extra CF cards? or drag laptop and external along?

[Meeko5]

What do you do with your photos on vacation? I have 2 external hard drives that I back everything up to weekly, and one is kept in the fireproof safe. I can bring one external and my laptop, but I'd rather not if there's an easier option. With 2 kids and flying we are already going to be packed to the gills.

I currently have two 8gb cards, and shoot in jpeg. We will be on vacation 6 days. My (Canon) 7D is 18mp, and research tells me I should get somewhere around 1200 photos out of an 8gb card. I've never tested this theory haha. I'm tempted to purchase another card or two and wait until we return home to upload and edit. But the what is are plaguing me of course.

So what do you do?

Thanks!

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't like messing with a computer on vacation. I just bring lots of memory cards.

I doubt you'll find CF cards onsite though if you run out of space. If you don't bring a computer, bring more cards than you think you'll need.

 

[Meeko5]

I don't like messing with a computer on vacation. I just bring lots of memory cards.

I doubt you'll find CF cards onsite though if you run out of space. If you don't bring a computer, bring more cards than you think you'll need.

Good call on the cf availability. I didn't think of that!

How many cards do you bring? I can't even guess how many shots ill take in a week at disney so I'm clueless on how many cards should be "enough"

 

[xlxo]

of an 8gb card

I think that's your problem. I pack 32gb cards. If you have more than a few cards... it's too easy to misplace one.

 

[SuperDave531]

I use a 7D and I pack 3x32gb transcend cards along with my SD cards and my EOS M2 in a little card wallet that I keep in my gear bag. I also shoot in RAW+Jpeg. I almost never run out of space. Even on longer vacations 1 card lasts me about 2 days worth of moderate / selective shooting. I'd say head over to walmart or target and stock up on CF cards. Disney only sells SD and Memory Stick cards. Hope that helps

 

[Meeko5]

I use a 7D and I pack 3x32gb transcend cards along with my SD cards and my EOS M2 in a little card wallet that I keep in my gear bag. I also shoot in RAW+Jpeg. I almost never run out of space. Even on longer vacations 1 card lasts me about 2 days worth of moderate / selective shooting. I'd say head over to walmart or target and stock up on CF cards. Disney only sells SD and Memory Stick cards. Hope that helps

Very helpful! Thank you!

 

[mom2rtk]

Good call on the cf availability. I didn't think of that!

How many cards do you bring? I can't even guess how many shots ill take in a week at disney so I'm clueless on how many cards should be "enough"

I'm not really the one to ask. I sort of overdo it.

But I like to have a fresh card every morning so I don't have to worry about changing cards out in the parks. I figure the less I handle it, the less chance I'll drop one along the way.

 

[Meeko5]

I haven't purchased CF cards since I bought my camera body 3 years ago, the price has come down quite a bit thankfully. And I have an Amazon gift card I've been saving

Thanks for all the help!

 

[chartle]

I think that's your problem. I pack 32gb cards. If you have more than a few cards... it's too easy to misplace one.

But if you misplace one you lose half your photos. [insert thinking smiley here, cant find it ]

 

[SuperDave531]

But if you misplace one you lose half your photos. [insert thinking smiley here, cant find it ]

If only we can tether them "wirelessly" to ourselves so we'll always know where they are. I've lost a few in my days of "compact camera-ing." Now I religiously keep tabs on all of my cards. My zippy card wallet has a little zipper bungie that I hook securely into one of my inner bag pockets, so it's doubly protected! If I were to lose my card wallet, someone would have to have deliberately beaten me half to death, unbuckled me from my backpack, and run off with ALL of my stuff, tripod and all lol

On another note, I also try to make sure that my currently loaded card is clean and more than adequate for the rest of the day's shooting. With the 7D I usually just create a new folder each day to sort my pictures if I use the same card. But I think that ultimately if you're mindful of where you tuck your cards away into, you should be just fine. Enjoy your vacation and the pictures will come!

