Just how much memory qualifies as ... too much

[DonSchap]

Today, I received my new Transcend 32 GB Compact Flash 133x card for my DSLR camera.

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After insertion, before any shots, the α700 says that it potentially holds an amazing:

2929 Extra Fine JPEG (~10.93 MB/image), or
5467 Fine JPEG (~5.86 MB/image), or
8021 Standard JPEG (~4MB /image), or
1631 RAW (19.62 MB/image), or
2398 cRAW (~13.35 MB/image), or
1667 cRAW & JPEG (~19.2 MB/two images), or
1256 RAW & JPEG (~25.5 MB/two images)

I would guess that no one really shoots "Standard JPEG" or "STD" Quality with an α700 ...

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but then, just look at what you can do with a combo (either "cRAW & JPEG" or "RAW & JPEG") ... that's quite a load and amazingly practical. Admittedly, if you lose a card of this size ... Oh man! :eek: ... let the crying begin ... but, then again, why would you pull it out of the camera during a shoot? The chances of it being FULL are practically nil!

Just for fun, let's do some other math ... here's a "word problem" (okay, don't everyone run away ... I'll be gentle :rolleyes: )

Given: The standard capacity on the α700's NP-FM500H battery is about (hopefully) 600 shots.
For argument sake, you are using a Quality setting of "Extra Fine JPEG." which, according to the above chart, allows you to shoot 2929 images.

Question: How many fully charged batteries would you need to run through your α700 in order to fill the new 32GB Memory card?

Work: 2929 / 600 = ~4.5 batteries (probably more like 5 or 6).

Follow-up Question: Do you have 4.5 batteries in your camera case?

Answer: Unlikely. Which means, during the shoot, you simply cannot fill it! HAH! Told you it was easy. C'mon ... 3000 shots? LOL -> nothing is that interesting!

Honestly, if you only lost an image-packed 2GB card during a wedding shoot ... someone is going to have their @$$ in a sling, big time! I suppose it is really all just academic IF you routinely backup your work, anyway ... this one just lets you practically manage combo files, w/o having to swap CF-cards.

I think for the upcoming stuff, I'll elect a Quality-setting of "cRAW & JPEG" ... just for the fun of it and see what the workload becomes. Admittedly, it kind of sucks for high-speed work ... but, barring that ... most other stuff is fair game. I can always shoot the high-speed JPEG-only stuff on the 8GB Memory Stick PRO, in the other α700's memory slot.

I figure that MOST dedicated two-hour photographic events can range in 300-400 shots, so this might be a workable size for a vacation or the holidays.

Anyone else shooting this Quality combo-setting?

BTW: The JPEG in the combo-setting is a FINE JPEG, not an "Extra Fine JPEG."

[dr4gon]

yeah, best not to use it in a critical moment where all your eggs would be in that one basket, but really cool to have! :D

But fortunately, the a700 can have a MS slot too! ;)

At 20MBps, that's a decent speed for a large card.

Whenever I go on vacation, I'm thinking I'll need at least another 4gb, if not an 8gig (since prices are always coming down)

[SONYNUT]

2gb Is It For Me...

[dr4gon]

how many do you carry then? ;) 3-4? which cards do you use (and what speed are they rated at?)

I only have a Extreme III 4GB CF rated at 30 MB/s

[JonathanJ]

Hi Don,

Your post above reminded me that I wanted to pick your brains about what settings you normally shoot with the Sony A700. I have bitten the bullet now and am upgrading my A100 to the A700 so wanted to get an idea of how to set it up.

For example, I normally shoot RAW+JPEG with the A100 unless I am shooting sports, when I will just shoot JPEG. Is the cRAW+JPEG a good option on the A700?
I guess I don't really understand what they are doing with RAW vs cRAW.

Are there other settings that you have changed from the default? I turned off the EyeStart stuff on my A100 because it kept activating when I didn't want it to. I also read in the DpReview article that ISO 200 is the base ISO. Is that what you normally shoot with?

