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Advice needed on SmartMedia card capacity

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John25503

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I recently purchased an Olympus C-2020 Z.

I've had the camera less than two weeks. I may write a short "first impressions" piece later this week. In short, I am quite happy with the camera so far.

Now for my question.

What size SmartMedia card(s) should I buy?

The camera came with an 8MB card that holds 21 images in HQ mode. This mode seems to provide adequate quality for most of my photos.

My choices are 16MB, 32MB and 64MB. (I'm pretty sure I don't wnat another 8MB card, even if they are cheap.)

So what should I get?

One 64MB card?

Two 32MB cards?

One 32MB card?

Two 16MB cards?

I seek the collective wisdom of this forum to guide me in making my decision.

Thanks in advance.

John
 
John said:
I recently purchased an Olympus C-2020 Z.

I've had the camera less than two weeks. I may write a short "first
impressions" piece later this week. In short, I am quite happy with the
camera so far.

Now for my question.

What size SmartMedia card(s) should I buy?
Click to expand...
There is no specific answer to this question. It depends on your needs.

1. For everyday use, how many photos - at most - would you expect to take per day? I have two 32MB cards, but 1 is almost always enough for a day for me.

2. For travel, do you bring a laptop with you for downloads (Clik drive? Digital Wallet?), expected duration/number of pictures?

3. A larger card is more convenient since you don't have to swap cards, but there is a remote possibility of card failure - then more of your pictures may be lost (fairly low probability though).
3. Budget.

Misha
 
What Misha said.....
Misha said:
John said:
I recently purchased an Olympus C-2020 Z.

I've had the camera less than two weeks. I may write a short "first
impressions" piece later this week. In short, I am quite happy with the
camera so far.

Now for my question.

What size SmartMedia card(s) should I buy?
Click to expand...
There is no specific answer to this question. It depends on your needs.

1. For everyday use, how many photos - at most - would you expect to
take per day? I have two 32MB cards, but 1 is almost always enough for a
day for me.
2. For travel, do you bring a laptop with you for downloads (Clik drive?
Digital Wallet?), expected duration/number of pictures?
3. A larger card is more convenient since you don't have to swap cards,
but there is a remote possibility of card failure - then more of your
pictures may be lost (fairly low probability though).
3. Budget.

Misha
Click to expand...
 
I would suggest using 32 meg cards they are not that exspensive right now,I am a beliver in not putting all my eggs in one basket.If you are out on vacation and you damage or lose a card you still have something on other cards.I am going to check out the digital wallet after it has been out for awhile,it sounds like it may be an answer to a lot of our questions being able to use smaller cards and download them in the field .
Keith
John said:
I recently purchased an Olympus C-2020 Z.

I've had the camera less than two weeks. I may write a short "first
impressions" piece later this week. In short, I am quite happy with the
camera so far.

Now for my question.

What size SmartMedia card(s) should I buy?

The camera came with an 8MB card that holds 21 images in HQ mode. This
mode seems to provide adequate quality for most of my photos.

My choices are 16MB, 32MB and 64MB. (I'm pretty sure I don't wnat
another 8MB card, even if they are cheap.)

So what should I get?

One 64MB card?

Two 32MB cards?

One 32MB card?

Two 16MB cards?

I seek the collective wisdom of this forum to guide me in making my
decision.

Thanks in advance.

John
Click to expand...
 
Misha said:
3. A larger card is more convenient since you don't have to swap cards,
but there is a remote possibility of card failure - then more of your
pictures may be lost (fairly low probability though).
Click to expand...
The probabilities increase as, in addition to the rare spontaneous failure, you consider that it could be lost, misplaced, stolen, crushed, formatted, bulk-erased or zapped by static. Individually, these accidents might seem fairly remote, but the cumulative risk is worth considering. Especially if the cost per MB does not go down in higher sizes.

C-3030 Community Resources
http://c-3030.home.att.net
 
The one time i think it would be an advantage to have a 64mb card is if you had the camera underwater during a dive and you would not be able to "change film". Topside photographers haven't experienced having a spent roll of film and a whale shark swims by.......arghh....
John said:
I recently purchased an Olympus C-2020 Z.

