Do you take multple memory cards for your camera?

[Bigmamma31]

I've gone on trips for 2 weeks and only used one 2G card granted my Kodak 8mp camera isn't the highest quality on the market.

[gsxr_moe]

I take a large memory card. It holds many thousands of pictures....pleny of room for all your cruise pictures and more. 16 GB cards are only about $30, and they can hold 5,000+ high quality pictures easily....many more if you tend to shoot at low quality mode.

 

 

This is what I do... MY 16GB card allowed me to take several hundred pictures and videos...... With tons of room left over.

[MrsPete]

From a photography teacher:

 

If you're filling your memory card in a one-week vacation, you don't need multiple memory cards, you need one decent card! Those cards are so tiny and so easy to lose -- don't risk it by ever taking the card out of your camera on vacation! It's easy enough to lose the camera. It's easier still to lose those tiny cards, even in a tiny case.

 

Seriously, cards have come a long way in the last couple years. The newer ones are better quality and faster; that is, faster to recover from the photograph (so they can take a second photograph more quickly) and faster to upload to your computer at home. Just a few years ago a 1-2gig card was good, and larger cards just weren't affordable for anyone except professionals . . . today a 1-2gig card is akin to bringing a knife to a gun fight.

 

If you're using a point and shoot (at the top resolution, of course! Why would you ever use anything else?), an 8gig is going to be all you'll need. That'll allow you to take well over 1000 photographs. I just returned from a 19-day vacation out west among some gorgeous scenery, and I took TONS of excellent photographs EVERY DAY. I took at least 50 pix at the Grand Canyon, more than 200 in Yellowstone, and more everywhere else. I didn't fill my 8gig card.

 

If you're using a DSLR with higher megapixels, you'll need more storage space. For a very reasonable price you can get a 32gig card from ebay. I'd be surprised if the ship's photographer shoots with more than a 32gig card.

 

If you really are filling a large card in a week, you're probably not being discriminating enough in your picture-taking. Focus on quality, not quantity. One of the assignments I give my students is to tell a story using only a certain number of pictures; it forces them to focus on each and every shot -- and their quality improves.

 

Don't worry about your cards going bad. Wait, let me say that differently: Assuming you've already used the card at home, and you know it's a good card, don't worry about it suddenly going bad. When people say their card went bad, it's usually that they wiped out their photographs themselves by pressing a wrong button; actually, I was guilty of that crime myself not too long ago! Bye-bye, Washington DC trip pix. A card going bad just doesn't happen; they're pretty indestructable. If you should be the one in a million person who actually does have a card go bad, don't delete anything or mess with it. There are companies who can retract the data from these cards; it's not cheap, but it's such an unlikely scenerio that it doesn't warrant concern.

[smeyer418]

From a photography teacher:

 

If you're filling your memory card in a one-week vacation, you don't need multiple memory cards, you need one decent card! Those cards are so tiny and so easy to lose -- don't risk it by ever taking the card out of your camera on vacation! It's easy enough to lose the camera. It's easier still to lose those tiny cards, even in a tiny case.

 

Seriously, cards have come a long way in the last couple years. The newer ones are better quality and faster; that is, faster to recover from the photograph (so they can take a second photograph more quickly) and faster to upload to your computer at home. Just a few years ago a 1-2gig card was good, and larger cards just weren't affordable for anyone except professionals . . . today a 1-2gig card is akin to bringing a knife to a gun fight.

 

If you're using a point and shoot (at the top resolution, of course! Why would you ever use anything else?), an 8gig is going to be all you'll need. That'll allow you to take well over 1000 photographs. I just returned from a 19-day vacation out west among some gorgeous scenery, and I took TONS of excellent photographs EVERY DAY. I took at least 50 pix at the Grand Canyon, more than 200 in Yellowstone, and more everywhere else. I didn't fill my 8gig card.

 

If you're using a DSLR with higher megapixels, you'll need more storage space. For a very reasonable price you can get a 32gig card from ebay. I'd be surprised if the ship's photographer shoots with more than a 32gig card.

 

If you really are filling a large card in a week, you're probably not being discriminating enough in your picture-taking. Focus on quality, not quantity. One of the assignments I give my students is to tell a story using only a certain number of pictures; it forces them to focus on each and every shot -- and their quality improves.

