Sir Motley

In a couple of months we will spend 2 weeks on Kauai, Hawaii. I expect to take a lot of pix in RAW. I also intend to download (hopefully) every night all that day's pix onto a portable external hard drive. I have read in the past that by following this procedure I really don't need an expensive and fast writing memory card. And do I need anything more than a 32 GB card? Comments?

MMC Loc: Brooklyn NY

One memory card is not enough even if you are not taking a lot of pictures. You have to have at least 2 just in case.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Sounds like you are considering a single card. I would never put all my images on one card. If anything happened to the card, all may be lost. I use eight smaller cards (my camera will not do a 32Gb anyway), one card per day or two. Even with backing up to an external drive, I wait until I get home, transfer to the desk top, and wait for Carbonite to back them up before I erase the cards.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

First, the write speed of the card will influence how fast your camera can clear the buffer during a burst. Secondly, a faster write speed card will typically have a higher read speed as well, allowing a faster transfer to your HD at the end of the day.

Regarding the size, that's a personal choice. Larger sizes allow more shots per card or longer video and MAY be less expensive in terms of $/GB, BUT if you lose one large card or it fails, you lose many hundreds or thousands of shots, while using more smaller cards, means you lose less in the event of a failure. Personally, I tend to use 8 or 16GB cards for that reason.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

The speed of the card is mainly of importance in how fast the camera transfers images from the buffer to the card. A slow card takes longer, so you have to wait longer to take more pictures when your buffer is full.
You should have more than one memory card, you might fill it when out and about, you might have it go bad (it does happen) or even lose it somehow. The rule of backing up your hard drive also applies to cards. So have more than one. I carry three sets of cards for my 6D and 7DII. All are 32 GB, all three SDs for the 6D are the fastest sold when I bought them. The 7DII uses CF and an SD, the first two sets are the Extreme Pro speed level cards and the third set are the Extreme line. I have never needed my backup cards (old film habit, I don't shoot like a machine gun, my daughter learned on digital and she would need the extra sets on a day long shoot) but I know this guy named Murphy. If I didn't have them I would definitely need them. I only shoot RAW and on the 7DII the SD card is for spill over if I fill up the CF and am too busy to swap cards at the moment. Also the little wifi adapter Canon came out with uses the SD slot so if I am doing tethered shooting with the wifi and smart phone I need more CF cards so I can swap when one is full. I have gone over to the SD when the CF got filled a few times, doing BIF in burst mode. I also carry ten batteries for the cameras (both use the same battery and have grips that hold 2 batteries each so that is 2 1/2 sets for each camera) and enough AAs to fill my flash and aux power pack 2 times. Since I also have the grip adapters I can use the AAs in the cameras also.
Yes, I do believe in Murphy's law, whatever can go wrong will, and O'Toole's Commentary, Murphy is an Optimist!

Better to have (and get tired lugging them around) and not need then to need and not have.

ricardo7 Loc: Washington, DC - Santiago, Chile

Having had a card fail (and it was a new card) I never put more that 50-80 images on a card
before changing to another. Cards are not expensive.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I've recently made some changes in the camera bodies that I use. Added some that use SD cards alongside the CF cards that I've been using for years. Bought two SanDisk 32 GB SDHC UHS-I cards for $19.95 each at my local computer store. That's not a lot of money. Depending on whether you are storing jpegs alongside your raw images, and depending on your camera's resolution, even 32 GB won't hold a huge number of photos...probably about 1,000 MP dual images.

You don't mention the make of your camera or what cards it is compatible with. Some older bodies and cameras won't recognize cards bigger than 4 GB or cards that use the HC (or even XC) architecture. Some need a firmware update before they will recognize the larger cards. Your first step is to check your manual for card compatibility, if you have not already done so. And I agree with the statement above to take at least two cards.

But I would also add that external hard drives are far from immune to loss of data, or loss of the entire drive, especially in a travel situation. So I would probably prefer to leave all images on the SD cards after copying them to the drive, just in case.

Don't know how often you get to Hawaii, whether you are commemorating a special event, or who all is going to be in your group. But memory is incredibly inexpensive. Even fast memory. That's not where I would focus on saving a few dollars.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

You should definitely take more than a single card! I do fill a 32 GB card in less than half a day. I always do have about a dozen cards with me (although I never had one fail, but who knows).

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Agree. Keep two copies, one on card, one on HD, and buy more cards if necessary so you don't need to overwrite or erase the card(s) - cheap insurance.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

Well, if your camera has a single card slot, and you are planning on taking pictures and downloading every night to a portable device the important thing is how many pictures do you plan to take each day? 7? 12? 24? 100? :)

My advice, take several cards of 32 GB or less. 16 GB cards are pretty cheap, and hold quite a few shots, easy to carry a half dozen or more.

I have at least 18 cards right now.... of varying sizes - 32 GB down to 4 GB, they reside in my camera case all the time so I always have them with me as well as spare batteries for my flash & camera.

If you are worried about speed - it is really the write speed you should worry about as a slow write speed card will slow down your camera writing to the card, especially if you shoot in burst mode.

http://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

32gig Sandisk Extreme Pro SD cards are less that $25.00 each and are rated at 95MB/s. No reason not to have a couple at least. And remember, at the Canyon, the sun is in your face in the morning. Afternoon sometimes produces rainbows. Have a great trip.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

32GB is a good size, but I would have several - like four. Is the external drive your only storage option? If that fails, you'll have no pictures at all. If you bring a small computer, you can back up to that, as well. Acer has small, inexpensive units. If you fill each card to about 75%, you may be able to leave the images on the cards till you get home. That will give you three copies of your images.

toughmandave Loc: The Villages, Florida

I agree. That's the card to get. I just bought 2 of them for $23.00 each with free shipping. SanDisk 32gb Extreme Pro

paulrph1 Loc: Washington, Utah

If you are in the middle of nowhere even though you might think you are in the middle of civilization, it is a long way to town. Always be prepared the best you can, just in case.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

I am heading out for 10 days of photography. I am going to back up every night but I am taking enough memory cards so that I will have my images in two different places. Don't want to come home from the trip of a lifetime without any photos!