How large of an SDHC card do you use?

hark

hark

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Since my D600 will get shipped back to Nikon today, I'll be using my D90 to shoot my local high school's theater production--TONIGHT (or tomorrow night if something unexpected comes up today)! I've never used a card larger than 8GB in it because that's what recommended, but when I asked about card size a while ago, someone said the 8GB is recommended because that's as large as cards were made when the D90 was manufacturered. I have a few 16GB and 32GB cards all of which are class 10 cards.

Since I won't have an option to really try filling a card ahead of time, I'm hoping to find a couple of answers. I'd like to shoot both JPEG FINE and RAW, and both files will go on the same card (definitely one reason why I prefer the D600's two card slots).


  • 1. Most likely I'll be taking @300 photos total. What size card can hold that many combined JPEG FINE and RAW files? (I have a couple of extra cards packed in my bag just in case!) ;)
  • 2. What is the largest size card you've used safely (without any problems) in the D90?
  • 3. There is a number that shows up on the lower right side of the display on the camera's top. I imagine it lists the total amount of space remaining on the card. Is there some way to change that number to represent the approximate number of remaining shots the card will hold?

​Thank you for any info!!! :)
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

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I've got an 8GB card in the D90 body on the shelf and it's telling me 504 shots available on an empty card, which usually means over 600 - particularly if you're shooting a stage that has a lot of black space. The number in the bottom right corner of the top display will always show you the number of shots remaining.

I took a 32GB SanDisk card out of my D800 and stuck it in the D90 and it worked fine. I even reformatted the card in the D90 just to make sure that it would work cold out of the package since it had been formatted in the D800. That's telling me you should get about 1800 RAW images.
 
hark

hark

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I decided to compare the number of photos between the D600 and D90. Both are set for RAW and JPEG FINE. The D600 with 2 card slots comes in at 590 photos on a 32GB card. The two D90s have different size cards. An 8GB card in a D90 set to RAW and JPEG FINE (both stored on one card) holds 352 photos while the second D90 with a 4GB card holds 175 with the same settings. Good to know!

And I called Nikon asking if it would be okay for me to use the D600 tonight to photograph the theater production then send it out on Monday, and I was told it would be fine. The D600 really does much better in low light--lots LESS noise because the ISO has to be at least 1000-1250. I'll have the D90 along as a backup. Another advantage of the D600 is that I can pretty much keep a 70-200mm f/2.8 on for the entire show. When using the D90, I have to switch back and forth between that lens and a 24-70mm f/2.8.
 
E

eurotrash

Senior Member
Using 2 fast 8GB cards in mine set to overflow. I like living on the edge..
I set it to backup when doing important shoots but in real life everyday shooting can't seem to ever fill up the first card.
 
S

skene

Senior Member
I keep several cards available.
16gb stays on my D90
32gb stays in my D3100

Then I have 3 back up 8gb cards for any special projects I am working on. That way I keep it away from my day to day usage cards.
 
B

Bill4282

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Primary 32gb class 10 with 2 16gb and 6 8 gb backups. I use the smaller cards on multiple day shoots to keep them separated and only risk losing one day if I crash before I can download to my backup system
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

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Like Don, I'm using a pair of 32's with Slot 2 dedicated to "Backup". I just got lucky at Fry's on day and some of the 32G cards were marked (mistakenly, I think) at the 16G price so I snagged a pair.

.....
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Bill4282 said:
2 slots? My d90 only has one.
Click to expand...
Some of the Nikon bodies have dual memory-card slots. You can shoot RAW+JPG, for instance, and send all the RAW files to the card in Slot 1 while .JPG copies go to the card in Slot 2. Slot 2 can also be used for "Overflow" for when the card in Slot 1 gets full, or it can automatically create "Backup" copies of the shots sent the card in Slot 1. Having dual memory cards ranks right up there with sliced bread in my opinion.
 
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