 

Don't worry about your cards going bad. Wait, let me say that differently: Assuming you've already used the card at home, and you know it's a good card, don't worry about it suddenly going bad. When people say their card went bad, it's usually that they wiped out their photographs themselves by pressing a wrong button; actually, I was guilty of that crime myself not too long ago! Bye-bye, Washington DC trip pix. A card going bad just doesn't happen; they're pretty indestructable. If you should be the one in a million person who actually does have a card go bad, don't delete anything or mess with it. There are companies who can retract the data from these cards; it's not cheap, but it's such an unlikely scenerio that it doesn't warrant concern.

 

Thanks I was going to ask if anyone actually had a corrupt card(although you can screw one up by taking it out of the camera when the camera is writing to it). I have heard from other first hand sources of people getting a blacnk cd after asking a cruise ship to upload it for them....

[MrsPete]

Thanks I was going to ask if anyone actually had a corrupt card(although you can screw one up by taking it out of the camera when the camera is writing to it). I have heard from other first hand sources of people getting a blacnk cd after asking a cruise ship to upload it for them....

You could possibly buy a bad card from the store, so you should test it to be sure it's good before you take it on vacation -- but once you've established that it's a good card, it's virtually impossible for the card to "go bad". I took a photography class a couple years ago (wonderful class, I learned so much!), and the teacher said that digital memory cards are still "good" even if the camera has been submerged underwater. I know personally that when my daughter's phone was dropped into a pool, her micro-SD card was still in perfect working condition (wish I could say the same about the phone).

 

As you said, you can screw it up by removing it while the camera's writing to it. You can also screw it up by bending some of those tiny wires that stretch over the "working parts" of the card, but those are just more reason to own one large card so that you won't have to remove it and risk these owner-initiated injuries. Keeping one large card safe inside your camera is, by far, the best way to insure your digital pictures make it home.

 

It's awful that Royal photo staff would erase people's pictures. You'd think their staff would be well versed in managing digital images!

[sunnygidget]

Just a thought. I take several cards with me. Why? We usually travel in Europe in the big cities, theft is always a possibility, or forgetting your camera in a cab (happened to my niece). By changing out cards often and storing them in a safe place (money belt?) at least I've still got some pictures of my trip.

[silentbob007]

I generally take two cards but only use one. I transfer them to my laptop every night or two. With my SLR, I occasionally try to act like I'm still shooting film so that I am more selective with my shots. I'm not saying I don't shoot junk shots, but I don't have 500 junk shots I need to sort through either. I know people say that it is OK to overdo with digital, but when it comes to sorting, processing RAWs, etc ... extra time is extra time for the 20th undistinguished sunset or the picture of the island 3 miles in the distance.

[chipmaster]

As another poster recently mentioned, corrupt cards is really more likely due to user error then bad card. Buy a good brand ( Sandisk, Lexar, etc. ) at your local reputable store ( avoid ebay ) and you'll be good. Flashmemory cards are a commodity ( good for us, bad for the manufacture as they are all losing lots of money making them ) almost all brands contract to the same handful of fabs for production ( yes Sandisk co-owns a few of their fab s, but lots of its production goes to other brands too). The difference in price is based on the testing and performance of the final product. The reliability of a well tested card will be solid from a tier 1 brand. A modern card can be read/write many tens of thousands of time and hold their data thru heat/cold, humidity and shock. Your camera or own body is more frail then any of these cards :D

 

Its a myth that a newer card is better or more reliable then an older card. What you get with newer card is more bits and likely faster performance.

 

If your tier 1 card fails regularily likely it was user error that messed it up. Good practice for cards; always format / reformat your cards everytime you start, always make sure you don't turn off your camera while it is writing or formating the card, don't erase / format or move pictures on your card with your computer. Practice these and I believe you should never see a card failure.

 

I also agree with bringing lots of memory, more then you can shoot, 2x is my rule of thumb as they are so cheap. I for one don't believe in a card for every port as cards are small and easily lost/missplaced more so then any camera, but that is just me ( I've managed with one 16GB for two weeks even ). I do believe in backing up my pictures daily to laptop or portable digital storage medium. Even if you use multiple cards I'd recommend you back it up to a laptop or other portable storage media to avoid loss. The cruise photo services are very overpriced, for the price of a couple CD backups one can get a portable storage device.

 

Happy picture taking!

[Almost Packed]

i will change out my cards through out my cruise...2 cameras have been stolen from me...and the worse thing about it....i lost every single vacation pic from start, to the next to the last night...

 

those guys are very sneaky...and i was very careful with mine...it's just that the thieves were better.

