Do I really NEED another memory card?

[MeadMkr]

...with 30+ people (about half of which are kids under 14). Add to this the events such as tennis, horseback riding and boating and there were many, many opportunities to shoot.

For our family gathering last year at Rocking Horse Ranch I ended up taking about 1.5 gig per day (mostly SHQ and some RAW) and conciously tried to control just how much I was shooting. At the end of the week I ended up with a full DVD-R of great photos and about 800 or so culls/dupes.

There were a number of occasions where I would have normally bracketed the shot but tried to limit myself as I only had 3 cards with me (2 1g UltraII and the 256m that came with the E300). The saving grace was that I had the laptop back in the room to offload things at night. Granted, I'm still looking to master the rig I have but during busy times I (as many of us do) take advantate of the FPS rate we have available to us

Which would your rather have, a great shot missed due to an artificial constraint or a number of great shots to share with the family? There no 'right' or 'wrong' answer for everyone; but rather what worked or didn't for the shooter's circumstance ( skill, finances or environment) .

Cheers
CW

 

[searun]

. . . . do you have any field info that says your Ext III is
actually faster than your Lexar 80X ?

I do not have hard data, but others have done the tests. On the E1, the difference was shown to be slight (perhaps 5-10% faster), the edge going to Sandisk. I forget who did this test, but it is within the past 3 weeks. I was actually surprised, and don't really notice the difference.

The E300 results are really dramatic, however. I shoot RAW only, and was amazed the 1st time I used the Extreme III. The buffer clears significantly faster than with the 80X WA - 1 or 2GB. Quite some time ago-probably last summer, a poster named Red Bear put up test data which I thought was solid.
--
Rob Davies
Searun
http://www.pbase.com/searun

equipment in profile

 

[searun]

I have also heard that the 80 gig Wolverine is slow...The longest
my 40 gig has ever taken to copy a 1-gig card is 2.5 minutes, which
I thought was FAST!

perhaps its the drive they use, 'cause the electronics seem the same.

That is interesting. Perhaps there is hope for mine, if I change the drive out. 10 or 12 minutes seems more like what I've experienced with the 80GB Wolverine, which seems like a snails pace when you use something faster.

It is my understanding that the 80GB model I have is a re-badged Vosonic. Interestingly, I noticed a Wolverine at Fry's Electronics here in the US about a month ago - it has a display, and listed support for E cameras. Hav not heard a word of anyone using these.

--
L.L.
Mystic, Ct.

--
Rob Davies
Searun
http://www.pbase.com/searun

equipment in profile

 

[Tchou]

I think 2 CF card and a PSD will be sufficient..

I have 3 now and I never use the third, so I plan to sell it as a bundle with My E-300...

2 is enough, you fill one, empty it on the psd while you continue shooting with the other one and then swap CF card between PSD and camera...

I've got a PDX 70 it works well and is quite fast (about 3 minutes to copy a 2 Gig CF...)

There is also the option of a secure copy, but much slower... (at least Twice the time).

--
Comments are always welcome...
My gear is in my profile...

 

[new8080]

You can always use more. Especially with 8gb microdrives out now for a couple of bucks.
--
One of the B&H 6

 

[TLE]

I don't know whether YOU need more memory. Me? I carry 1 GB , 2 GB and 4GB cards. Some 34 GB in total.

I have a few of these portable harddisk things but I consider them too slow, too awkward in use, too risky and I don't have time to use them while I'm shooting anyway.

So I only use those on a holiday

And yes the 34GB are for a single day...sometimes use only half of that for a wedding. My D2X cameras (RAW+Jpeg basic) are rather hungry memorywise...

Theo

I have three, relatively fast (80x Lexar and Ultra II), 1G memory
cards. But the deals look SO good right now. How much memory do
you really need?
--
Theresa Kelly
http://theresak.smugmug.com/
Oly E-3OO + some other stuff

Constructive criticism always welcome!

 

[TLE]

But... when I saw the Extreme III prices the other day, it really
tugged at me. Seems like just a month ago (guess it was 4-5 months)
I paid almost $250 for the Extreme III 2GB card from Arlington. I
was ecstactic to get it -they were unavailable in the US for awhile.

There was a time that I bought a normal speed Sandisk SmartMedia card of 16 MB for that kind of money. Think I must have been extatic too back then

Theo

PS what I wanted to say: I have been using memorycards since 1997 and their capacity has been on the rise since...and their price/MB has been getting lower since...

And I don't see that ending anytime soon

 

[mrfitz]

nope!

 

[CadGuru]

Theresa,
I am sure you already know this but the Hyperdrive is great.
I ordered one for my parents three week trip to the florida keys.

Easy to use, and the best part is we are going to rotate it throughout the family for when we go on trips so that it doesn't sit idle for months at a time.

