Memory Card

Hi Guys,

For a wedding do you think 32G is good enough?

Depending on your camera, that should give you about 1200 RAW shots.

I don't shoot weddings, but I'm sure someone will chime in and recommend you split that up into multiple cards in case of card error or failure.

i have a 7D: 24-105L and 50mm 1.4 and shooting jpeg... not really good at processing RAW yet

If you are shooting JPEG, then sure, that's enough.
Even if you are shooting in RAW, 32GB would get you > 1000 shots.

Great thanks guys

Check my post on this thread.

32GB is many eggs in one basket, make sure you have a really good quality memory card, and test it with good testing software - i've posted a link to some a dozen times or more on various threads. I recommend cards I consider good over there.

I'd be nervous with only one 32G card. Mostly because I use three cameras, but also because I like redundancies and spares. What if you get a "card not writable" error message?

Professionals have backups of everything.

I use a 5D for wedding work and shoot all RAW. Typically I will shoot 500 - 750 images per wedding and I use about three 4GB cards. Each card allows me about 300 of those 12.8mb images. I do carry spare cards. Your 32GB sounds like a lot, but then I don't know your circumstances or gear.

JR189 wrote in post #13165947
i have a 7D: 24-105L and 50mm 1.4 and shooting jpeg... not really good at processing RAW yet

You'll need to fix this first, most weddings have varied lighting situations all day.. your WB might be changing from room to room.. or even in certain sections of the room. You'll be doing some natural light and then might need to use flash.. you're shooting a bride in a white dress and trying to keep detail in the groom's suit/tux. You might have an outdoor ceremony.. with shade and direct sunlight .. etc.

RAW is pretty much mandatory for any paid photographer.. especially wedding photographers.


Back to your question:
I have a 32gb card.. and a bunch of 8gb cards.. I've shot an entire wedding on the 32, but didn't feel safe about it.. If the card corrupts.. eek. I try to shoot 8gb cards and buy nice/fast cards.

JR189 wrote in post #13165947
and shooting jpeg... not really good at processing RAW yet

are you a second shooter or just shooting a wedding as a guest or something? because that would greatly influence my advice

As Tim said dont put all your faith in one big card,much better of with 4 or 8 gb cards and several of each.
And set up to shoot raw and jpeg that way you can see if you can do a better conversion than the camera.
Always good to learn some of the manual settings on your camera that way you have more control of the end result.

I use 32gb CF and 16GB SD - All writing in RAW.

The nice thing with the 1D series are the dual card slots. I couldn't have it any other way. Not with weddings. I see so many people use 5D2's these days and just one card slot is playing a dangerous game tbh.

I wouldn't say its "dangerous", but it would be a nice feature on the 5diii.

Almost all of the top canon wedding photographers are on the 5dii, can't remember the last time I heard of an issue.

Gel wrote in post #13166337
...... I see so many people use 5D2's these days and just one card slot is playing a dangerous game tbh.

I can appreciate the "belt and suspenders" insurance, but why would you say this? Stick to name brands and you should do fine. As others have said, I'd spread things across a couple of cards.

On my 16GB, I get about 750 shots using my Nikon D7000, uncompressed 14-bit RAW files. I've got 3 cards ready for use for an upcoming first wedding. I might need to get 1 more just to be safe in case I get shutter happy in fear of not getting all the shots required.

Gel wrote in post #13166337
I use 32gb CF and 16GB SD - All writing in RAW.

The nice thing with the 1D series are the dual card slots. I couldn't have it any other way. Not with weddings. I see so many people use 5D2's these days and just one card slot is playing a dangerous game tbh.

I think you guys go overboard with memory card thing. It's rare they fail (using well known name brands) and if it should act up, then pop in another one quickly. You should have an army of memory cards to begin with.