Memory Cards

[mamaofami]

Judy, I'm kind of laughing because I needed everything dumbed down too. Greg actually walked me through the process of posting pictures here. I've learned to load the memory card into the computer, but I still rely on Sam for some of the techie stuff about the battery and memory card, so maybe it's time for me to start learning that too.

What kind of camera did you get? I had a very big, very good camera that was too heavy, so a while back I bought a small digital, but I love taking close ups and felt that didn't do it for me, so last year we bought a slightly larger and heavier camera with a zoom lense and close up lense. We only took the small camera with us on the Eurodam and I thought I actually did just fine with that one.

Have fun and I hope you'll start posting some pictures here when you come back from the Maasdam.

[Boytjie]

The battery is a rechargeable thing I slip into a holder and plug in. I should have spares of that? Are they normally available at Best Buy type places?

Sure makes sense to have at least one spare battery.

 

Yes, get a second battery. It's not a pleasant feeling when you want to take a picture of something special and the battery is DEAD. :)

 

You should be able to find it - if not at Best Buy then online. I like J&R, even more so because I can go there during my lunch hour. :D

[iflyrc5]

Wow, great info. Thanks all of you.

 

Iflyrc5.... wonderfully helpful. Who knew I had to format the memory card? :o I just slipped it into the camera.

 

The battery is a rechargeable thing I slip into a holder and plug in. I should have spares of that? Are they normally available at Best Buy type places?

Sure makes sense to have at least one spare battery.

 

This is my first digital..... I know, I know. It's about time. :D

 

Thanks again.

 

Best Buy may have the batteries. I normally purchase my spare batteries on line at www.sterlingtek.com I just purchased 2 new spares for our up coming trip. Great price and delivery within 3 days with normal shipping. Murphy's Law states that your Batteries will go dead just as you get ready to take that once in a life time photo. One thing also to remember - your camera has various "quality" or "resolutions" of the images it can take. In your best quality you may get 200 images on a card 1gb card and in the poorest quality you might get 600. Some will not agree but 99% of the time I shoot at the highest quality - that way you can crop an image and still get a good image and also make larger prints. Memory cards are now very cheap so shoot at the highest quality and take lots and lots of images. You can always delete them when you get home but you won't see that sunset again if you don't take the shot. Just shoot lots and have fun!!!!:) :) :)

[the_dylaness]

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought "memory cards? No one has ever sent me a memory card! If they did, it should probably be a "Sorry for your loss" variety!"

 

I echo the sentiment of all other posters saying bring multiple memory cards. I read somewhere on the board once that a good idea was to use the first picture on each memory card to take a snapshot of your name and email address or phone number so that if someone finds it and is a good samaritan, they can return it to the rightful owner. I'm going to try that next time.

[Spender Nui]

The cards are so inexpensive today you should have several and carry them with you in the unlikely event something goes wrong.

 

Also as others have said take an extra battery and carry it too. Also and very important ... be sure to keep it charged.

[elkd43]

Thank you Sail for starting this topic and all others for adding valuable info. I too have my 1st digital camera (canon) purchased in August for my Nov. Noordam cruise. It came with a memory card and I also purchased the recommended 4 gb card which is still encased in the plastic holder. Thought this would cover me for the 10 day cruise. I will try it out tomorrow and purchase another in case needed. I have soooo much to learn. Tried reading the photo section in CC but they were being too technical for me.

 

I would like to find out which site is the best (easiest) for saving photos online. (shutterfly, photobucket etc) Can't wait for Nov.7th!!!!!

Thanks everyone!!!!

Emily

[jhannah]

I will buy several different cards and spare battery and be all set to go.

If you get a 4 GB card, that's all you'll really need. My DW has one (just one) and she shoots lots of pictures. Didn't come close to filling it up during our 13 days on the Eurodam plus pre- and post-cruise pictures.

 

One other thing to jot down. There's no need to shoot at the highest camera resolution unless you plan to enlarge photos to poster size. Shoot a step down from maximum and you'll get many more photos on the memory card.

 

Digitals are so much fun. Good luck with yours.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for all you good tips.

Thanks, Jim, for you good wishes. :)

 

I'm happy to have the chance to learn to use it while on 'my' :) much loved Maasdam.

[Opinions]

I prefer to have several smaller memory cards than just one large one...If something happens to the one large one then there goes all your pictures...Since memory is so cheap now I always use the highest resolution...The most important thing in my opinion is to always have a spare fully charged battery with you especially on all day tours.

