There is good advice here, but from what you are saying it seems that you have a few SD cards, but only one CFe card. If this is a once in a lifetime type of trip, I'd like at least 2 CFe cards in case the single one became corrupted, got damaged, lost etc.
D500 Memory Card Strategy
- Thread starter Jmoffett
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There is good advice here, but from what you are saying it seems that you have a few SD cards, but only one CFe card. If this is a once in a lifetime type of trip, I'd like at least 2 CFe cards in case the single one became corrupted, got damaged, lost etc.
The fact is memory cards almost never fail. If they fail, the camera stops working and gives you notice with an ERR message. Most photographers don't use backup mode - and if so it's only for specific needs. You are much more likely to have camera or lens failure than card failure - probably 50-100 times more likely. Image loss is almost always more likely due to human error - lost cards, deleting or reformatting in error, damaged computer hard drive, etc.
I think it is prudent to backup your images, but real time backup of every image for routine situations probably has greater cost than benefit. Strike the balance where you are comfortable, and have a workflow that you can consistently follow.
PhotoLover
Well-known member
I agree. If I was doing event photography I'd want the shots written to two cards, otherwise when on trips I do the following simple stuff:
1) Take the picture. In my D500 the second card is overflow, not backup. In my D7500, there is only the one card.
2) Back at lodging at end of day, copy contents of card to hard disk on laptop. In my case, that's import into LR classic. I might do a bit of processing, but usually not.
3) Don't erase the card; I just leave the shots on it and keep using it until almost full on that trip, then switch to another card.
I'm always a touch surprised at people that don't take a laptop (who have one) and want backups. My apple laptop takes up so little space (I stick it in my mindshift backpack) that I can never find a reason not to take it.
@PhotoLover - I'm always a touch surprised at people that don't take a laptop
Same here, I take mine with me and use it daily. I assume the cellphone are all the others need. I like a real keyboard and larger screen view.
Same here, I take mine with me and use it daily. I assume the cellphone are all the others need. I like a real keyboard and larger screen view.
Since I went digital around 20 odd years ago I've had 3 cards fail. Fortunately with nothing important on them. It is rare, but it has made me wary.
PhotoLover
Well-known member
For trips with photography, the laptop is my photo backup strategy. I do prefer a real keyboard and larger screen for other things, but if I'm not taking a lot of pictures, I usually omit the laptop. But something like a macbook air, it doesn't take up much space in the pack (the big charger brick is more annoying than the laptop itself!). Now, if you have one of those large 15" laptops that does take up more space, you care more. Plus a laptop is one more thing that might get stolen from your hotel room. So there is that.
Jmoffett
New member
Just wanted to post a followup to this post and sincerely thank everyone for their assistance.
I ended up taking everyone's advice and bought a Delkin 128GB CFexpress card and reader. Our 16 day trip to Egypt and Jordan was a target rich environment so I captured thousands of pics which I now have to cull and prepare. My upgrade from my old D7500 to the D500 proved to be a fantastic upgrade.When traveling I use a Tamron 18-400 but took a 35mm 1.8 for inside the tombs, but only used it once because of the close proximity.
Here is the final solution based on all of your advice. I preloaded my Sandisk 2TB Extreme Pro SSD with my standard file structure for each day of the trip. When shooting, I only recorded images onto the CF Express card but kept a 256 GB Sandisk Extreme Pro SD Card in its slot. At the end of the day, in camera, I copied all files on the CF Express card onto the SD Card, exchanging, locking, and storing the SD Card when it was approaching full. I then removed the CF Card and put it the card reader, then, using an iPad Pro and hub, copied the files on the CFexpress Card onto the appropriate day folder on the SSD. After verifying that all images were on the SSD, I reinserted the CFexpress Card into the camera, popped out the SD card for safety, and reformatted the CFexpress card to start the next day fresh. That gave me copies on two formats while on the road, then when I got home, I put another copy on my iCloud Drive and back up HD at home.
The system worked very well, but one day, I found that all the images on the CFexpress card had not copied over to the SSD drive or the SD card. The verification step caught the discrepancy, and I went back and copied the missing files. Not sure what caused it, but it proved that all steps were necessary for these once in a lifetime pics.
I ended up taking everyone's advice and bought a Delkin 128GB CFexpress card and reader. Our 16 day trip to Egypt and Jordan was a target rich environment so I captured thousands of pics which I now have to cull and prepare. My upgrade from my old D7500 to the D500 proved to be a fantastic upgrade.When traveling I use a Tamron 18-400 but took a 35mm 1.8 for inside the tombs, but only used it once because of the close proximity.
Here is the final solution based on all of your advice. I preloaded my Sandisk 2TB Extreme Pro SSD with my standard file structure for each day of the trip. When shooting, I only recorded images onto the CF Express card but kept a 256 GB Sandisk Extreme Pro SD Card in its slot. At the end of the day, in camera, I copied all files on the CF Express card onto the SD Card, exchanging, locking, and storing the SD Card when it was approaching full. I then removed the CF Card and put it the card reader, then, using an iPad Pro and hub, copied the files on the CFexpress Card onto the appropriate day folder on the SSD. After verifying that all images were on the SSD, I reinserted the CFexpress Card into the camera, popped out the SD card for safety, and reformatted the CFexpress card to start the next day fresh. That gave me copies on two formats while on the road, then when I got home, I put another copy on my iCloud Drive and back up HD at home.
The system worked very well, but one day, I found that all the images on the CFexpress card had not copied over to the SSD drive or the SD card. The verification step caught the discrepancy, and I went back and copied the missing files. Not sure what caused it, but it proved that all steps were necessary for these once in a lifetime pics.
I shoot a D500. I use to use the second slot for backup but now I use it as overflow. Comes in handy if you forgot to bring extra cards. I also use to shoot a combination of RAW and JPEG but I realized that for me it was just a waste of time and card space. Only shoot RAW now.
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