Please comment briefly on your experience with higher capacity cards or any concerns you have about memory cards in general.

Please comment briefly on your experience with higher capacity cards or any concerns you have about memory cards in general.
Yes, I generally shoot with a number of smaller capacity cards to "spread the risk."
87% (408 votes)
No, I think those concerns are overblown and shoot with the highest capacity card my system can handle.
12% (56 votes)
My camera is a bit older and cannot handle the higher capacity cards, so this does not apply to me.
1% (5 votes)
Total votes: 469

COMMENTS
Scott's picture

I, under no circumstances will ever shoot above 4 gigs. I use the best name brand cards and hae experienced two corrupted cards. I did recover most of the photos with a recovery program.

David Patria's picture

I use a 40GB portable storage unit to backup my photos in addition to my laptop. I think relying on one or two large cards concentrates risk. My favorite size is 2GB and I shoot a 10MP camera.

John Welburn's picture

I have both 1 Gig & 4 Gig cards that I have used with my Sony DSC S40 and now my Sony DSC H3. I have had no problems with either type of card. I did, however, have a problem with my 258 Mb card in the 4 megapixel camera.

Dan Arsenault's picture

These are not indicative choices for us. I am a wedding photographer who has lost a smaller card from a wedding shoot so I don't think the concerns are overblown. I now use larger cards because it keeps the process simpler, ie nothing to change, nothing to loose. Also the recovery software is pretty effective.

Jim kresge's picture

Large capacity cards may be convenient but are dangerous. I have recently lost a 1 Gig card and a number of photos. I can't imagine my feelings if I lost 8 or 16 Gigs woth of photos. 2 Gig max for me thank you.

Michael Rosenberg's picture

I shoot with 16gb cards on a Nikon D2X. One problem which I have never seen discussed is the fact that read write speeds tend to slow down when the card is more than half full. With the drop in prices on high speed cards, I have found that if I change the card when it is half full, I can continue to shoot at high speeds. In 9 years of shooting digital, I have never had a card go bad on me. Maybe that is because I treat the cards with the same care and respect that I treat all of my electronic equipment, such as using the cases which come with the cards and careful packing in my camera bag.

Paulus's picture

I have been digital since 1999 and have never lost a shot due to a memory card failure. One compact flash card went through the washing machine and survived. I am sure that cards do occasionally fail so I do take three or four 4 Gig cards when I shoot just for insurance

E.  D.  Paradeses's picture

I have never been one to put many eggs in one basket. As a new user of digital tech, I will be slow to rush ahead. I am OK with my 1 and 2 gig cards.

Mel Wolpin's picture

I shoot with a card no larger than 4GB just in case I lose or misplace a card and then not all is lost. Even then with my D300 at JPEG fine I am getting over 500 shots which equates to many rolls of film.

Larry 's picture

I do like the higher storage but you never know when one of these cards may malfunction. I would hate to loss a lot of photos, especialy if I am on vacation. I am not a pro who carrys around all sorts of back up devices to protect images.

Roger Robertson's picture

While out shooting subjects such as birds or even a sports activity, having the same card handle the entire shooting is an advantage. Not having to stop shooting except in the event of battery failure/usage means staying on subject with less interruption. Chance of loosing the shots is equal to any other card and that is just a fact of life should it occur

S.  Blasquez's picture

By using multiple smaller cards, I believe that if you happen to lose one of the cards, you may still be able to salvage a shoot out of the rest. If you have all of your shots and maybe an additional shoot on one card and lose it, then you're up a creek without a paddle.

Spencer Wood's picture

After shoot processing is a pain with larger cards. I would much rather see continued increases in speed rather than capacity. My largest cards are 4GB because I can fit the contents on a single DVD and because I can sort the cards by topic (bridal, ceremony, reception, etc.). I don't see it as an inconvenience to have a pocket full of 4 gig cards instead of a single 16GB card... and, yes, I like the added insurance of multiple cards instead of just one.

Conrad Byron's picture

Having been involved with computers and hard drives crashing I prefer to use 2GB or smaller so that I don't lose everything.

Peter Elledge's picture

I may have one observation, it's my fault or the card, but I've lost about 89 pictures after downloading and deleting them from my camera. I still would use the 16gb card.

Sue Jarrett's picture

For weddings I use multiple smaller cards. For my wildlife work I use the higher capacity ones, but edit asap and get the images to my harddrive.

D.  Fox's picture

While I shoot from a number of cards I have increased the capacity of the cards I am using to reflect the format size of the captured image.

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