I just wanted to see what size of Compact Flash cards you guys are using. There will be several week long trips in the summer that I will be taking a large number of pictures with no access to a computer all week. When my 40D arrives, I am going to start shooting in RAW.

I just ordered a Sandisk Extreme III 8GB card from Adorama, but some other guys recommended I just go for (2) 4GB cards so there is less chance of card failure.

So how much memory do you guys carry around? Suggestions about the 8GB cards?

I have 2 each 2gb 80x pro lexar and 8gb 122x transcend and really do not intend to go any larger than 8gb.....as of right now my 6mp KM7D's get over 650 raw files on the 8gb cards so if I move up to a D300 or D3 at 12mp that cuts my raw files to half as many...but I would rather lose 350 files as opposed to loosing 1k from a 16gb card or more from a larger card......when I shot film I changed a lot of rolls for the same reason......

even with 35mm I shot 12exp rolls when doing work for others for my self well I spooled as much as 75 frames into those canisters once....and found out that my camera could not hold it on the take up spool...in alot of ways I am told I still have film mentality

I have 10 x 2GB and 4 x 4GB. But, it's not the size of the card that is significant. It's more a matter of the number of images stored on the card before it's swapped out. I try to keep the count to somewhere between 150 and 175 images so that I don't have too many eggs in one basket. That makes the 2GB card about 75 - 85% full and doesn't even come close to 1/2 way mark on the 4GB. Oh, BTW - I shoot RAW, exclusively.

2 X 4G!

That is true that we have very little chance to finish the 4G even though I shoot RAW exclusively.

Occassionally, I manage to use up one and half 4G cards in one day when i go on photo trip. I started at 5 am to wait for sunrise, followed by whole day tour then finsih with the night scene till mid-night. The highest I recorded was 1K photos only.

Don't worry about missing the shots due to the card full, the battery usually finish before the 4G is full. I change the battery together with next 4 G card before the day end. The meter on the camera shows how many more I can go so I change it before next photo opportunity arrive.

YOuo might check with the camera tchnical department to determine the recommended card speed and capacity. With Nikon, some cameras cannot utilize the 133x, or more than 8 GB, etc. Don't know abut Canon, but each camera has maximal writing ability, and no point in buying more card than you can utilize.
Stan

Originally Posted by Scott_Quier I have 10 x 2GB and 4 x 4GB. But, it's not the size of the card that is significant. It's more a matter of the number of images stored on the card before it's swapped out. I try to keep the count to somewhere between 150 and 175 images so that I don't have too many eggs in one basket. That makes the 2GB card about 75 - 85% full and doesn't even come close to 1/2 way mark on the 4GB. Oh, BTW - I shoot RAW, exclusively.

Are you shooting in RAW by itself or RAW+JPEG?

Originally Posted by dawssvt Are you shooting in RAW by itself or RAW+JPEG?

Just RAW. To date, I've not needed the convenience of having the JPGs right away. But that could change and when it does, the larger cards will come in handy.

you can never have enough storage space. i've got 2x 8gb cf cards, 2x 4gb cf cards, and a few smaller ones that just sit in a drawer. for a good deal i highly recommend the prospec cards from calumet.
http://www.calumetphoto.com/ctl?ac.u...&query=prospec
they come in many varieties and are very competitively priced. i have a few of them and they've served me well so far.

Originally Posted by lightyear Don't know abut Canon, but each camera has maximal writing ability, and no point in buying more card than you can utilize. Stan

That's only good advice untill you get your next new body in the next 1 to 3 years which just might take advantage of those faster write speeds.

And I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that faster write speeds are gonna happen as the price of FF +14mp bodies starts to drop and become common place over APS-C sensors.

I like to call it "Future Proofing" cause you want to buy accessories that you'll still be able to use with your next 1 or 2 system upgrades.

I use 2x4GB A-Data cards.
Shoot RAW only. Haven't filled up a card till yet

Oh yeah I got me a fancy Transcend 4gb 133x card from NewEgg.Com for only $24.49!!! Gonna pick up another Transcend 8gb 133x card for $35.99 before my summer trip to Deal's Gap and the Smokey Mountains this summer. That should be over 600 RAW 10.2mp images or a whole butt load more in JPG for some pics.

I use 2x1GB cards and a PD70x storage device. I shoot only RAW and have never run out of space even on a 3 week trip to Turkey and Germany (where I was using 2x512MB cards).

I have filled my 8gb taanscends about 3 times but that was shooting multiple exposures for (hopefully HDR's) stacking and also for pano's but that is it......

Any SD carrd users out there.....new egg is giving transcend 2gb cards for 7.49 or 7.99 each as of today's look...........and like SBZ stated the 8gb Transcend CF133 are only$35.99.......

Originally Posted by BigAl I use 2x1GB cards and a PD70x storage device. I shoot only RAW and have never run out of space even on a 3 week trip to Turkey and Germany (where I was using 2x512MB cards).

Were you shooting RAW or JPG????? Unless that PDX70 is 500gb I could of filled it in less than a week in my 3 wk trip to Czech Republic..just shooting beautiful Czech women....not to mention the Castles and farms ......if I had digital at that time I would have been in 9th heaven

4GB Sandisk III (in 40D), 2GB Sandisk III(in XTi), 2 x 1GB Sandisk II's and another generic 1GB that came with the camera.

I have (8) 2Gig cards and (1) 4Gig


Don't know what you'll be shooting, but if it's sports or anything that you need fast write time to the card, check the card specs. Last time I checked the Sandisk Ultra II cards, the 2Gig was twice as fast as the same card but in 4Gig size.

I could be off a little on those specs, but it was enough that I bought more 2Gig cards instead of 4Gig.

And like Scott stated: You don't want too many eggs in one basket.

Originally Posted by Art Scott Were you shooting RAW or JPG????? Unless that PDX70 is 500gb I could of filled it in less than a week in my 3 wk trip to Czech Republic..just shooting beautiful Czech women....not to mention the Castles and farms ......if I had digital at that time I would have been in 9th heaven

Was shooting RAW. Took quite a few of the stunningly beautiful women in Istanbul too I would have just bought another hard disk if I'd run out of space - it takes a standard notebook hard disk.

I have 4 x 4 Gig and 2 x 2 Gig cards mainly Sandisk and that is a mix of extreme III and and IV's I also have a Lexar 4 Gig pro 300x I don't think I will move up to a 8 Gig for a while just for the fact I like to try and get the photos selected and deleted card by card and after 4 Gig is a good time to get a cup of coffee and stretch the legs

I err on the side of overkill(RAW shooter).

3 8GB
1 4GB
2 2GB(I had 3 but managed to break one somehow)

And afraid to admit it but when I first started out I actually bought a 3GB Microdive.

I've got a 4 GB Sandisk Extreme 3 in my 20D, which gives me about 450-550 raw frames depending on iso settings. I've also got a 1 GB Sandisk Ultra 2 in my IR-modded 300D, that fits around 100-130 raw files.

So far I've managed to get away without shuffling cards too much