Cheers,

Jonathan

[DonSchap]

cRAW is becoming a defacto standard with the new cameras. It is restricted from earlier-use because a lot of older software simply did not know how to deal with the file type/size.

The α700, departing from the restriction of the past, has included this new file type/size into its menu selection. If you do need to go to RAW+JPEG, instead (for whatever reason), you could program one of the three MR-settings (Memory Recall) in the mode knob to quickly switch over.

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In my own set up ... because, this is a highly personal preference, my MR is set up for:

(Indoor, natural light) -> M; 1/60; f/4; EV & EF @ +/- 0; Single Shot; Multi segment metering; D-R off; ISO 400; AF-S; Spot AF Area; cRAW+JPEG; Large file; Tungsten; AdobeRGB; Sharpening +3
(Outdoor, natural light) -> M; 1/60; f/4; EV & EF @ +/- 0; Single Shot; Multi segment metering; D-R+; ISO 200; AF-S; Spot AF Area; cRAW+JPEG; Large file; 5600K; AdobeRGB; Sharpening +3
(Indoor, casual shot, flash) -> M; 1/60; f/4; EV & EF @ +/- 0; Single shot; Multi segment metering; D-R off; ISO-400; AF-S; Spot AF Area; X.FINE; Large file; Flash WB-1; AdobeRGB; Sharpening +3 (see example below)


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The reason I normally start at f/4 is because of common lens selections. The long glass is usually f/4 or higher. If you start, right off the bat, at f/2.8 ... that doesn't leave you with much wider to go to, now does it? These are just rapid starting points for common shots.

When I go to the Airshow, though ... things really change for old MR #1 though ... as it becomes my "high-speed pass" setting.

(Outdoor, "High-speed" pass) -> S; f/1000; Continuous Adv Hi>; Spot Metering; D-R+ Level 5; ISO 400; AF-C; Spot Af Area; X.FINE; Large File; 6000K; AdobeRGB; Contrast +1; Sharpening +3 (see example below) ... If you need a little more exposure ... and are out of aperture, with your α700's top, right "ISO" button, you can quickly boost the ISO to 800 or 1000.


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I, now, have to remember to switch to the "Memory Stick" ... for the JPEG-only stuff, just to keep the CF memory uniform. Although I suppose it does not really matter, as I use the "Date form" folder name for on card file management, rather than the "Standard form". So, it is a little more tidy in that way, unless you are shooting lots of shots on the same day. It also gives me a reason to make use of the Memory Stick slot. It was an unexpected "bonus?" when I bought the α700.

All I can say is "try it out" ... you can always change from the base settings. I normally do not EV-adjust until I am in the shooting situation ... leaving them (EV and EF) zeroed out, initially.

Well, there go the "trade secrets" ... LOL

I figure if I paid for it, it is getting used.

Good luck

[JonathanJ]

Hi Don,

Thanks for your very detailed explanation, I'm sure it is useful for other people here too.

Yes, I noticed that there were those MR features, I will probably set mine up similarly - with indoor, outdoor and high speed sports settings I think.

I mostly use Adobe Lightroom for the first step of my post-processing, then Photoshop CS3. I guess they can both read cRAW files now?

Thanks again.

Jonathan

[DonSchap]

One of the things I do with JPEGs, is review them first, rather than having to run through the RAW imager. I figure out which JPEG files look best, then tackle them with the RAW imager. Flow is important ... and do not tell anyone, but I'm not using Adobe Lightroom.

Remember, there are "scene selections" on the mode dial of the α700 ... one, of which, that addresses sports action.

Here's basically how it sets itself up, in that "scene":

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Note that the Autofocus Mode is in "AF-C" (Continuous focusing through the sequence of shots)

Then the metering takes places and automatically sets the ISO, shutter speed and aperture, giving the widest aperture (for DOH) and supporting shutter-speed around 1/250th second. At that speed, I am assuming the camera "thinks" you will be "panning" your subject.

