Memory: 2 card or 1?

I think you should take:

  • 1 big 4 GB card

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • 2 smaller 2 GB cards

    Votes: 13 92.9%

  • Total voters
    14

mountainpete

Spamicus Eliminatus
I want lots of storage for a multi-week backpacking trip. Which would you choose?

1 x 4 GB SD Card

or

2 x 2 GB SD Cards

I have NEVER had a data card corrupt on me yet...

Pete
 

Dave

Explorer
I voted for two 2 GB cards. I've never had one croak either, but I've never taken one on a multi-week backpacking trip either!
 

mountainpete

Spamicus Eliminatus
Dave said:
I voted for two 2 GB cards. I've never had one croak either, but I've never taken one on a multi-week backpacking trip either!

Thanks for the vote ;)

I should clarify about the backpacking - it is about 24 days backpacking through Europe bouncing between Hostels and Inns on the cheap. One carry-on size backpack each. That's it...
 

tdesanto

Expedition Leader
mountainpete said:
I should clarify about the backpacking - it is about 24 days backpacking through Europe bouncing between Hostels and Inns on the cheap. One carry-on size backpack each. That's it...

It's generally accepted that more cards are better than fewer, just in case you have a card go bad. It is, after all, an electronic device.

However, 24 days of backpacking? I'd say you might need more than 4GB of memory for a trip of that length.

If you're shooting RAW, then a whole lot more.
 

whitethaiger

Adventurer
Like most of the others I'd suggest 2 cards. I've never had one fail (and I've used plenty of 'no-name' cards), but I do know a couple of people who lost trip pictures due to failure.

You could also keep your eyes open for opportunities (internet cafe's, fellow travelers in hostel with notebooks, etc.) to dump the cards content on a CD/DVD for backup. That's what I like to do on in a situation like this.

Enjoy the old world!
 

seth_js

Explorer
I rocked western europe for 2.5 weeks with one 1gb stick. There are places every where to dump the pics to cd/dvd. some of the hostels may even have a machine to do it on.
 

TeleScooby

Adventurer
I always have more then one...you just can't tell when one is going to go south, and to have it happen in the middle of a train ride somewhere (oops, that was my Europe trip) sucks big time...

BTW - I did a month back in '99 on my way to Israel for 4 months...just me and a carry on size pack...no better way to travel Europe in my book!
 

bigreen505

Expedition Leader
How big are the files from your camera? Another way to ask the card question is how many images are you comfortable losing at once? I'm running 2 GB cards which gives me 100 images per card and that seems to be a nice round number, though a few more would be better. Make sure that the number of shots you can take (images per card x number of cards) is also reflected in the number of batteries you carry.
 

arcteryx

Adventurer
I just went through this. I opted for 2 2GB cards. I just got back from Europe after spending 7 days there. One of the days I attended a buddies wedding and took about 600 photos just of that. I have a D70 and it was set for normal JPG. One card holds 1400. I did not even get through the first card though and I still took plenty of shots of Europe. HTH.
Cheers,
Jason
 

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