BillyStudioOne
Well-known member
I just got two 8GB cards but some how feel strange using them for a whole wedding shoot. what do you guys think? should I trust these cards. I shoot mainly with d5 and d20.
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Will you use 8GB cards?
- Thread starter BillyStudioOne
- Start date
ClarkPhoto
Forum Enthusiast
I would most likely use 8gb CF cards but I will never use a microdrive.
Clark
Clark
Allen Greenky
Leading Member
How do you back up? If you use a typical laptop with a DVD burner I'd stick with 4GB cards so you can up load into a folder, (copy one on your HD) and then immediately drag the whole folder to your DVD drive and burn a disk and have a 'hard' copy number two) You can do this without figuring out which files or folders have already been done, click click clicking on them all.)I just got two 8GB cards but some how feel strange using them for a
whole wedding shoot. what do you guys think? should I trust these
cards. I shoot mainly with d5 and d20.
--
moderator of the z-prophoto, photohistory, and kodakpro mailing lists at yahoogroups.com
M
Michael Thomas Mitchell
Guest
Some people have had some problems with the 8GB HDD cards, but it's I'm not sure how commonplace you can say these problems are.
Back in 2001, I bought a pair of 1GB IBM Microdrives. They were quite contreversial at the time as many users reported problems. I spoke with a dealer directly before my purchase and asked if he saw alot of them come back. While you can't take his opinion as gospel, he said that he believed the majority of problems came from misuse or abuse, such as droppage; the parts inside were delicate and should be treated with care. I took his comments to heart, ordering two drives.
Those drives are still in operation today.
We also use solid state CF cards, the Hitachi 4GB Microdrive, and a Seagate 8GB photo drive. Off all the cards we use, a Kingston 1GB CF card has been the only one with any problems.
With all that in mind, we do NOT like the idea of putting all of our eggs in one basket. At a wedding, the 1GB cards get filled first. Everything is dumped onto the notebook as we work. (Our notebook has a dual-layer drive for single-disc backup off all the files. Thus, before we sleep at night after a wedding, there's three copies of our work.) We save the large cards for the reception, where we take the most image captures. I'm still not brave enough to depend on a single card for my weddings. Thankfully, I don't have to.
--
Michael Thomas Mitchell
http://michaelphoto.net
Back in 2001, I bought a pair of 1GB IBM Microdrives. They were quite contreversial at the time as many users reported problems. I spoke with a dealer directly before my purchase and asked if he saw alot of them come back. While you can't take his opinion as gospel, he said that he believed the majority of problems came from misuse or abuse, such as droppage; the parts inside were delicate and should be treated with care. I took his comments to heart, ordering two drives.
Those drives are still in operation today.
We also use solid state CF cards, the Hitachi 4GB Microdrive, and a Seagate 8GB photo drive. Off all the cards we use, a Kingston 1GB CF card has been the only one with any problems.
With all that in mind, we do NOT like the idea of putting all of our eggs in one basket. At a wedding, the 1GB cards get filled first. Everything is dumped onto the notebook as we work. (Our notebook has a dual-layer drive for single-disc backup off all the files. Thus, before we sleep at night after a wedding, there's three copies of our work.) We save the large cards for the reception, where we take the most image captures. I'm still not brave enough to depend on a single card for my weddings. Thankfully, I don't have to.
--
Michael Thomas Mitchell
http://michaelphoto.net
Frank Vigil
Senior Member
I'm not sure what you mean about "strange." Do you mean, that you'd shoot that much for a wedding, or do you mean something else?
Personally, I've decided my limit is 4 Gig cards (SanDisk Ultras). I carry three of them on my camera (one in the camera, one each on those nifty holders that attach to the neck strap) and two more in my bag.
My limit of four gig is based on several things. 1. I can't afford to lose that much of a shoot, simply because the "impossible" happened and the card goes bad, is lost, stolen or otherwise rendered useless. With a four gig card, I'm somewhat poised to lose less, unless the entire job of course happens to fit on that card. 2. Less time spent in downloading to my laptop while on the job and, 3. They're more cost effective.