Also, not displayed, is the fact that the "Scene Selection" locks the "Creative Style" or colorspace from whatever you had selected (i.e., Vivid; Neutral; AdobeRGB) and makes it sRGB or "Standard", just like AUTO Mode does, except that this "side effect" is grayed out and unlike AUTO mode, you cannot change it in ANY of the "Scene Selections." So さようなら (sayonara) to lusher greens, cyans and blues. Also ... Brightness, Constast and Sharpness variables. LOL

In a way, "Scene Selections" are just glorifed "AUTO". I suppose the novice or average user would try them, probably even the graduating P&S user ... but, if they were gone, I doubt I'd even notice. I definitely would like more "Memory Recalls" instead ... :D

[SONYNUT]

most of the problems for people and high gb is loading them to the puter..unless you have the space it takes up lots of mem just to load them up..

i like to use an external drive and load them into smaller folders for later use..doesn't bog down the sytem as bad

[DonSchap]

Good thinking ... storage management is an artform unto itself when it comes to images.

[SONYNUT]

I Have One Hard Drive Divided Into Folders That I Can Drag The New Pics And Drop Them Into A Matching Folder For Future Use..it Works Out Well To Find Stuff Again

[seanhoxx]

So Don I got a ultra III 4gb. cf card as a nice starting point with my A700, Yesterday I went to best buy, had a 12% off card for my Birthday month as a rewards zone customer. to my surprise they had memory sticks on sale, even the Sony brand name, 4gb. for the same price as 2gb. So I got a buy on a 4gb m.s. and spent all day today telling anyone who would listen how many pics I can save on the camera, and can toggle back and forth, etc. then I sit down tonight and read this, I feel somewhat "limited" :)
the info. on the MR settings was very valuable, was able to gain a better understanding then from a whole chapter I read about settings over the weekend, so when do we all need to start paying you? lol

[DonSchap]

Like I said a long while back ... there is no money in this for me, it is strickly love of the game. Oh, I've been given some gratuities for some of my work ... but, the cost of the effort was always more than I ever got in return. This has been strickly "not for profit", that's for sure. If I can improve my "weapons of choice", so be it.

Obviously, a telescope, full-frame camera and a couple new lenses are on the "wish-list" and should be along pretty soon. That is going to be quite a chunk of change, all by itself ... but the results should be impressive, once I put it all together.

I am certainly glad you can benefit from my experiences and postings. Improving the understanding of this craft is important to me ... and hopefully ... all of you who read and use it. I came to contribute what I could, when I could.

Good luck to you all, as you ... lol ... develop your skill set. There's a lot of world out there ... and beyond.

[seanhoxx]

Don, and anyone else, I was re reading the posts on the memory recall settings and was looking at the scene selection for sports action. I had been thinking that it would be fine for my use on shooting sports, but now I am wondering. I didnt catch that it defaults and locks out other settings. "vivid" for example would seem the obvious choice to me for most sports shooting other then snow sports? Also I think I would have to make some adjustments as we get later into the year and I am shooting dusk / early dark under stadium lights "high school" And just to make things a bit more interesting my teams home soccer uniforms are all white with red lettering. Does anyone have any suggestions for a "custom" sports setting ? especialy for the later in the season conditions.

[DonSchap]

Red is usually less affect by a colorspace change than greens, cyans and blues. So sRGB will work probably as well as any other setting.

It is just something to keep in mind ... as you decide on your settings. There are definite limitations with these "Scene Selection" modes. Memory Recall is a way around these feature "lock-outs" ... but, then again, you make the call for the Mode you want to use (A, S, P, or M). You can leave ISO in Auto ... and let metering take a crack at resolving your image. The flexibility is definitely there ... and MR is just a setting shortcut, not the final solution for any shot.

Once again, experimentation leads to a much deeper understanding of the camera's operation ... just shoot and see how it turns out. Cripes, the cost is low enough. LOL :D You just need a "willing" subject.


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Well ... if you can find one, that is. :rolleyes: