How Much Flash Memory Do I Need?

For many of us, we decide on an electronic item first and then we are subjected to whatever flash card format our item is compatible with.  When the Nikon D70 came out in 2004, photographers rushed out to grab one of these gems.  THEN, they bought CF Cards (Nikon D70’s use CF Cards).  D70 users rushed out buy the D80 when it came out in 2006.  They had to retire their CF Cards for a bit and buy SD Cards.  All in all, we as electronic users don’t care about the SD vs. CF debate.   Sure, we have a preference of one over the other, but we still buy what ever our equipment is compatible with.

So, how much memory does a photographer need? 

Think of memory like you would money; you can NEVER have too much.  I am sure that 99.9% of you agree with me on this point.  However, memory is also like your retirement investments; you better be diversified because if the one fund goes belly up…well, you still may be able to retire and work part-time as a Wal-Mart door-greeter.

Let’s say you hit the selection of CF cards on eBay looking for a deal.  Right now, there are 3418 results when I did a search for CF Cards (Saturday, December 08, 2007 at 10:10 pm MST).  The memory capacity ranges of the cards available is anywhere from 1 GB to 16 GB (see my guide called: All You Wanted To Know About CF Cards for more information on CF Card memory capacity). 

So, which one should you get?

Let’s say you are the proud owner of that Nikon D300.  Man!  It feels GREAT.  Good weight, good feel and it uses CF Cards.  The D300 has a maximum image quality of 12.3-megapixels.  Each image will be about 25 MB (NEF).  On a 2 GIG CF Card, you should be able to save about 80 images.  Is that a lot?  If you ask me, I say, “SURE!” 

You may say, “Sulae, you just don’t shoot enough.”

With my D80 that uses SD Cards, I can store about 100 images in BOTH NEF and High Quality JPEG.  A CF card in my D300 will store about 80 images on a 2 GIG card.  I just have a bunch of 1 GIG and 2 GIG SD and CF Cards.

Again, you may ask, “Why don’t you just buy an 8 GIG card and you will get 320 shots out of your D300 and 400 out of your D80?”  The logic here seems solid except for one flaw.  Can you tell me what it is?

Here is a hint:  Have you ever lost a card?  Dropped a card in the water?  Washed and dried it with the laundry?  What about read / write errors?  What about hardware failure?  And on, and on, and on…

Like my investments, I diversify.  I have the capability of shooting 10 to 16 gigs of HQ NEF files.  I do it on 5 to 8 different 2 gig cards.  I may move up to a 4 GIG with the D300, after all, it is a hassle swapping memory out.

Conclusion

1. Don’t worry about which format is better.  Let you device dictate that for you.
2. Shoot on 1 GIG, 2 GIG, and 4 GIG cards.  Stay away from the 8 GIG and above unless you have a specific reason for needing such a high volume card.
3. You will be a-ok shooting with a 1 GIG, 2 GIG or a 4 GIG card with any of today’s cameras

I hope this guide was helpful and that you have a better understanding of how much memory you need.  If it was helpful, let me know by clicking the “YES” down below.  If you would like to provide your input, I will be happy to add the information to this guide.

Show The World Your World; Share A Photograph.  TM

SULAE--