The vast majority of my jobs are shot with Raw + Basic, so I get around 180 shots per card. There certainly have been times when I was caught off guard, experiencing that brief moment of confusion when I realize my camera stopped shooting and for a second, I'm wondering why. Of course it's those times when I wish an 8 Gig were in there, but for the most part, I'm able to glance at the count and change ahead of time.
Regards,
Frank
Whimsy is salvation for a life taken too seriously.
http://www.pbase.com/frankvigil
Personally, I've decided my limit is 4 Gig cards (SanDisk Ultras). I carry three of them on my camera (one in the camera, one each on those nifty holders that attach to the neck strap) and two more in my bag.
My limit of four gig is based on several things. 1. I can't afford to lose that much of a shoot, simply because the "impossible" happened and the card goes bad, is lost, stolen or otherwise rendered useless. With a four gig card, I'm somewhat poised to lose less, unless the entire job of course happens to fit on that card. 2. Less time spent in downloading to my laptop while on the job and, 3. They're more cost effective.
The vast majority of my jobs are shot with Raw + Basic, so I get around 180 shots per card. There certainly have been times when I was caught off guard, experiencing that brief moment of confusion when I realize my camera stopped shooting and for a second, I'm wondering why. Of course it's those times when I wish an 8 Gig were in there, but for the most part, I'm able to glance at the count and change ahead of time.
Regards,
Frank
Whimsy is salvation for a life taken too seriously.
http://www.pbase.com/frankvigil
I just got two 8GB cards but some how feel strange using them for a
whole wedding shoot. what do you guys think? should I trust these
cards. I shoot mainly with d5 and d20.
greengo
Well-known member
Heya...
not sure I would use a 8 gig cards as they are a bit more $$$$ and that is alot of pix to download at one time & risk losing.
I use both Lexar and Sandisk CF cards, I carry 8 each of the 2 Gig cards and 4 of the 4 gig cards.
Maybe it can seem as overkill but I do not want to run out of memory when out & about for the day or longer.
I mainly use the 2 gig cards in my D100 & the 4 gig cards go into my D2x.
Like I said some folks think it is overkill but in the past I found that if I did not have adequate memory or batteries on the ready i would end up missing shots.
J
--
If I wake up breathing it's going to be a great day.
not sure I would use a 8 gig cards as they are a bit more $$$$ and that is alot of pix to download at one time & risk losing.
I use both Lexar and Sandisk CF cards, I carry 8 each of the 2 Gig cards and 4 of the 4 gig cards.
Maybe it can seem as overkill but I do not want to run out of memory when out & about for the day or longer.
I mainly use the 2 gig cards in my D100 & the 4 gig cards go into my D2x.
Like I said some folks think it is overkill but in the past I found that if I did not have adequate memory or batteries on the ready i would end up missing shots.
J
--
If I wake up breathing it's going to be a great day.
Daniel Soh
Well-known member
Have a pair of 8gb Ultra 2, had the same reservations initially, done three weddings on it and fingers crossed, seems alright, never had a single problem with my 2gbs. So the build quality should be the same between the 8s and 2s. Don't see any problem, why the 8s should not be fully utilised.
Just make it a habit to format before use and test the cards a few days before.
Just make it a habit to format before use and test the cards a few days before.
irish-george
Senior Member
The vast majority of my jobs are shot with Raw + Basic, so I get
around 180 shots per card.
I am curious as to why anyone would shoot Raw + Basic. I used to do that but stopped when I didn't see any advantages to it. It only wasted flash memory space. If I need a JPG (very rare), I let 'em batch convert in PS CS2. Am I missing something here?
George
Ive been using Sandisk's Extreme III 8 gb cards with much success. These things are made to exacting standards, they supposedly even work in temps 14 degrees below zero.
the whole eggs in one basket thing is a little overrated in my book. way i see it, is if yer a pro, and yer doing a job, then at minimum, you have another body. well guess what, then you probably have a second card in there, so there's yer safety net.
if you go smaller, now you have at a minimum 4 cards, 2 for each body. they can get mixed up, they can get accidentally deleted, and you can sure drop them every time taking them in and out.
to use a similar analogy, I prefer to have a second body with a different lens pre-mounted, instead of using the same body and changing lenses in a hurry doing a shoot. Most people are amazed at how clean my sensors are, I barely ever clean them cause I'm not swapping lenses every 10 seconds, and my lenses and my sensors are better for it.
well, i say same with the cf cards too. One body, one lens, one CF card: keeps me totally organized and my equipment in much better shape than when I was interchanging everything. well, at least, this is how I personally like to do things.
the whole eggs in one basket thing is a little overrated in my book. way i see it, is if yer a pro, and yer doing a job, then at minimum, you have another body. well guess what, then you probably have a second card in there, so there's yer safety net.
if you go smaller, now you have at a minimum 4 cards, 2 for each body. they can get mixed up, they can get accidentally deleted, and you can sure drop them every time taking them in and out.
to use a similar analogy, I prefer to have a second body with a different lens pre-mounted, instead of using the same body and changing lenses in a hurry doing a shoot. Most people are amazed at how clean my sensors are, I barely ever clean them cause I'm not swapping lenses every 10 seconds, and my lenses and my sensors are better for it.
well, i say same with the cf cards too. One body, one lens, one CF card: keeps me totally organized and my equipment in much better shape than when I was interchanging everything. well, at least, this is how I personally like to do things.
Craig Gillette
Forum Pro
There are review features that work with the jpg that won't with RAW alone on the KM 7D, maybe others? Maybe faster to put up a quick review on a laptop?
Frank Vigil
Senior Member
Yep, you got it, sorta. Having a small .jpg file makes it easier when I transfer photos over to my laptop, to view them. For viewing and organzing, I use ACDSee Photo Managere Pro 8.1. Having those small files makes it easy to open them and get a quick preview.
With Raw only, my D2X will give me approximately 198 shots per 4 Gig card. Adding the "Basic" .jpg file cuts that down to approximately 181 shots on a 4 Gig card, so the difference is not that substantial.
If I was in a bind for space and knew that my potential maximum storage capacity on the job was going to be reached, I'd dispense with the basic .jpg, but I've not yet run into that situation where I had no place to download the card.
Regards,
Frank
Whimsy is salvation for a life taken too seriously.
http://www.pbase.com/frankvigil
With Raw only, my D2X will give me approximately 198 shots per 4 Gig card. Adding the "Basic" .jpg file cuts that down to approximately 181 shots on a 4 Gig card, so the difference is not that substantial.
If I was in a bind for space and knew that my potential maximum storage capacity on the job was going to be reached, I'd dispense with the basic .jpg, but I've not yet run into that situation where I had no place to download the card.
Regards,
Frank
--There are review features that work with the jpg that won't with
RAW alone on the KM 7D, maybe others? Maybe faster to put up a
quick review on a laptop?
Whimsy is salvation for a life taken too seriously.
http://www.pbase.com/frankvigil
Frank Vigil
Senior Member
Daniel:
I don't think anyone was implying that there was a potential problem with the 8 Gig cards vs. something smaller or that there was any difference in "build quality." The gist of it was, SHOULD something go wrong (i.e., Murphy came to visit), the potential loss may be greater if you were carrying more shots on the card.
I can say that I've yet to experience (knocking on wood) a card failure, BUT, just last week, after shooting a trade show, one of my colleagues and I were in the ready room,downloading our cards. I heard him cussing under his breath and it turns out his card went kapooey and he lost several shots (fortunately, it was something he could go back and do again, but that was a loss of several hours).
It does happen, so splitting jobs up between cards helps to reduce the risk of losing the entire job.
Regards,
Frank
Whimsy is salvation for a life taken too seriously.
http://www.pbase.com/frankvigil
I don't think anyone was implying that there was a potential problem with the 8 Gig cards vs. something smaller or that there was any difference in "build quality." The gist of it was, SHOULD something go wrong (i.e., Murphy came to visit), the potential loss may be greater if you were carrying more shots on the card.
