Digital newbie needs memory card help
 

I am a new member of the digital camera world now! Decided on the Canon S2 IS last night. I bought 1GB SD memory card, battery charger with an extra set, plus a set of Lithium batteries for backup. This is a HUGE step in technology for me. I am nervous but am sure with 10 weeks to go before take off I will get more comfortable with practice.

I know there have been past threads on the amount of memory cards to take but can't pull them up on my search.

I won't be taking any lap top or such to download so I want to be sure to take enough cards for 13 days. I don't plan to have photos larger than 8 x10 if that means anything.

If anyone can post past threads or offer advice, I thank you in advance. So far the info this board has provided has helped me make so many decisions for my upcoming trip.

Carla

You might consider a portable dvd/cd burner. Delkin offers one for around $250.00.It would save buying alot of extra cards.

Carla, you can click on your name and it will bring up all of your own posts. I think your other post will help you decide how many cards to take.

Hi Carla,

You might want to check your other post -- there are about 9 replies to it. I'll send it ttt for you.

Cheers,
Julian

Thanks guys, I don't know why there are 2 posts on the same subject. The website was acting strange that night so maybe its some kind of glitch. If I could delete one I would but not sure if this is possible. I did get all your other replies thanks. I am really torn to buy a portable device now. $$$$$$ just keeps going out but not coming in as quickly, I hate when that happens!!!

I had strange things happening with the site at the same time.

Carla, a storage device could save expense on cards...but do still take at least two cards. I wince when I hear about people taking only one card.

I'm trying not to buy a portable storage device but my "pop goes the budget" mentality is saying, why not? so i've been looking online but am lost...is this the same as an mp3 player? ebay has some for around $100 but most everywhere else is $200-$400..any help? I am NOT going to spend at the upper end. (well, i still have 24 days....) :)
Thanks,
Dennis

Definitely take at least one more memory card. Heven forbid something happens to one of them and then you're stuck. Between my husband and I (we had two cameras with about 2-3GB of memory between the two of us) we came home with at least 1600 pictures (we deleted some as we went, although not many).

You may already be planning on this, but definitely bring a back up camera (non-digital) along. You never know what will happen and don't want to be stuck without. In Kenya our digital went missing two days into the trip but fortunately insurance covered it when we returned. Then in Peru last year the flash on the replacement camera shorted out - fortunately the back up camera filled any gaps.

We had three digital cameras between two of us. I had a 256 and a 512 and didn't finish either of them. My friend borrowed camera that came with a 512 and a 128 - she didn't finish them (though she was close).

Both of us managed to delete the lousy pics daily, edited others (as copies) and in the end, between the two of us we had maybe 1200-1500 photos of which I posted over 600.

Personally, I wouldn't put all my eggs into one-1GB card, rather two-512s or two-512s and one-256. I'd hate to run into a problem with a single large card. But since you already have the 1Gb, consider getting at least a 512 as back-up. Or return the 1GB and get two-512s and a 256.

That sounds like very low res to me.

I agree Sandi, now that I have read more of my manual and all the warnings, I think the 1 GB card is risky. I will see about exchanging it for 2 smaller. In the back of the manual it breaks down the estimated photos available depending on the resolution and pixel size, so I am learning every day and feeling more confident. Thank you all for the input. I have decided against the portable storage device too. I just don't want to have to think about all these batteries, chargers, plug adapters, converters etc and just enjoy the trip!

Carla, please don't forget the need for high res JPEGs if you want some of your prints to be decent quality 10 x 8s. Low res is OK for web display but that's about all it's meant for.

Ok, help me out here...I probably won't enlarge any photos more than 8x10, my Canon is a 5.0 MP, 12x optical zoom(36-432mm). I can choose Superfine, Fine or Normal for compression settings. Also, large(2592x1944 pixels), M1(2048x1536),M2(1600x1200pixels), S(640x480).
If I choose L and Fine it estimates 339 images on a 512 card. So that would equal approx 1360 images with 2 GB.

Should I consider shooting at M1 and fine, that would be 529 images on a 512 card or 2116 images with 2 GB approx.

Mathematics was never my thing but I think I am getting the hang of this. Just want to come out with crisp clear shots. I am sure there are other variables to consider, just haven't progressed that far....yet!

Carla,

Like you, I find it hard to get my head around that kind of data because, as I said before, I'm not the digital expert in this family. I suggest you take the advice Julian gave you in the other post...shoot at the highest quality JPEG setting and largest picture size your camera can give you. My scant knowledge backs that up. If you recall, Julian, I and Yvonne all suggested 5 gb worth of cards (if you're not downloading), and being an ultra cautious bloke, I added 2 more gb but you can probably discount that.

The amount of memory sandi and her friend used suggests they were shooting low res and small picture size. That's fine for web display, probably adequate for 6 x 4 family snaps if you don't care much about quality, but inadequate for good quality 10 x 8 enlargements. Maybe you'll only want 6 x 4s in the end, but what happens if you have a few stunners which you want to make the best of? Bad photos won't print well at any resolution, but you may as well aim high, not low. Usual resolution for quality printing is 300 or 360 dpi (dots per inch), while standard web resolution for emailing and website display is 72 or 96 dpi. The typical shot I put on the web is 640 pixels on the longest side at 72 dpi, roughly 100 kb per picture (or 10 pictures per mb) which equates to the smallest picture your camera takes.

Stock libraries which sell photos for printing insist on digital images which are at least 3000 pixels on the longest side, which exceeds the capacity of your camera. I know that's not your target; I just offer the information as a clue to what is required for good quality printing.