Memory Cards

So I'm going to Europe next week and won't have access to a computer for 10 days. I bought an extra battery (I now have 2) and I bought a new memory card (I now have a 4gb and an 8gb).

How many pictures will I be able to take with a Canon Rebel XS in RAW format with a combined 12gb? Should I buy another 8gb? I'm trying to save money to spend while I'm actually in Europe but I really don't want to run out of memory.. Any suggestions?

I'd buy another card, the $15 it's going to cost for an 8GB SD it not going to buy you much in Europe anyway.

If your coming to the UK your in for a huge shock at the price of things here

Petrol $9.50 a gallon
Beer I would think about $5 a pint
EVERYTHING in London will cost a fortune.

pictures will cost you very little...

I usually fit around 250+ RAW shots on a 8GB card so it depends on how many you plan on taking.

do yourself a favor and get a 32GB card or larger card.

MCAsan wrote in post #11915098
do yourself a favor and get a 32GB card or larger card.

Or a few 16gb cards. Are you sight seeing a lot? When you say 10 days is that time between card downloads and upload or TOTAL travel time?

I'd budget at least 2x 8gbs if u shoot jpg, 2-3x 16gbs if you shoot RAW. Id probably bring 3x 16gbs realistically since I shoot RAW and I shot A LOT in europe, cards are cheap (based on sdhc cards for XS).

I almost filled all 5 of my 64G cards with my 7D while I was in Paris in August. Now I know
the 7D makes a lot larger file at about 25M a shot, but you can find a lot of interesting things
when you are moving around Europe. There is such history, and magnificent building, bridges,
and all kinds of other stuff to take pictures of.

I'm with MCAsan on suggesting a 32G or larger if you can afford it. 32G SDHC cards at
NEWEGG.com run around $45.00

--Evan

I'd think the better question should be about how you'll be able to manage the memory cards while on holiday.

For example: Do you have some sort of system for transferring picture files to a portable storage device?

If you're planning to take a portable computer with you, you can easily transfer picture files to the computer with the use of a USB card reader. There are also storage devices made specifically for offloading camera media cards.

If you're not planning on toting a portable computer or a dedicated storage device, additional memory cards are certainly very inexpensive nowadays. Seeing as SDHC cards are terribly inexpensive anymore, I'd just load up with a few high-capacity cards before you travel. 4GB and 8GB cards are incredibly inexpensive here in the States, and as whiteflyer mentions, you'll pay a huge premium for the same thing overseas. An inexpensive SD/SDHC-to-CF adapter can cut your costs, if your camera uses CF; I grabbed an SDHC-to-CF adapter for around 14 US dollars.

2GB, 4GB and 8GB cards currently tend to sell for less per GB now than 16GB and higher-capacity cards, so it may be more economical to purchase a bunch of 2GB cards as opposed to a shiny new 32GB or 64GB card.

Get two more 16GB cards. The last thing you want to do is not be free to take pics because you are running low on space. Its a long term investment, you'll have the cards for years. I never erase a memory card until I have at least one backup. If you're deleting pics in the field to free up space, you could accidentally delete all pics.

One option that people used in the past is to take the small memory card and have it burned to a CD/DVD at at camera store. That will cost a lot more in the long run and you're trusting your pics to a CD/DVD.

BHPHOTO has about a dozen 16GB memory cards for $30 a pop [you may pay a lot more at BestBuy or the like]

When I think about the cost of the trip and how much the memories are worth, the extra $50 for another 32GB pales in comparison.

One day I filled up 2 8GB cards in 4 hours by just happening to run into a model shoot and was invited in. You don't want to get into a situation where you want to take tons of shots but can't because you are worried about your card storage.

Last May the wife and I were creating more than 32GB each day on safari. Would not head out on such a trip again without at least two 32GB cards each....and the ability to download them at night.

I just bought 2 extra 8gb cards so I now have 20gb total. And I'm NOT bringing a computer so these cards will be my means of storage for 10 straight days in Europe (Amsterdam, Prague and Berlin). I'll check New Egg now and see if there are cheap 32gb options. I agree, I don't want to feel constrained to delete pictures.

I usually shoot in RAW but I'm considering shooting JPEG for this trip. I really only use RAW to tweak the exposure settings slightly - I'm thinking I can do the same with PS curves on JPEG shots?

I found some cheaper brands like Lexar and Patriot - do you guys have any recommendations on bargain cards that are reliable? I'd hate to lose 10 days worth of pictures in Europe because of a faulty card...

I would bring a ton of storage, but if you run out, I am sure they sell SD cards in Europe!

If you get out of space while you're over here in europe, i'm sure you can find a local store that has an 8GB or 16GB for good money. 8GB usually goes for around €15 ($22) while 16GB runs for €25 ($40).

So it's not that big of a differance moneywise on the memory cards as far as i can see.

buy 'em...use 'em... sell 'em when you get back