Is it better to have a 2GB memory card versus two 1 GB ones?

[spiralgirl]

Hi,

Awhile ago I bought a Nikon L11 and went to the store I bought it at to get a free one hour demo on how it all works. I currently have a 64 MB card in there now and the guy who worked there said to get more memory so I could shoot at a higher resolution for a better picture. They had a deal to buy a 1 GB card and you get the second free for $40.00.

Since I've never owned one of these cards I'm wondering if it's better to have one 2GB card so you have more memory for more photos and video. Or is it better to have two 1 GB cards.

Thoughts?

[TheWengler]

I'm not sure it's really necessary to have a 2 GB card unless you shoot lots of video. Regarding the question, I would rather have a 2 GB card over 2 1 GB cards unless you have a unique situation to justify the opposite choice. What kind of memory card are you getting? Unless you're getting one of those fancy high speed San Disk cards (which you probably don't need) you shouldn't have to pay $40 for 2 GB of memory. Here's another option from a reliable seller...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134029

[griptape]

Agreed, $40 is a total rip off for 2GB. And I personally use 8GB cards for the most part, as I think carrying extra cards is a burden, and I'd rather not worry about if I have enough memory at any given time. I have 1 and 2GB cards in my car just in case something goes freakishly wrong and I get a card error, but for the average point and shooter, a single 2GB is probably the most practical.

[AlexMonro]

I think that once you've gone beyong the basic cost per GB, it's a very personal choice thing. You probably want to have a card that's big enough fo a session's shooting, then it comes down to how concerned you are about the (very rare) risks of a corrupted card. If you have one big card, there is a risk of losing everything, however, more smaller cards mean changing cards more often, which means more wear on the card connectors, potentially leading to greater risk of corruption (and the risk of physically losing a card).

Personally, I don't go for more than 50 - 100 shots on a card.

[mcenut]

Your Nikon is a 6 megapixel point and shoot. Your existing 64 MB card is way too small. Personally I try and get a card that will hold 300 to 400 pictures. For your camera on the highest quality setting that would be a 2 GB card. I use 1 GB cards in my 3 megapixel point and shooter.

Like others have said, it's personal. I originally bought 1 GB cards for my 8 megapixel DSLR. But have since moved up to using 2 GB cards when I started shooting in the RAW format. Could I use 4 or 8 GB cards? Sure, but I choose not to. It's a personal choice.

And though you can get 2 GB cards cheaper, $40 is not a total rip off. I generally spend around $32 for my 2 GB cards. But I only buy name brand cards, so I pay more. So I guess $40 for a no name card would be a total rip off.

[Rhys]

Buy the biggest card that's affordable. When you get a replacement camera a year or two down the line, you'll be glad you went for the larger size.

[griptape]

And though you can get 2 GB cards cheaper, $40 is not a total rip off. I generally spend around $32 for my 2 GB cards. But I only buy name brand cards, so I pay more. So I guess $40 for a no name card would be a total rip off.

Kingston is a HUGE name in PC hardware, so I wouldn't call the link posted a "no name card". All you're paying for is the sticker on the front of the card when you buy name brand. Most cards are manufactured by the same few factories anyway.

[TheWengler]

Your Nikon is a 6 megapixel point and shoot. Your existing 64 MB card is way too small. Personally I try and get a card that will hold 300 to 400 pictures.

On the S3 and the K100D (both 6 MP cameras) I could get about 700+ jpegs at the highest quality setting on to a 2 GB card.

[wutske]

I've bought 2 seperate 1Gb cards for my camera because if a card fails, I still have another one to use. I tought that it wouldn't be such a big deal to switch cards but it is in fact a bit of a hassle because your card is always full at the wrong moment :rolleyes:

Now, I personaly wouldn't pay $40 for a 1Gb card if it isn't a ultra high speed model or something similar. I think you can get 'normal' 2Gb cards for $25.

[sla]

Hi
First of all I must agree, $40 is certainly too expensive for a 1G SD card. You can buy a good 2GB for less than $40.
Or a speedy 1GB card for about $20-25.
Or a basic 1GB, good brand (for instance Kingston) even for $10-15.

Which option you choose, it depends on how much money you can spend. And how much you plan to shoot (whether 300-400 photos is a lot or not). Digital photography can surprise you in this area. For instance when I was buying my digital camera, I thought 200 photos is a huge amount. But now I can shoot 300-400 photos during one day walk.

Generally I think even if you buy one 1G, it's a good start. Unless you are a photo-freak - like me ;)
regards

[spiralgirl]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I'm in Canada so I think that's why it's more money. The 2 (1 GB cards ) I have now are Kingston brand and a 2 GB card is $45.00 at other places so I'm staring to think that might be the norm here.