[chasetf]

The cards are so inexpensive today you should have several and carry them with you in the unlikely event something goes wrong.

 

Also as others have said take an extra battery and carry it too. Also and very important ... be sure to keep it charged.

I agree completely. I do not understand the worry or hesitation. We spend thousands on our vacations.... and the most important thing I bring back with me are my pictures. They will last me a lifetime.

 

I take extra cards (currently about 8-10 GB) plus a small laptop so I can download (to backup) and see how they are coming out. Then when I get home I back them up again in my off-line storage.

 

So my recommendation is spend the extra to have the safety of not running out of memory or coming upon a dead battery at the worse moment and bring home memories you cannot recreate. :D ;)

[Cruiser809e8r09]

If you plan to bring a laptop, bring the USB cable for the camera and get in the habit of dumping the photos off the camera at the end of the day.

 

On a trip to San Francisco recently, I lost my camera because it fell out of my pocket in the back seat of a cab. :eek: :mad: Sucks to lose the camera, but I only lost about an hour's worth of photos because I had backed up everything else I shot on the laptop.

 

Oh, one more thing. When travelling, take a picture of yourself as the first image on the camera. Maybe even take a picture of your name, phone number and ship name on a piece of paper. If you lose it or leave it somewhere, it gives an honest person who found it a possible means of figuring out who you are.

[Boytjie]

If you plan to bring a laptop, bring the USB cable for the camera and get in the habit of dumping the photos off the camera at the end of the day.

 

A compact alternative to USB cables are USB card readers:

 

[Boytjie]

A compact alternative to USB cables are USB card readers:

 

[ATTACH]93562[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]93563[/ATTACH]

 

Forgot to add another advantage: USB card readers don't use the camera's batteries when downloading pictures to a laptop. :)

[noblepa]

Paul......

 

whew...... I know you mean well but I have little clue what most of that says. :o

 

Too much info for me at the moment. I'll print it out and maybe sometime in my distant future, I may actually absorb it all. Truthfully, I'm not counting on it.

 

Thank you for your considerable effort and I so hope someone else has obtained exactly the info they were seeking. )

 

I'm a first time, brand new digital camera owner. I need things 'dumbed down'.

 

 

The last point I was trying to make, was simply that some cameras that are more than a year or two old, may not be able to use a 4GB or larger memory card. It is important that you check your camera's documentation or contact the manufacturer to make sure that it is not limited to 2GB.

 

I know that I can get a little verbose at times. Sorry.

 

Better?

 

Paul

[sail7seas]

Perfect, Paul. :) That I understand.

 

Seeing as I purchased the camera a few weeks ago, I have to hope it hasn't been laying around the big box store for a year or more. :eek: How can I tell when it was manufactured? Thanks.

[JimVrhovac]

Take your camera and put it on each of the settings for the amount of pixels in each setting. The screen should show you the amount of pictures that can be taken on that setting.

 

If not check the owners manual for that information.

 

Ruth & Jim

[OldCodger73]

A lot of good advice in this thread. One added note, when you go on your cruise don't forget to take probably the most important accessory of all -- the camera instruction book.

[bookworm0911]

Great thread! I'm looking for a new camera and would love to know what you bought. I know you would have gotten some good advice on cameras before you chose and that would be a great deal of help to me and others. I think someone else asked also. :confused:

[Boytjie]

Great thread! I'm looking for a new camera and would love to know what you bought. I know you would have gotten some good advice on cameras before you chose and that would be a great deal of help to me and others. I think someone else asked also. :confused:

 

There are some threads about camera selection at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=118

[iflyrc5]

Perfect, Paul. :) That I understand.

 

Seeing as I purchased the camera a few weeks ago, I have to hope it hasn't been laying around the big box store for a year or more. :eek: How can I tell when it was manufactured? Thanks.

 

sail7seas - let us know the brand and model camera you purchased and we can help you out with much more detail in answering questions.

 

For those looking to purchase a new digital I highly recommend the website www.dpreview.com It has excellent reviews on many various makes and models of cameras. If you are a cruiser and like to take pictures around the water/beach the Olympus "SW" line is excellent. Depending on the model they are water proof to 10 or 30 feet, shock proof from a 5 foot drop, freeze proof and also very small. They also have many built in program modes for taking photos under different conditions and will also do video. The only draw back is that they use an XD memory card instead of the CF or SD so the memory cards cost a little.

 

The main thing with digital photography is remember that the photos are virtually FREE - so practice alot - take alot on the trip and have fun:D :D

 

Also as one person - if you are not completely familiar with your camera take the manual along.

