So I'm going digital. Help me out.

[revert]

I have decided to get the 20d, after much playing around with it at local photography stores (and best buy as well, haha). Now I have a few questions, around how many pics can a 4gb memory card hold (shooting raw)? How many shots does it take to drain one battery down? Oh and last one, how freakin' happy am I going to be!? Muahaha. Thanks guys. I have been lurking here for a while and am going to take the plung from film.

[Andy_T]

Revert,

welcome to the forum :D
My guess is that you'll get something like 350 images (RAW+large JPG) on your 4 GB card.
(I get something like 88 on a 1 GB card)

The battery definitely should be good for that number, too.
Most likely more, but have never exhausted mine so far and kept track of the number of images.

So you'll be happy :D

Best regards,
Andy

[snibbetsj]

I shoot RAW and small JPEG on mine and get about 50-55 shots per 512mb card, you should get 400-450 on a 4 gb card.

[aMacFan]

I shoot RAW only and get about 217 shots on a 2Gb card

[tacos3]

I get 109 on a 1gb @ ISO 100 shooting RAW only. Over the weekend, I shot 700 images and took the both batteries down about 50% as I have a grip with 2 batteries. You should get >500 images on one battery depending on how much internal flash you use. I've never taken 2 batteries down in any one shoot. The most I've shot at one time was 1500 images in a 5 hr period.

Just a comment about CF cards. I prefer more, smaller cards as you could have a CF failure and loose all your images. I shoot 1Gb cards, 4 of them, and 100 images is the most that I'd care to loose.

Good Luck....Darren

[revert]

Cool guys, thanks for all of your information. I think I will go with 4x's 1gb cards. I think that it is a good idea. I'm also getting a smartdisc photochute 20gb storage. If anyone has one of these that would be great if you could tell me to stay away from them, if they aren't great. I'll have the 20d and some lenses by thursday!!! Wahooo!!!

[Keiffer]

Congrats Revert! And Welcome to the forum:-)

[Okiewan]

and 100 images is the most that I'd care to loose.And how often have you heard of that happeneing? Or better yet, know anyone that's ever lost an image? Just tell the truth, buying a 512 card is a lot easier, lol.

[bolantej]

And how often have you heard of that happeneing? Or better yet, know anyone that's ever lost an image? Just tell the truth, buying a 512 card is a lot easier, lol.

actually, i just recently had one 512 card get corrupted and all images were unusable. this was with my ultra II that i've been using forever. it happens. just glad it wasn't ALL of my images.

[Titus213]

And how often have you heard of that happeneing? Or better yet, know anyone that's ever lost an image? Just tell the truth, buying a 512 card is a lot easier, lol.

It only has to happen once in the right situation...:lol:

[lostdoggy]

And how often have you heard of that happeneing? Or better yet, know anyone that's ever lost an image? Just tell the truth, buying a 512 card is a lot easier, lol.

Welcome revert.

I recently lost my images in a Ultra II CF card and could not recover. Card was ok afterward, I think it had a hangover or something.

Rvert make sure you get cards that are at lease 50X read write speed or better yet just get Sandisk ULTRA IIs

[Andy_T]

Or better yet, know anyone that's ever lost an image?

I lost 1 GB full of G2 images (about 300) once ...
... but the CF was not to blame!

I had formatted the wrong card because I had been fumbling around with 2 cards instead of just one for the first time and obviously confused them :confused:
Can't think what would happen to me if I used 4 cards :shock:

Best regards,
Andy

[cdesperado]

In reference to getting cards with the 50x write speed, I thought the 20D max write speed was 32x or 40x?

I don't own a 20D, but I didn't realize the write speed had been bumped up...

[ZeSpectre]

You might also want to read this piece... it was written a while ago but it still fits for those of us newly transitioning to the digital realm (especially those going to DSLR's from point n' shoots).

http://194.100.88.243/petteri/pont/Pontification/ba_Don't_Be_A_Bozo/a_Don't_Be_A_Bozo.html

[tacos3]

Okiewan,

I've never lost an image but it is not beyond the realm of possibility. If I'm shooting a wedding, 4gb vs 1gb cards is the diffence between saying, I lost some images like the first dance, bouquet toss vs. I lost the whole reception.

Cards can fail and if it's critical like a wedding, you could find yourself in court or worse, having your reputation ruined. I just use smaller cards to reduce the risk of a problem no matter how small the odds.

Darren

[chemicalbro]

something else into the battery life equation.............. get yourself a card reader , you can pick these up for as little as £10....
if you use your camera battery when transfering your images to pc your battery life will be significantly reduced, for obvious reasons :)

I shoot raw 100% of the time and can fit 122 onto a 1gb microdrive

get yourself a ton of 3rd party batteries also............ they practically give them away...

PS
welcome to the forums...

[kwsanders]

And how often have you heard of that happeneing? Or better yet, know anyone that's ever lost an image? Just tell the truth, buying a 512 card is a lot easier, lol.

I recently lost 800 meg of images from a week old Sandisk Ultra II 1 gig card.

[revert]

Bummer on all the lost photos from memory cards. And once again thanks for all the help and info. I will have my camera tomorrow with some new glass, and some cool accessories. I'm am more than anxious. Can't wait to share some photos with you guys.

[kwsanders]

Congrats on the new equipment, revert. I am thinking about purchasing a 20D and giving my two week old DReb XT to my father. :)

[Okiewan]

It's surprising to hear that many loses ... I've got an old 48 Meg card that I've had for many years, it's been washed, left outside, dropped and generally abused and still works fine in the Nikon I passed down to my daughter. I'd really like to see actual failure rate numbers, I'm guessing they would be low, but..

Point taken!

[Jon]

I've had a SanDisk Ultra II and a Kingston (both 1 GB) die on me. That's out of about 15 GB of CF cards and 10 of MDs.