Memory card for 6 weeks?

[rhea]

Hey,
I have a Pentax Optio s30, 3.2mp with only a 128mb card in it
I want to buy a 1g card, so would you think this is enough for 6-7weeks?
I found this chart thing that says that will hold roughly 870 photos, leaving me 20 keeper photos per day...

[herrbert]

It is hard to say yes or no. I depends on which kind of a photographer you are. It also hugely depends on the quality settings of your camera. I always shoot my pictures on the highest quality, in case I make a photograph that I want to enlarge to hang on my wall. (as you almost never know, when you make a picture like that, I have my camera on the best quality always).

Since I am taking photographs with a digital camera, I find myself taking a lot of pictures, that I wouldn't have made using a normal camera (I have to say some are experiments). There are days I take a lot of pictures, and other days only a few. For me 6 weeks with a 1 Gb-card would be just on the edge.

Take your 128mb card with you as a back-up (save the package in which you buy the new card). If you think you are not going to make it, you could go one step back on the quality-settings of your camera, but you can also ask if someone can burn the photos you made on a CD. At least bring the cable, so that you are able to hook up with a computer during the trip.

recently I saw card of 2gb, and in a magazine one of 4gb.

[rhea]

Yeh I Just bought the 2g, that should be plenty i think.
dont i need the software as well as the cable?
thanks

[pointofnoreturn]

Definitely buy more. If you're a shutterbug, you'd do well with a couple of 512 MB/1 GB/2 GB cards. if you're not into photography, a single 1 or 2 GB card would be suffice. As for me, I love to take pictures, so I plan to take a couple of 1 GB cards whenever they're on sale!

[rhea]

well i bought this 2g card which was cheap, so when it gets here, as long as it works ill buy another. that should do me
thanks

[Eagle]

rhea, travelling with two-2 GB cards and the spare 128MB Card should provide you with enough capacity for LOTS of pictures. JPEG files on a 3.2 MP Camera are about 1-1.5 MB per image, which should allow approximately 650-800 photos per card at the highest resolution (I always use the highest resolution, especially for travel. I figure it's cost me a lot of money to get to my destination, and I might never get there again, so I want the best results possible). I haven't checked, but I assume your Camera uses SD Cards?

As herrbert mentioned, if you find that you're taking more photos than planned, you could always stop by a photo shop or Net Cafe and have the card burned to a CD/DVD. Many people have two CD's burned, keeping one with them and sending one home (extra "insurance" before re-formatting / erasing the Card). I would also probably verify that the CD's were "readable" before erasing the card.

Good luck, happy shooting and happy travels!

[herrbert]

and you could always buy another card in Europe ...

[pointofnoreturn]

My camera's over 6 MP so obviously, I have to buy a lot of cards but yes, it depends on what kind of camera you have. The lower the MP, the less cards you need. But it's always nice to have backups.

I think it's more expensive to buy memory cards in Europe. Nearly everything is like 20% more than what costs in your home country.

[rhea]

its 3.2mp. I think a 2g would do me plenty. that gives me 40keeper photos per day Thanks

[world2002traveler]

I have many digital camera's but each time I travel, regardless
of which camera I take or where I'm traveling. I believe in
taking several 2gig cards. Since they are so small I would rather
have more than I might need, just in case lost or stolen. Also
since they are sooooo much more expensive to buy in europe!!


WT