 

[mom2rtk]

I sort of tether mine to my backpack. I keep one zipper wallet for empty cards and one zipper wallet for filled cards. I keep them in a small compartment in my backpack, but I have those wallets tethered to my bag with a rope lanyard.

 

[xlxo]

But if you misplace one you lose half your photos. [insert thinking smiley here, cant find it ]

Not quite....

• a larger media card means I won't get "out of space" msgs when I need to take an important picture.
• it's easier to find a camera than a tiny media card.
• the less cards I have, the less cards I lose. Yes, I've lost a card during a trip and around the house.

 

[chartle]

Not quite....

• the less cards I have, the less cards I lose. Yes, I've lost a card during a trip and around the house.

My point was only about losing cards not running out of space or finding them but "the less cards I have, the less cards I lose. ", if you lose one the more pictures you could possibly lose.

 

[SkaGoat]

Not quite....

• a larger media card means I won't get "out of space" msgs when I need to take an important picture.
• it's easier to find a camera than a tiny media card.
• the less cards I have, the less cards I lose. Yes, I've lost a card during a trip and around the house.

Don't forget, if one of your cards get corrupted, you lose a lot more photos on a filled 32 GB card, versus an 8 GB card.

 

[SkaGoat]

My workflow is 4 or 5 cards, 8 GB or 16 GB cards.

I shoot a different card each day, and back up the photos to my laptop, and an external drive, which I store, and pack (for the trip home) in separate bags.

 

[SuperDave531]

Come to think about it, when I used to shoot my Rebel and my M2, I'd just be packing 16gb cards. I'd have 2 cards per page in my wallet. One for each respective camera per day. When the day was through, I'd stick them back in there and preload the next day's media. I also still shot Raw+Jpeg, and still didn't yet use all of the room

I wish I had a bunch of smaller CF cards myself, but the 3 x 32gb ones I have were the ones the camera came with

 

[Meeko5]

Well, I can easily purchase a few 16GB cards to add to my stash. Would you think 2 16GB and 2 8GB cards would be sufficient?

Now, any brand you are partial to? I've got a Kingston and a lexar currently. Since I'm just a hobbyist I don't need best of the best but want something that's going to last too.

Appreciate all the advice!

 

[SuperDave531]

Well, I can easily purchase a few 16GB cards to add to my stash. Would you think 2 16GB and 2 8GB cards would be sufficient?

Now, any brand you are partial to? I've got a Kingston and a lexar currently. Since I'm just a hobbyist I don't need best of the best but want something that's going to last too.

Appreciate all the advice!

If you're used to a particular brand / speed of card, I'd say to just use the same kind you're already using, unless you can find them slightly cheaper to save a few dollars.

On a side note, I sometimes purposely put a smaller card into my camera (4gb or even 2gb) to play a game with myself. I think more about the shots I want to take / become more selective with my composition as well. I think it helps to sharpen your skills as well if you're purposefully looking to "see" something very unique. *shrugs*

 

[Tigerlulu]

No cards onsite. But the target down the road has them! Saved me one year. Better to bring too many than not enough. I personally would not bring less than one 16g card per day. Minimum.

 

[jec6613]

Well, I can easily purchase a few 16GB cards to add to my stash. Would you think 2 16GB and 2 8GB cards would be sufficient?

Now, any brand you are partial to? I've got a Kingston and a lexar currently. Since I'm just a hobbyist I don't need best of the best but want something that's going to last too.

Appreciate all the advice!

Lexar or Sandisk, and I'd probably get the 16 GB cards rather than 8 GB cards. Eventually that 7D will be replaced, after all.

I use two 32 GB cards in my camera, and it records every image to both to protect against corruption. I carry six 32 GB cards (three sets) plus three 16 GB cards I use in other cameras with single card slots and lower megapixels. I can fit 600 images, RAW 24 megapixels, onto a 32 GB card.