I can say that I've yet to experience (knocking on wood) a card failure, BUT, just last week, after shooting a trade show, one of my colleagues and I were in the ready room,downloading our cards. I heard him cussing under his breath and it turns out his card went kapooey and he lost several shots (fortunately, it was something he could go back and do again, but that was a loss of several hours).
It does happen, so splitting jobs up between cards helps to reduce the risk of losing the entire job.
Regards,
Frank
--Have a pair of 8gb Ultra 2, had the same reservations initially,
done three weddings on it and fingers crossed, seems alright, never
had a single problem with my 2gbs. So the build quality should be
the same between the 8s and 2s. Don't see any problem, why the 8s
should not be fully utilised.
Just make it a habit to format before use and test the cards a few
days before.
Whimsy is salvation for a life taken too seriously.
http://www.pbase.com/frankvigil
M
Michael Thomas Mitchell
Guest
If one carries the argument that an 8GB card is not inherently at any greater risk of failure than a 2GB card, for instance, then the question becomes a matter of which size you feel most comfortable using. While I have a variety of 1, 2, 4 & 8GB cards, I feel there is something to be said for using multiple smaller cards instead of just one big card. For instance, at a wedding, I have traditionally devoted a single card to just the formal portraits, one to the ceremony, etc., with the idea that, should SOMETHING go wrong somewhere, the entire wedding is not on a single card. The other side of the argument, however, is that the cards themselves are PUT at greater risk by swapping.
I'll tell this story with a bit of embarrassment...
We took our annual Christmas trip to Disney World last year. I always enjoy shooting a ton of pictures as we chart my daughter's growth. Well, our second day there, as we got out of the car to go into the park, I realized that I had not prepared a card to carry in. Not wanting the photography to EVER get in the way of a good time, I just quickly decided to carry the 'card wallet' in with me and pick the card to use once in there. Besides, I thought, I might want a second card anyway. The wallet consisted of 5 1GB cards. Halfway through the day, one card became full. As I reached for the card wallet, I realized that it was not there! Somewhere, sometime, it had fallen from my pocket! My heart sank. Not only were there four cards in it, but all the photos from the previous day were on one of them!
A week after we came back home, I lamented the loss. On a whim, I called Disney's Lost & Found department and asked if this little wallet could possibly have been found. I waited on hold for about 2 minutes until the young man returned and said that, indeed, an item matching my description had been found! They shipped it out that same time and it was back in my hands about 48 hours later... all cards - and images - intact!
In this case, using just a single card would have prevented a near-tragic and costly mistake. On the other hand, had it been the camera that was lost, all of the images instead of just a few would have been lost. Whatever the case, learn from this experience what you will. It's scary business, though, to be responsible for someone else's irreplacable images!
--
Michael Thomas Mitchell
http://michaelphoto.net
I'll tell this story with a bit of embarrassment...
We took our annual Christmas trip to Disney World last year. I always enjoy shooting a ton of pictures as we chart my daughter's growth. Well, our second day there, as we got out of the car to go into the park, I realized that I had not prepared a card to carry in. Not wanting the photography to EVER get in the way of a good time, I just quickly decided to carry the 'card wallet' in with me and pick the card to use once in there. Besides, I thought, I might want a second card anyway. The wallet consisted of 5 1GB cards. Halfway through the day, one card became full. As I reached for the card wallet, I realized that it was not there! Somewhere, sometime, it had fallen from my pocket! My heart sank. Not only were there four cards in it, but all the photos from the previous day were on one of them!
A week after we came back home, I lamented the loss. On a whim, I called Disney's Lost & Found department and asked if this little wallet could possibly have been found. I waited on hold for about 2 minutes until the young man returned and said that, indeed, an item matching my description had been found! They shipped it out that same time and it was back in my hands about 48 hours later... all cards - and images - intact!
In this case, using just a single card would have prevented a near-tragic and costly mistake. On the other hand, had it been the camera that was lost, all of the images instead of just a few would have been lost. Whatever the case, learn from this experience what you will. It's scary business, though, to be responsible for someone else's irreplacable images!
--
Michael Thomas Mitchell
http://michaelphoto.net
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