[noblepa]

Perfect, Paul. :) That I understand.

 

Seeing as I purchased the camera a few weeks ago, I have to hope it hasn't been laying around the big box store for a year or more. :eek: How can I tell when it was manufactured? Thanks.

 

Just check the instruction book. Somewhere in there, it should list the maximum card size. If nothing else, there is usually a chart, showing the number of photographs you can expect on various size cards. The safest thing is to simply not get a card larger than the largest one listed.

 

My experience is mostly with SD cards. I am not sure if Compact Flash or other types of cards have the same limitations.

 

In any event, if you buy a card, of any capacity, try it in your camera immediately. You don't want to find yourself on the third or fourth day of your cruise and find that the brand new card does't work with your camera.

 

If you camera DOES take SD cards, look for the term SDHC in the manual. Sometimes there is even a sticker on the camera. If you see SDHC anywhere, you can use any card. I believe that the largest SDHC card currently being made is 16GB. However, as someone else suggested, I prefer to use smaller cards, so that a lost or corrupted card (it does happen) doesn't cost me all of my pictures.

 

Paul

[sail7seas]

You're the best.... all of you. Wonderful help.

 

My camera does take SDHC. I went to Circuit City this morning and bought a spare battery and two more 2 GB memory cards.

 

:o While I was there a noticed the cutest tv for our kitchen. Had to make the trip totally worth. Got us a nice new flat screen in place of the old chunky one.

[jhannah]

Yes, that's the problem I have visiting Circuit City or Best Buy. I go in for one thing, and something else calls out to me! :eek:

[richwmn]

Just check the instruction book. Somewhere in there, it should list the maximum card size. If nothing else, there is usually a chart, showing the number of photographs you can expect on various size cards. The safest thing is to simply not get a card larger than the largest one listed.

 

My experience is mostly with SD cards. I am not sure if Compact Flash or other types of cards have the same limitations.

In any event, if you buy a card, of any capacity, try it in your camera immediately. You don't want to find yourself on the third or fourth day of your cruise and find that the brand new card does't work with your camera.

 

If you camera DOES take SD cards, look for the term SDHC in the manual. Sometimes there is even a sticker on the camera. If you see SDHC anywhere, you can use any card. I believe that the largest SDHC card currently being made is 16GB. However, as someone else suggested, I prefer to use smaller cards, so that a lost or corrupted card (it does happen) doesn't cost me all of my pictures.

 

Paul

 

This applies to all memory products (including hard disks). There are serveral versions of the format applied to memory products. As storage got bigger, the format was changed to allow the larger sizes. At the same time, the storage got less efficient.

Each camera maker chooses which formats to support, thereby limiting the maximum size of the memory product.

 

Rich

[noblepa]

This applies to all memory products (including hard disks). There are serveral versions of the format applied to memory products. As storage got bigger, the format was changed to allow the larger sizes. At the same time, the storage got less efficient.

Each camera maker chooses which formats to support, thereby limiting the maximum size of the memory product.

 

Rich

 

Yeah, I know. Its the difference between FAT-16 and FAT-32. In FAT-16, the directory only had 16 bits for the cluster number of the starting cluster of the file, which means a maximum of 65,536 clusters. There were a maximum of 64 sectors in each cluster and each sector is 512 bytes long. Multiply all those numbers together and you get a maximum storage medium size of 2,147,483,648 or 2GB bytes of storage.

 

FAT-32, which was introduced in Windows 95, Service Release 2 and made standard in Windows 98, expanded the directory to 32 bits, which means a maximum of over 2 billion clusters, or 70,368,744,177,664, or 64 Terabytes (a terabyte is 1024 Gigabytes).

 

This is really the determining factor; if the software in the camera can support FAT-32, then large cards are okay. If the software can only support FAT-16, then they're not okay.

 

A 64 TB card could store approximately 16,777,216 images, assuming a 4MG jpeg file. Since most jpegs are smaller than this, the actual number would be even higher. Since we're playing with ridiculous numbers, try this. If you shot 1,000 pictures per day, it would take you 45 years to fill the card.

 

But, I've already been accused of being too technical once. :)

 

While these numbers may seem absurd, please note that 1 TB hard drives are becoming relatively common (at least not unheard of) in high-end home PC's. I can remember when the first 10 megabyte hard drives for PC's became available. No one could imagine why anyone needed a disk that big. :rolleyes:

 

Paul