Memory cards

mattyg · 7 Apr 2017 at 11:03

Hiya guys

Turns out I'm going on a little city break..

So I've dragged out my old D7000 for the Mrs.

I need to buy some new/more memory cards.

I have a D810 so would me nice if I can work it to be able to use most in both.

My thinking is a Big 128Gb or larger CF card in the D810 for backup. Then using smaller 32Gb fast SD cards as the Primary. Kinda like SSD for use and a HDD for backup.

That way I can use the SD cards in the D7000 should I need it.

Any thoughts either way

voidshatter · 7 Apr 2017 at 18:51

I mostly use a 512GB Sandisk SD in my D810A. Shoots about 6.4k losslessly compressed 14bit RAW files.

D.P. · 7 Apr 2017 at 22:22

The problem is then your backup is then also somewhat risky. Safest is multiple 16 or 32Gb cards, CF matching SD. When you fill up you swap out both. But it depends how risk averse you want to be. , having both the SD and bug CF card fail would be rare

Also, I tend to shoot 12bit RAW unless i am shooting at base ISO on a tripod, otherwise the differences to 14bit are basically non-existent.

mattyg · 7 Apr 2017 at 22:27

D.P. said:
The problem is then your backup is then also somewhat risky. Safest is multiple 16 or 32Gb cards, CF matching SD. When you fill up you swap out both. But it depends how risk averse you want to be. , having both the SD and bug CF card fail would be rare

Also, I tend to shoot 12bit RAW unless i am shooting at base ISO on a tripod, otherwise the differences to 14bit are basically non-existent.

But that costs more.......And Im feeling guilty about pressing go on a gitzo traveller.......And I've not even bought it yet.

I've already got a 120Mb/s 64Gb so it may be cheaper to just get "matching" 64Gb cards and be done.

voidshatter · 7 Apr 2017 at 23:52

D.P. said:
The problem is then your backup is then also somewhat risky. Safest is multiple 16 or 32Gb cards, CF matching SD. When you fill up you swap out both. But it depends how risk averse you want to be. , having both the SD and bug CF card fail would be rare

Also, I tend to shoot 12bit RAW unless i am shooting at base ISO on a tripod, otherwise the differences to 14bit are basically non-existent.

Swapping of lots of small cards indeed brings more risks for me, because I may eject cards and drop it over a cliff, or simply get it lost when I open my camera bag. Other potential threats could include bent pins and damaged locks etc. These are likely to happen especially when I'm in a hurry. I would avoid swapping cards in the field at all cost.

With 12-bit you also lose dynamic range, which is crucial for landscape, and may also force you to drop some badly exposed pictures during a wedding session. That's not the best attitude for photography imo.

D.P. · 8 Apr 2017 at 13:35

voidshatter said:
Swapping of lots of small cards indeed brings more risks for me, because I may eject cards and drop it over a cliff, or simply get it lost when I open my camera bag. Other potential threats could include bent pins and damaged locks etc. These are likely to happen especially when I'm in a hurry. I would avoid swapping cards in the field at all cost.

With 12-bit you also lose dynamic range, which is crucial for landscape, and may also force you to drop some badly exposed pictures during a wedding session. That's not the best attitude for photography imo.

You need to do some comparisons of 12bit vs 14bit, it is almost invisible even when blown up 200% with heavy processing.as I said,I would use 14bit only when on airlock at base ISO, mirror up, remote release. During handheld use you will never see a difference in real-world use. You don't have aging for to 14bits worth of data web at base ISO,about 12.5bits at most. As soon as hit ISO200 you we already down to 11.5 bits.
12 vs14but will make absolutely no I difference to the ability to recover a badly exposed photo.

voidshatter · 8 Apr 2017 at 19:04

D.P. said:
You need to do some comparisons of 12bit vs 14bit, it is almost invisible even when blown up 200% with heavy processing.as I said,I would use 14bit only when on airlock at base ISO, mirror up, remote release. During handheld use you will never see a difference in real-world use. You don't have aging for to 14bits worth of data web at base ISO,about 12.5bits at most. As soon as hit ISO200 you we already down to 11.5 bits.
12 vs14but will make absolutely no I difference to the ability to recover a badly exposed photo.

According to sensorgen.info, the D810 has 13.8 stops of DR at ISO64, hence has 13.8 bits worth of data.

Two independent tests (test1, test2) have shown that 12-bit RAW of the D810 could cause green cast in the shadow, which is exactly the same symptom when I shoot with a Sony A7 series where 12-bit is enforced in Apps/continuous shots/LENR mode.

This green shadow can cause issues for stacking, where I underexpose a long series of photos and calculate the mean to reduce shadow noise. It would require an extra master darkframe and the end result is not as good.

When I first tested the Phase One IQ3 100MP back in Jan 2016, my software (Capture One old version, RawDigger old version) did not support 16-bit RAW at first instance, and it even had less DR than an IQ250/D810. With proper support of its 16-bit RAW files, it is the first Sony sensor to carry more than 14 bits worth of data.