 

so two pricey digital cameras later.....i can replace the cameras, but not the memory sticks that was inside. i carry spare memory sticks in my camera case with me...but leave others behind with photos on them in the cabin.

 

trust me, it almost ruined my entire trip because of the loss of my photos that i can never ever replace. :(

[lovemylab]

I have 4 memory cards and I always take all of them with. They take up so little room and I'd rather have too much memory than not enough.

[MrsPete]

As another poster recently mentioned, corrupt cards is really more likely due to user error then bad card. Buy a good brand ( Sandisk, Lexar, etc. ) at your local reputable store ( avoid ebay ) and you'll be good.

I'm going to disagree with you here. I've bought many cards on eBay and have never had a problem. You can buy the name-brand disks on eBay, and the no-name disks are identical. Items on eBay are often sold by stores (for example, I bought a DVD set through eBay recently, and it arrived in an Amazon.com box! I didn't know I was buying from them), and often they're items that have been clearanced because the packaging has changed or the packaging had become store-worn and didn't look so good on the shelf.

Its a myth that a newer card is better or more reliable then an older card. What you get with newer card is more bits and likely faster performance.

You're right, but let me clarify: Digital memory doesn't wear out; that is, it doesn't become worn out in the same way that a pair of shoes becomes worn out. If you're not taking it in and out of your camera, you're very unlikely to ever damage it physically.

 

If you had a memory stick purchased in 2005 and you replaced it with a brand-new, never-used memory stick purchased in 2005, you would gain nothing.

 

BUT the newer cards are much better than the cards that I bought 7-8 years ago when I started using digital memory. As you said, they have more bits. This means they are faster, and they hold more memory (which matters as the need for megapixel storage increases).

 

This is very clear with cameras: Three years ago (for my classes) I bought a couple top-quality Fuji FinePix point-and-shoots. They had 4.5 megapixels and cost $350 each. At that point, I was thrilled with the purchase. This weekend I am heading out to buy a couple more point-and-shoots, and the cameras on my short list have about 10 megapixels and are running $100-150. Technology has improved; quality is up, cost is down.

 

When I choose my new point-and-shoots, I will, of course, buy new memory cards as well -- even if my old ones will do. If I want my new cameras to operate at peak performance, I can't run them with three-years ago memory.

 

Memory cards are similar. Quality is up, cost is down. Your old card isn't "worn out", but a newer model will give you improved service.

[chipmaster]

I'm going to disagree with you here. I've bought many cards on eBay and have never had a problem. You can buy the name-brand disks on eBay, and the no-name disks are identical. Items on eBay are often sold by stores (for example, I bought a DVD set through eBay recently, and it arrived in an Amazon.com box! I didn't know I was buying from them), and often they're items that have been clearanced because the packaging has changed or the packaging had become store-worn and didn't look so good on the shelf.

 

You're right, but let me clarify: Digital memory doesn't wear out; that is, it doesn't become worn out in the same way that a pair of shoes becomes worn out. If you're not taking it in and out of your camera, you're very unlikely to ever damage it physically.

 

 

I'm glad you had good luck with Ebay. BTW so have I and so have millions of other buyers. Your good experience is not evidence that the innocent buyer who searches for SD or CF card and sees 20 pages of options might not select the many dishonest sellers that DO exist when it comes to electronics goods. With cards so cheap and available on sale everywhere; Target, BestBuy, Walmart, just about every corner store for so cheap. It makes little sense to buy from ebay to save a few dollars, pay shipping and wait days with the risk of getting/paying for a 4GB to only find you have a 512MB repackaged. My advice is a broad brushed statement that if followed by the novice or experienced insures no surprises. Just like a novice tourist or veteran might choose to do different things in a foreign country. Going safe here gives up little but maybe a couple bucks for 16GB, a small incremental price on something that costs 50 bucks I think.

 

BTW digital memory does wear out. There is a thing call dielectric wearout of the storage node that insulates the floating gate that stores the bits. Every time you write or erase a memory cell you take a little life away. Any single storage bit is only good for about 100,000 read / writes storage operations. Also you can lose bits due to a phenomena call read and write disturb and for poorly designed or defect chips other phenomena can occur. So off labels from the same factory that Toshiba makes Sandisk memories that don't pass Sandisk specs can and are sold to second tier distributors as lower capacity or lower performing cards.

 

Cheers

[Keith1010]

Wow. So much information.

 

Like anything else in life, everyone has their opinions and many times there is no right or wrong answer.

 

Do you think by now the OP has enough to run with. :) :D

 

Keith