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General discussion

Photo Storage

May 30, 2012 12:00AM PDT

I have a new Nikon D3100 that I'll be taking with me on a two week trip to Italy. I'd like to avoid brining a laptop to store my photos on. Can anyone suggest a solution? B&H has "Portable Data Storage" devices listed but I'd like to know what you suggest.

Please keep in mind the following:
I'd like to spend less than $200
I don't know that I'll fill two 8 gb SD card everyday, but I calculate that to be about 224 gb for the whole trip ((2x8gb sd cards) x 14 days).
LCD can be B&W, I don't need to review the photos.

Discussion is locked

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Storage
May 30, 2012 12:09AM PDT

Why not use larger capacity chips? Check around at some of the box stores and see if there are any sales going on larger capacity SD / SDHC cards.

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RAW or JPEG
May 30, 2012 12:44AM PDT

If you shoot only full resolution JPEG's, an 8 GB card will hold approximately 900 images, half that amount if you shoot RAW, or a third if you shoot RAW plus JPEG.

If you shoot enough to fill a card a day, you will need a spare battery; the D3100's battery is only rated for 550 shots. You will get less battery life the more you use live view and shoot video. I would recommend getting a spare battery and a few extra cards.

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Re: RAW or JPEG
May 30, 2012 3:11AM PDT

Currently I have the camera set to shoot both Raw and Jpeg. It is a brand new camera to us so I'm still figuring out what I'd like to do.

As for the battery, I'm planning on purchasing another along with a zoom lens (70-200). Any thoughts on VR vs non-VR?

Should I be concerned at all about losing data on an SD card? How many and what size cards would you suggest?

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Portable storage
Jun 1, 2012 12:33PM PDT

I download my daily photos to my laptop at the end of each day. This also gives me the ability to burn a CD/DVD to give away and still keep the originals on the laptop. My pictures are taken at the maximum resolution of 3,000 by 4,000 pixels and a 4GB card will hold almost 2,000 shots but by transfering them daily, I won't lose too much should anything happen.