False Capacity???

Hello and Happy Easter!

I'm hoping someone here can help or at least knows what's going on.

I've had my D90 since January 2009 and the same two 8GB Sandisk cards since the beginning.

When I have the Image Quality set to RAW and format the card, my display indicates I have 524 photos available. And unless I shoot a video or two, it typically holds true to the 524 before I run out.
Ever shot I take reduces the number by one as you'd expect.

Here's where it gets weird.

I'm noticing that on both cards I have well over 700 photos.

This is confirmed when I plug the card in via USB on my PC. Either through just opening it in a Windows folder or going through Nikon Transfer 2, I have way more photos that 524.

Maybe I should just be happy that I'm getting 200+ photos beyond what I should get but I'm thinking that somewhere down the line this is going to haunt me.

I have observed that a photo that maybe mostly black can have a lower file size of around 8mb whereas a photo with lots of vibrant colors may be over 11 or 12mb.

I just have no idea why I've always been in that 520 range and now I'm getting over 700.

Any ideas on this?

Should I even be worried?

(going to post this in a few forums on the net, I'm really perplexed!)

Thanks!

I wouldn't be worried if I was you...When shooting surfing with bursts I've noticed my D300 is able to save more files to the CF cards.....I haven't read any where why it happens, if you want to know google might answer your question...

were your extra 200 shots older images? for some reason I believe If you just delete images from your cards, they still remain on there. just not visible on your camera. it takes an actual format to delete all the images. just like a hard drive. we think we deleted everything, yet some people can retrieve information we thought was lost forever. after dumping a card on a hard drive you should reformat and start taking pictures again. that's what I do. overfilling a card probably isn't a good idea either. it might cause problems later down the road when you want to retrieve them. I never had a card fail yet, but it could be devastating if you were shooting a paid gig. lol. I could be wrong about all this too. lol. just my thoughts.

This not the case with mine...Next time I shoot none of the old files are left on the card...

What I have noticed is that the count is based on the maximum image size for your camera, but the actual image size changes depending on content, My D2x is exactly the same and I have noticed that if I am shooting at night with a lot of black in the image that the counter sometimes doesn't move for 2 or three shots (the shot remaining counter) due to the lack of detail/colour information in the actual image. I think that this is what is happening, hope it makes sense.

Thanks Pedroj. Google didn't turn up much for me though.

Actually the extra 200 were just part of the total from the last format. So formatting give me my 524. Then shooting allows me into the 700's. They're all visible from my camera as well as on my PC through anysoftware that allows me to view them.
I think the repeating theme I've seen here and some other forums is that I shouldn't be maxing out my cards unnecessarily and I should just make a habit of reformatting them on a more regular basis.
I'll just have to make a change to my normal routine and just do it that way.

I use view nx2 and it has a setting to delete all on the card after they are transferred probably not the best idea for very important shoots but for every day shooting it keeps it clean.