I checked out the link to that place that is $15.00 but they don't ship to Canada. Anywho trying to find the bill to exchange the 2 (1 GB) but can't find it so may be stuck with these two anyway. If I do find it though I'll get the 2 GB instead. It would be nice to not be limited to 20 photos and having to run and keep uploading them to my computer all the time.

[erichlund]

Cards do eventually go bad. So, how many pictures would you be willing to lose? For my D200, I can put 125 photos on a 2 gig card. They cost about $35 a piece @ Costco (US$). I have 8 that I carry with me, so that's 1000 photos. I would be sad if I lost 125 photos. I would be devastated if I lost 500 (8 gig card). I can take sad.

[DonSchap]

Buy the biggest card that's affordable. When you get a replacement camera a year or two down the line, you'll be glad you went for the larger size.

I'm with Rhys on this one ... I boast an 8GB CF in my A700 ... and it holds around 700 shots of RAW or Super Fine Res JPGs. Do I feel guilty about it ... heck no. I know darn well that after one and a half hours of serious shooting, it's nearly full.

MEMORY SHOULD BE YOUR LEAST CONCERN

Feeling edgy ... get two 8GB cards. Smaller ones just means there's a better chance of misplacing them or losing it. :cool:

Also, pop for a couple or three of the 4GB USB JUMP drives to quickly backup your effort, without having to burn DVDs or CDs right away. You can dangle those from a key chain or necklace.

Let's face it, you'd look pretty silly sporting a couple of DVDs around your neck to do the same thing. :rolleyes:

[spiralgirl]

erichlund, and DonSchap,

Thank you. I found my bill and called the store since it's after the return date and told them I want an exchange. I am not one to take a tonne of photos but want the best bang for my buck and would love to be able to hold more and not have to keep running to my computer to upload them into iphoto.

So I got my 2 one GB cards for $40.00 and then 1 (2 GB) card is $49.99 but they have a sale where I could get 2 (2GB cards) for $59.99. Now I know I should get the 2 GB but wondering if I'll really use an extra 2 GB card done the road? I don't own a video camera and this camera doubles as a video cam (although not the best though I don't need high quality videos at this point) if I ever need to shoot video of making my product or something.

For $10.00 I'm thinking getting the extra 2 GB is worth it and I'll probably get another camera in the future anyway.

[Marburg]

Hi,

Awhile ago I bought a Nikon L11 and went to the store I bought it at to get a free one hour demo on how it all works. I currently have a 64 MB card in there now and the guy who worked there said to get more memory so I could shoot at a higher resolution for a better picture. They had a deal to buy a 1 GB card and you get the second free for $40.00.

Since I've never owned one of these cards I'm wondering if it's better to have one 2GB card so you have more memory for more photos and video. Or is it better to have two 1 GB cards.

Thoughts?

I use two 4GB cards. I use the 4GB cards because I shoot in RAW. Shooting in RAW takes a lot more space but you get a higher quality photo with less digital noise. Keeping that in mind, I generally keep only 100-200 photos per card. I have actually had a card go bad. Fortunately, I had already pulled the photos off the card. Sandisk has great techincal support and I had a replacement card within 2 days of reporting the problem.

[griptape]

I don't know if I'm just lucky, or if it actually helps, but about every 4 times I pull my card to archive to my PC (and then DVD), I format it in the camera, rather than just deleting, and I've never, ever, even once had a card go bad on me.

[spiralgirl]

Marburg and griptape,

Thanks for the feedback. I decided just to get the one 2 GB card and glad I did. After I formatted it and see at the highest resolution I have over 600 photos. For video at the highest resolution I have 38 minutes so am glad I went with the bigger size. Kingston said lifetime warranty on the outside which calmed but the card formatted right away and I hope I don't have any future problems.

[erichlund]

I don't know if I'm just lucky, or if it actually helps, but about every 4 times I pull my card to archive to my PC (and then DVD), I format it in the camera, rather than just deleting, and I've never, ever, even once had a card go bad on me.

I know little about SD memory, but CF cards come with more memory than is published on the card. As parts of the card go bad, the controller marks those as bad and uses some of the extra to make up the difference. However, even with that, they are rated for only so many writes. I don't recall what the number is.

I always format in camera. I've only ever had one card go bad, and that was an old 192mb Sandisk card. It's not a common thing, but I just don't like to think of losing an entire vacation because I put it all on one card that got too close to a magnet or got dropped somewhere.

People keep acting like this is a big hassle. Try changing film every 12-36 shots, with an old manual feed camera. Changing CF/SD cards is a snap. I can't tell you how many times I loaded film and realized after a couple of shots that it wasn't actually advancing. Then taking the film to the store, only to get it back a week later and find you half the shots you just paid for were utter crap.

So, I'll continue to carry my 8 (or more) CF cards, and be very happy. Thank you very much.