How many pics to a memory card (D-SLR))

[DustyC]

Now I realise that it depends on the quality selection but on average how much space does a shot require?

Im wondering if a 1GB CF card will be enough for a holiday. Bare in mind Im very trigger happy and did 7 films at Le Mans and 3500 photos on my last big holiday (mind you, it was a year long world trip!).

[simpo two]

It depends entirely on how big the files will be and how many images you think you're likely to shoot before you can back to base and download them.

I've done some sums for the D70 (6Mp), which takes files of around 5Mb (RAW) or 2Mb (JPG). Dividing this into the capacity of a 1Gb card gives you about 200 and 500 shots respectively. That's ample for me, but there's always the option of more/bigger cards, or a laptop or 'phototainer' type storage device.

The majority of DSLRs are the same resolution so the sums should hold true for D100, 300D, 10D etc.

[DustyC]

Thanks for that.
Say a good portable drive with TFT screen lately for £270. But I should concentrate on the camera first!

500/24 = 21 films
500/36 = 14 films

Sounds about right for a 3 week holiday for me.
I suppose if I get into trouble I can always find an internet cafe and send some home.

[simpo two]

DustyC said:

I suppose if I get into trouble I can always find an internet cafe and send some home.

You could also delete a few you're not happy with, or reduce the quality as you get near the end. After all, you hardly need 5Mb for a 6x4 print or the web!

[steve-p]

I got about 320 3072x2048 pics into a 1GB Compact Flash card from an EOS 300D. That was in best quality jpeg mode, not raw. With a digital SLR you can have a look at all the pics you have taken that day on a hotel TV, so you can delete the odd one that you don't want to keep.

[DustyC]

steve-p said:

With a digital SLR you can have a look at all the pics you have taken that day on a hotel TV, so you can delete the odd one that you don't want to keep.

Of course! Fantastic idea!

[dcw@pr]

Just make sure if you do this that you are adequately equiped with batteries and/or an AC adapter.

[zetec]

A tip I was once given was to buy more lower capacity cards than one big one. The reason being that CF cards are not indestructable, they can go wrong. With spares you at least have a chance of getting pictures if one corrupts.

[DustyC]

zetec said:

A tip I was once given was to buy more lower capacity cards than one big one. The reason being that CF cards are not indestructable, they can go wrong. With spares you at least have a chance of getting pictures if one corrupts.

Good tip, thanks.

Perhaps for 2 x 512s would be better then.

[hansgerd]

I have two 512 MB CF cards which are good for about 160 - 170 pictures. In addition, I have a 30 GB Vosonic X-Drive. The download from one CF card to the X-Drive takes about 8 minutes with the power supply of the X-Drive making up to 12 downloads. I also have a A/C car adapter for the X-Drive which gives additional "download" time. Up until now this works perfectly.

>> Edited by hansgerd on Friday 25th June 09:07