Holidays nearly here! But do I have enough storage?

eyetrip · 4 Apr 2013 at 10:44

I know it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string question, but wondering if I need more sd cards...

Currently have two fast 32GB cards, but not sure if I should get a third. In the past I would have been fine with that, but with shooting more in RAW, I can't help but think I will run out.

It's a two week trip to Costa Rica, so I am likely to be taking many, many snaps of flowers, hotels, insect birds, mammals, etc.

I don't really want to spend more money on stuff for photography as have spent a ton this year, but don't want to run out of space either.

I do have another 32GB, but it's pretty slow, plus two 16GB which are average in speed.

Should I just rely on those should I need them?

I was thinking of having two 32gb usb sticks to backup to, and leave the contents on the sd cards as I use them up, this way always having two copies.

Backing up would have been easier on laptop, but I don't want to take it with me.

booyaka · 4 Apr 2013 at 11:09

if your worried about storage then 16gb class 10's are like £8.

You should get around 1000 raw images on a 32gb card (camera dependant) so that should give you an idea.

Marzipanogram · 4 Apr 2013 at 12:05

Does it really matter if the your extra cards are "slow" ?
If you're not shooting video and not shooting in bursts, I don't think it really matters.

When you get home, plug the cards into a reader to transfer them to your computer, so what if it takes at extra minute or two, for the transfer to complete.

Bottom line - shoot for quality, not quantity.

eyetrip · 4 Apr 2013 at 12:17

Thing is, I do shoot video, and will be shooting bursts...

eyetrip · 4 Apr 2013 at 12:38

Think will go for a spare fast 16gb and leave it at that.

80GB worth of photos in two weeks? That should do, but if I really need to I can fall back to the slower cards.

GSXRMovistar · 4 Apr 2013 at 21:31

How will you be backing up to the USB sticks if not taking your laptop?

I took a stack of cards away on holiday last year and was gutted when one of them (decent Sandisk Ultra) failed on me and I lost a days worth of photos.

Amp34 · 4 Apr 2013 at 23:47

I was there last year and used 32GB's with some video. Just go through your images each night and delete the worst images (OOF etc), that will give you plenty of space, especially if you have lots of of backup cards anyway.