Canon 5D Mark III Card capacities: I am hoping someone can answer a question regarding what a Canon 5D Mark III does in the following situation: In one card slot, I have a 32GB CF...

wrk1234 Loc: Russellville, Arkansas

I am hoping someone can answer a question regarding what a Canon 5D Mark III does in the following situation:
In one card slot, I have a 32GB CF card,
the other slot has a 64GB SDXC card,
I am saving all photos to both cards as RAW files (back-ups).

When my CF card gets full, what happens?

Does the camera keep saving to the SD card only, does the camera show an error message telling me it can't save to both cards so it stops saving any picture and/or not taking any more photos until I put in a CF card with some capacity?

Hopefully I will recognize that my CF card has little or no more room and am able to put in anew card before I get to that place, but want to know what is going to happen if I am out in the middle of no where when/if this happens.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I believe you receive an error message when the 32Gb card in the primary card1 slot is filled. Given you're configured to write the same files to both, you're prompted with a message that requires action rather than an automatic and dynamic change by the camera.

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

CHG_CANON wrote:

I believe you receive an error message when the 32Gb card in the primary card1 slot is filled. Given you're configured to write the same files to both, you're prompted with a message that requires action rather than an automatic and dynamic change by the camera.

That is how my 5Dmkiv works....

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

wrk1234 wrote:

I am hoping someone can answer a question regardin... (show quote)

You can set up your camera to pretty much any configuration, concerning which way you want your cards to fill, and on the cameras screen you can see how many shots are left on the card at all times!

Anandnra Loc: Tennessee

CHG_CANON wrote:

I believe you receive an error message when the 32Gb card in the primary card1 slot is filled. Given you're configured to write the same files to both, you're prompted with a message that requires action rather than an automatic and dynamic change by the camera.

I concur. When the CF card is full you won't be able to save any more to the second slot until the first CF card is cleared. You can always save as jpeg to the 32gb card and raw to the 64gb card to optimize your storage though you'll run out of space on the raw saves first with this configuration.

kdogg Loc: Gallipolis Ferry WV

Not sure but I think you can set it up to save to slot one and then when full it will swwitch to slot. This is how it works on my 7D II and I save RAW+JPEG.

billgdyoung Loc: Big Bear City, CA

just another tidbit... the write speed is limited by the slowest card in the slots... you could have a fast card next to a slow card, and the fast card will be tapping it's foot waiting for the slow card to finish the write...

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

The back panel should show you how many files are allowed on your card. You can watch the countdown so that you can change the card when it's getting full. I normally do NOT totally fill my cards, but mine is set up differently. I record only one card and have it automatically switch when the first one gets full.

wrk1234 Loc: Russellville, Arkansas

Thanks to everyone. I don't normally fill up any card before I download and erase the card, but when I not at home and on a multi day field shoot, I may download to my laptop but don't erase the card(s) until I get home to download the cards to my desktop. I also have multiple cards with me, but wondered what would happen if i was in the field, away from my extra card.
I had never noticed the information showing how many images each of the two cards could still be shot before. Thanks again for the info!

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

wrk1234 wrote:

Thanks to everyone. I don't normally fill up any ... (show quote)

I think perhaps the moral here is to "never be away from that extra card!"

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

Just a thought - why not have eq capacity cards in both slots.