I was going to by a few 2g cards when I head to disney in october but am going to pick up an extra 2g card and use the psd and save some $$$

that whole 'want vs. need' thing just doesn't phase pack rats like me!

I think you are right, I am investigating PSD's (sounds like a
social disease)and figuring out what I will need before my next
vacation.
--
Theresa Kelly
http://theresak.smugmug.com/
Oly E-3OO + some other stuff

Constructive criticism always welcome!

 

[SteveDP]

The size of HD80 is 13x8x3 cm. You don't need to bring the AC power supply or car adapter as the batteries last a long time in HD80. For a short trip, all I need is 8 spare AA 2500 mAh batteries (4 for the PSD and 4 for the FL-36). For a longer trip, I simply bring my 110-240V 2-hour quick charger with a 12V car adapter.

 

[Suprgnat]

The real pisser is I bought a 2GB Ext III on 9 Jan, 2006 for $219.95 from B&H. Of course, on 14 Feb 2006 when I saw them for $109.95 at b&H, what else could I do? I bought another one!

. . . . . B&H has a 2GB Ext III for USD110. Here's the URL

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=search&Q=&b=1083&a=158_1128&a=568_4852&mnp=0.0&mxp=0.0&shs=&ci=1097&ac=&Submit.x=11&Submit.y=4

(BTW, I really enjoy your images . . . please keep postin' !)

Best . . . .

Paul
Vancouver, WA

http://www.pbase.com/spdavis

 

[macdane]

I bought a 4GB Ultra II with my E-300 last year and have been wrestling with the deals on 2GB Extreme III cards lately. I have slower 1GB and 512MB for backup and have struggled with the idea of my big 4GB being relegated to backup status.

My E-1 just arrived today and with its smaller file sizes I'm still not sure what I'll end up doing. For the time being, I think I've decided to use my money elsewhere: bought a Kaiser ball head and Oly Studio today, both of which should prove much more useful than another CF card.

Dane

 

[Twiddle D Dum]

. . . . a price protection policy ?

If you're a good customer, maybe they'll listen to a complaint . . .

In either case it wouldn't hurt giving it a try.

(If none of the above works, your average purchase price is $165 . .. not too bad !)

Best . . . .

Paul
Vancouver, WA

http://www.pbase.com/spdavis

 

[aussiedavid]

in 1999 my first digital camera with removable media came with a 8meg card (from memory 7 images at highest res, & no batteries or charger) & a 32meg card cost about AU$130....—Davud

 

[P S]

I have not read all the comments in this thread, so, if I repeat similar comment by someone else, I apologize upfront. Now that I have cover my behind

It all depends on what you shot and the maxium numbers of pictures you shot in one photo session. If you shot RAW and you only shot no more than 380 per session (for an E1, an E300 or E500 would require a larger card), than a 4GB card plus a spare would be sufficient. I assume you upload the pictures to a hard drive after every photo session. If you shot JPEG at SHQ, then a 1GB card plus a spare would be fine. Hope this helps.
--
PS

 

[Edgar Lydias]

Prices sure have dropped. I paid over $250 for a 512 MB**
Ultra II a few years ago when they were the newest thing.
(at least its been dependable after 25,000 pics so far...)

Ed.
===================

I just got off a 24 hr. call and apparently missed a fun thread!
Thanks to you and Michael for the P&S advice on a previous thread
and also, Best Buy had 1G UltraIIs last week for around $57. I
picked up 2 (3 total now) and have also been thinking about the PSD
option--especially for travel.

 

[Theresa K]

I really don't NEED one right now. But I will pick up another when I think that I will have an event that requires it. I will also shop for a PSD before my next trip anywhere. Thanks for the suggestions!
--
Theresa Kelly
http://theresak.smugmug.com/
Oly E-3OO + some other stuff

Constructive criticism always welcome!

 

[Bill_Turner]

Well,
I think that I'll need another one.
--

Regards,
(afka Wile E. Coyote)
Bill
PSAA
Equipment in profile.

If you can visualize it, then create it in the camera, finish it off with the print that matches your mind's eye then you are, most likely, a master...

 

[Suprgnat]

Didn't even check. I'm not even upset. That kind of price drop isn't something the retailer can control, and I don't expect them to eat the difference. I've consoled myself with the fact I got a great average price.

 

[instamatic]

The amount of memory you need depends on what you're trying to shoot.

Perhaps a good amount of memory would be the amount that allows you to take 1000 RAW photos with your most used camera?

I currently own over 7GB of memory cards, and it can be a little tight at times.

Kind Regards,
Przemek

I have three, relatively fast (80x Lexar and Ultra II), 1G memory
cards. But the deals look SO good right now. How much memory do
you really need?
--
Theresa Kelly
http://theresak.smugmug.com/
Oly E-3OO + some other stuff

Constructive criticism always welcome!