got to the in camera.  But I only use AAs in the grip and knock on wood, no battery problems for me.  Also, my AAs are sets of 2500 & 2900mah NiMH.



Mine is set the same way, though I'm not sure what type of AAs I'm using. But yes, they are rechargable. I have a feeling that it might be a problem with the charge indicator on the LCD. I'll google it and see what I can find.


----------



## DScience (Jun 26, 2009)

O|||||||O said:


> I know you didn't ask me - but I don't care, I'm answering anyway...lol.
> 
> I bought my 350D about 3 years ago.  I just rolled over 7000.



WOW! I've had my D90 less than two months and i'm probably close to that!


----------



## mcoppadge (Jun 27, 2009)

kundalini said:


> Yes, the first of D300 had issues with dead batteries.  I can't remember whether it was actually the battery or the charge indicator on the LCD.  There was quite a bit of chatter on NikonCafe about it, which was one of the reasons I held off for a while...... okay, the price tag was another.
> 
> I have mine set to use the battery in the grip first, then got to the in camera.  But I only use AAs in the grip and knock on wood, no battery problems for me.  Also, my AAs are sets of 2500 & 2900mah NiMH.



I realized the other day that I had selected the wrong battery type in the camera menu for those AAs. That may have something to do with it. I haven't shot much since, so I don't know if it works correctly now or not.


----------



## Ryvax (Jul 3, 2009)

Anyone have a favorite place to buy cards for a good price?


----------



## Josh66 (Jul 3, 2009)

Newegg


----------



## Phranquey (Jul 4, 2009)

DScience said:


> O|||||||O said:
> 
> 
> > I know you didn't ask me - but I don't care, I'm answering anyway...lol.
> ...


 
I hear that. During a daytime storm chase, I can pop off 400 x 3 second exposures in 20 minutes while a storm is rolling in on me. Within 5 moves, thats 2000 shots.

At that rate, it is not unusual to shoot quite a few thousand shots on a single active afternoon.  And the real kicker is I might get one or two _serious_ keepers out of that.


----------



## itznfb (Jul 4, 2009)

O|||||||O said:


> Newegg



qft...

always be on the lookout for newegg's mistakes. they seem to constantly mistakenly drop the prices on their sandisk cards. i picked up 10 8GB Extreme III's the other day at at 39.99 a piece. about 10 minutes after i got my shipment notice the price went back up


----------