I've had the camera less than two weeks. I may write a short "first
impressions" piece later this week. In short, I am quite happy with the
camera so far.

Now for my question.

What size SmartMedia card(s) should I buy?

The camera came with an 8MB card that holds 21 images in HQ mode. This
mode seems to provide adequate quality for most of my photos.

My choices are 16MB, 32MB and 64MB. (I'm pretty sure I don't wnat
another 8MB card, even if they are cheap.)

So what should I get?

One 64MB card?

Two 32MB cards?

One 32MB card?

Two 16MB cards?

I seek the collective wisdom of this forum to guide me in making my
decision.

Thanks in advance.

John
Click to expand...
 
Terry Dawson said:
Misha said:
3. A larger card is more convenient since you don't have to swap cards,
but there is a remote possibility of card failure - then more of your
pictures may be lost (fairly low probability though).
Click to expand...
The probabilities increase as, in addition to the rare spontaneous
failure, you consider that it could be lost, misplaced, stolen, crushed,
formatted, bulk-erased or zapped by static. Individually, these
accidents might seem fairly remote, but the cumulative risk is worth
considering. Especially if the cost per MB does not go down in higher
sizes.
Click to expand...
Yes, but if you have two cards, and carry one in a wallet or bag, chances of crushing, misplacing, etc. are actually higher.

Misha
 
When I got my camera, I had the same question. I ended up getting two 32mb cards. Prime reason was that 2 32's were cheaper than 1 64. I got them from http://www.buy.com and spent a grant total of $95 shipped for both. I used coupons, which you can find at http://www.slickdeals.net . Use one of those and you'll save money. I think they're about $60 each now. I primarily shoot in SQ mode (1024x768) and get about 200 pictures per 32 card. My 8mb I actually only carry as a backup should I fill the 32's and not have my laptop for offloading them.

EricB
John said:
I recently purchased an Olympus C-2020 Z.

I've had the camera less than two weeks. I may write a short "first
impressions" piece later this week. In short, I am quite happy with the
camera so far.

Now for my question.

What size SmartMedia card(s) should I buy?

The camera came with an 8MB card that holds 21 images in HQ mode. This
mode seems to provide adequate quality for most of my photos.

My choices are 16MB, 32MB and 64MB. (I'm pretty sure I don't wnat
another 8MB card, even if they are cheap.)

So what should I get?

One 64MB card?

Two 32MB cards?

One 32MB card?

Two 16MB cards?

I seek the collective wisdom of this forum to guide me in making my
decision.

Thanks in advance.

John
Click to expand...
 
Misha said:
Terry Dawson said:
Misha said:
3. A larger card is more convenient since you don't have to swap cards,
but there is a remote possibility of card failure - then more of your
pictures may be lost (fairly low probability though).
Click to expand...
The probabilities increase as, in addition to the rare spontaneous
failure, you consider that it could be lost, misplaced, stolen, crushed,
formatted, bulk-erased or zapped by static. Individually, these
accidents might seem fairly remote, but the cumulative risk is worth
considering. Especially if the cost per MB does not go down in higher
sizes.
Click to expand...
Yes, but if you have two cards, and carry one in a wallet or bag,
chances of crushing, misplacing, etc. are actually higher.
Click to expand...
Yup. Who knows how the actual odds finally compute? I can, however, cite a true story last year when a guy lost his entire overseas vacation on one big CF failure. Boy, was he steamed! We all know what he wishes in retrospect that he had done. No amount of probabilities can erase his regrets now.

C-3030 Community Resources
http://c-3030.home.att.net
 
I have 2 64mb's, one 32mb, and the original 16 mb (that came with my 3030z). Since I sometimes use the camera to take photos for a magazine, I use the bracketing feature a lot. Its kind of nice to have a lot of memory in the bag. Other than that, the 64mb's are, well, bigger - and that's about it. I was going to buy 2 32 mb cards but the camera shop offered me 1 64 mb for the same price, so . . .

The magazine bought the second 64mb card.

Mike
 
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