Memory Cards

[sp00g3]

Quick Answer.

I am about to purchase either a 512 Sandisk Ultra II or 2x256 Extreme's.. the 2 x256 extremes are cheaper by about $15 than the 1 512 sandisk.. any ideas what to go with?

[Johnnynf]

It has always been my understanding that having lots of smaller cards is better than having one big card. That way, if one of the cards goes bad, you don't lose everything. So, if they are the same price...two is better than one.

[ssim]

It has always been my understanding that having lots of smaller cards is better than having one big card. That way, if one of the cards goes bad, you don't lose everything. So, if they are the same price...two is better than one.

That may be true for a card that could go bad but at 256 and if you are shooting in RAW you are going to eat up a card in no time flat. I have three 1GB cards and am seriously considering a fourth simply because I don't seem to have enough space. I shoot nothing but RAW for the record.

[scottbergerphoto]

I agree with SSIM. (Do you like Molson Golden or Canadian?) I get about 140 raw shots on a 1GB card. I usually carry (2) 1GB cards for a day trip.
Scott

[Johnnynf]

I agree with what both ssim and scott say...but my original argument still holds true. I agree that shooting RAW takes up space quickly, but you guys both still have at least two HUGE cards. SpOOg3 is deciding between one or two cards. SSIM, would you give up your three 1GB cards for one 3 GB card? The original poster was choosing between either one or two cards that totaled 512 MB...and I know that I would rather have two...the total storage will still be the same either way. It just means changing cards twice as fast. So for the time being (until you can afford more), I would go for the 2x256.

[sparktography]

I won't go above 512 (roughly 70 exposures, or two rolls of film in RAW mode) per card... I have like 6 of them now, and just keep buying them. Besides - the Sandisk UltraII's are cheap these days.

*sigh* there is a small part of me that wants to forget safety and go get the new 8gb Lexar so I wouldn't have to worry about it, but the $6k pricetag and my paranoia prevent me.

[sp00g3]

Quick Answer.

I am about to purchase either a 512 Sandisk Ultra II or 2x256 Extreme's.. the 2 x256 extremes are cheaper by about $15 than the 1 512 sandisk.. any ideas what to go with?

Thanks guys,

I went ahead and bought the two Extremes. I took out my other ultra II and looked at it and said.. you know, these things are so damn small anyways whats the difference. this way. If I lose 1 its not 512 megs worth and 145 down the drain.. but 256 worth and 64 down the drain. Its for a cruise I am going on. I want to get some mayan ruins on.. ahem.. 'film'

besides.. haveing the extremes means i could go to the north pole or death valley and shoot pictures without problems.. which is what i found the difference to be between the Extreme and Ultra II. From what I gathered.. the Extreme 256 @ $65 each is a darn good deal.. plus free shipping..

[CyberDyneSystems]

No matter what the size is,. I want two cards. not one. I want a card I can shoot with while one is downloading.

[theoldmoose]

It's not terribly interesting to me to have cards that are larger than what I can easily burn to some external media, for that immediately satisfying on-the-spot raw image backup, before editing any of the images.

At the moment, 512MB cards are a good fit for 640-700MB CD's.

When the cost of larger cards come down out of the stratosphere, then it might be worthwhile to consider 4 GB cards. They will easily fit on a 4.7GB DVD. Right now, I reserve DVD burns for TIFF's of developed raw images, and PSD's of edited ones. At 36MB or more a pop, CD's are just plain too small for archiving these images.

If you shoot more than a CD's worth at a get-go, then it becomes more complex to split your shots across multiple media. There are programs to help you do this, of course, but they all seem to impose their way of creating and maintaining proprietary on-disc databases to track all the stuff, which get burned onto the CD, and tend to clutter it up. And sooner or later, you will change to a different cataloging program, and then it will just be in the way.

For the first cut of just archiving the raw images, I prefer simple. I write the date on the media, and any cataloging program can suck in the file names, etc. after the fact. It also helps to come up with a reasonable naming scheme for your media computer-readable labels. This will make it much easier to find your CD's/DVD's in the future when using a cataloging program.

[Scottes]

I strongly believe in two cards - but then again I carry a portable storage device with me. So one card's in the camera and the other's in the X's Drive. In this way I live quite nicely with 2 256MB cards.

However, the next card will be a gig one, most likely, though it will be a while. 2x256 is kind of a pain, given only 38 images per card. I'm constantly checking how many shots I have left, and during any action switching that often is a pain. If I'm working at a slower pace I never worry and simply wait for "Full CF" in the viewfinder.