Nancy03

I will be taking my cannon digital camera on our Hawaiian vacation this year. I have 2 memory cards that hold 32 pictures.

In the past that has been enough photo space to last me until I am home and can download them to my computer with the camera's software that came with it.

But on do you do when you are away from home, can't drag your computer with you. How do you download your photos, store them to a CD to free up space for more pics?

Thanks to a digital camera novice.

Diana

imho, that is not NEARLY enough space for your pics.

All you have to do is go to your local office supply or camera shop and get a larger memory card.

When I first got my digital camera, the cards were very small and I was constantly having to shuffle the pics around and delete photos to have enough space.

Now, they make cards that store literally hundreds of photos on one memory card.

My suggestion to you is Ebay. There are many sizes to choose from, the prices are much lower, and you can easily find what you are looking for without driving around.

I got mine on there and have been very pleased.

Be sure to get a brand new one that has never been out of the package, make sure it is the right one for your camera, and buy from a reputable seller with a lot of feedback.

FlyFish

I agree that you should have more than the 2 (16MB?) cards. A 256MB CF card can be had for around $50 if you shop around.

Another option is to borrow cards from friends - I have a number of friends and co-workers that have cameras that use the same CF cards that my Canons do and we routinely swap cards around depending on who's going where and when. When you get home, you just download the card, wipe it clean, and return it.

zootsi

What was said above is true - you probably have 16 mg cards which are pretty small by today's standards. For a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 256 mg card will hold about 200 pictures, if you have a 2 megapixel camera, the 256 mg card will hold even more. Cards usually come in 16, 64, 128, 256, 528 mg capacities. A 256 card should cost about $50-$80. Make sure you get the right kind for your camera - there are about 4 different types of cards, but they all offer the 16-528 mg capacities.

jenifer

I have found the best prices on cards at Costco (and probably Sam's Club or BJ's as well). Ebay may be another good choice - never looked there.

I agree that it would be smart to just invest in a big card now, and take all three with you on your trip.

But, if you do find yourself wanting to empty a card, try finding a photography store that offers the services of downloading pics and burning a cd. I'd be willing to bet they'll be around, particularly in the touristy areas.

Nancy03

Great Idea. I have a CanonPowerShot 4 megapixels. I didn't know I could get such a big memory.

I will also check into downloading at kinkos or a camera shop here just to see how that works. I'd prefer not to use one memory card for all of my pics just incase the card breaks or gets stolen. When I went on vacation 10 years ago after 10 days of videoing many activities and fun stuff - my video camera was stolen. We replaced the camera but the video was gone forever.

placeu2

I do agree that a bigger card is a solution here. I carry 2 64mb cards for my 2.2 camera. I get around 110 pics on each.

One solution is to go to Walmart and they will burn a CD for you from the card. I imagine other stores (Walgreens?) would do the same.

dweebe

For more information on digital photography go over to dpreview.com. Like this forum there are a lot of very nice and helpful people (along with a few schmucks.)

My advice is to get the biggest card you can and just take all the pictures you want. The worst picture is the one you don't take.

If you have a particularly good couple days of picture taking go to a Kinkos or Walgreens and have the pictures downloaded to a CD for safekeeping.

ChristieP

I've found the best deals on memory cards at Fry's Electronics. I have a 5mp camera that uses SD cards, so the absolute smallest card I get is a 128, and I prefer the 256. I carry at least 2 of the bigger cards on every trip, along with extra batteries. I've found that the rechargable batteries work quite well, and they have been a LOT cheaper int he long run than buying the Photo Lithium ones!

almesq

Try beachaudio.com. They have some very good prices on 256 cards from what I've seen.

Dick

First , you need more memory cards.

How much more depends on what you are going to do with your pics. If you are going to email them online or just put a few in an album, you need less resolution.

If you are looking to get photos that can be enlarged and/or framed, you will need to take the photos at a higher resolution and that will "eat up" more memory storage.

Also, with a digital camera, it is easy to delete pics at the end of a day that you do not want.

I was in Italy for 10 days this past summer and took one 512mb card, two 128mb cards and a 64mb card.

utahtea

I also have a Cannon Powershot G3 4.0 Megapixel camera. We have 3 cards. The 16MB came with the camera. We purchased a 128 at Costco and a year later purchased a 256. They way we have the camera set the 256 gets a little over 400 pictures and they quality is fantastic.

If you belong to Costco check their coupons because they have $10 off their memory cards sometime this month.

I don't know how you could survive with only 32 pictures on vacation. I can easily shoot 100 pictures at a scenic location in ONE DAY! I did make all my memory last for the two week vacation we were on last year

Utahtea

lenleigh

You have got to get more memory, rather than worry about spending time downloading. I have about 5 memory cards for my first digital camera. You should buy at the very least a 128MB or 64MB. 128MB will get you a lot of photos. I usually use all my memory and especially would if I were going to Hawaii!

Ingenieur

If you take extended vacations, you might want to look into getting a "Digital Wallet". I have a 6.3 MP camera with a 1GB compactflash card, which holds about 135 (raw) pics. I bought the 40GB FlashTrax made by SmartDisk, and it was a life saver. It's about the size of a large PDA, and it gave me peace of mind that I can take as many pics that I wanted and never run out of room. It is going to cost more than a compactflash card, but the unit cost for the FlashTrax is approximately 1.2 cents per MB. Compare that to the unit cost of a compactflash card.