russellsnr
Well-known member
Hi, as per title just wonder what most people use the second card slot for on the Z8, Overflow or Back Up? and if Back up do you find a significant delay?. Thank You. Russ.
Z8 Slot 2 What Do You Use It For?
- Thread starter russellsnr
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Overflow. Using it for backup slows down burst shooting far too much.
Gaduf
Well-known member
Overflow and the odd video when I do take one.
Gavin
Gavin
Overflow, and I keep a copy of my settings file on there, just in case.
John Navitsky
Well-known member
ventilation
I have always used the 2nd slot on my DSLR’s and Z8 for jpeg’s. Raw to CF, jpeg to Sd. I like that setup because it allows me to review what shot more easily when I get back. Easier to scroll through JPEGs.
Overflow. In all the years I've been shooting, I've never lost a single image to a failed card. I've had cards fail during formatting, but I've always been OK in the field with overflow. Also, keep in mind that backup will kill your buffer and then your frame rate since the camera can only go as fast as the slowest card.
John Navitsky
Well-known member
while i will shoot the z9 in backup mode when it makes sense, the speed penalty for using the sd card is pretty significant from the perspective of an action shooter. originally i was thinking i’d get sd cards and use the copy function but then i priced out large sd cards and it just didn’t make financial sense. so i never bothered getting sd cards large enough to back up my cfe-b cards. here’s hoping they stop putting sd cards in prosumer cameras soon 
rgbiv
Member
Overflow if needed, then I copy the files to the SD card while on the walk/drive home and use the SD card to load the pics onto my computer.
Main slot. Since I only use SD cards, slot 2 is the only one I use.
GregT943
Well-known member
Overflow. I wish they would just give us two CFB card slots. I think that's the only thing I don't like about my Z8
Since the contacts in the card slots are directly connected to the motherboard I’m uncomfortable with leaving a slot empty. While it’s not a guarantee, preventing any moisture (rain, condensation, etc) getting inside an empty slot is a good idea. Keeping a card in the slot is helpful. Also, even though data transfer is slow, I don’t mind having it there for overflow when needed.
russellsnr
Well-known member
OK Thank You all, looks like overflow wins the race and it was odds on favourite. Russ
overflow, but with larger CFE cards I seldom fill a card.
.jpeg backup as I often need to quickly snapbridge some photos for social post.
I've actually started using the SD card differently for birding photography. I get back from a couple of hours with hundreds of photos that are mainly ID photos. So I simply take the card out of the camera, put it in my laptop, and directly rate my photos without ever downloading them. I discard 80% after my first pass, and then go through another pass to identify which ones are going to be edited for eBird or social media - usually 5-8%. Only those are ingested and then imported Lightroom. After editing and producing a small web JPEG, I discard all but the ones that are suitable for printing. So for most of these images, social media or identification is the final use, so there is no need to keep a large RAW file.
By the way - I review the images using Photo Mechanic, so metadata and ratings that are added to the image on the card are maintained when I import later.
By the way - I review the images using Photo Mechanic, so metadata and ratings that are added to the image on the card are maintained when I import later.
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I agree. When I have a LOT of images to sort through, I go through the images on the card first, then only move the ones that I've rated as possible keepers to my computer. All the "losers" stay on the card and get removed when I reformat the card in camera.
I use that slot to compensate for my memory loss…when I forget and leave my CF card in the card reader attached to my computer, then take my camera out into the field. It’s happened more than once now and I’m very glad I had the SD card in there! 
stanvdw
Member
I use it for video and overflow.
Overflow and video as well...but also yes to what Matt N said above! I've done that more than once (going back many camerasI use that slot to compensate for my memory loss…when I forget and leave my CF card in the card reader attached to my computer, then take my camera out into the field. It’s happened more than once now and I’m very glad I had the SD card in there!
and was really thankful for the 2nd slot having something in it.Yair
New member
Me too
ajrmd
Well-known member
Actually, I kind of like having the utility of a redundant "legacy" slot. The CFE is so good that it is usually sufficient for my work though one day when I was shooting a lot of video, I quickly filled up my card and thought that I had a spare. Turned out, I did not have another CFE card but had a few SD's in the bag. Was able to keep on shooting.
I use it for overflow.
Second slot on my Z8 is generally occupied by a 128GB or 256GB SDXC II card for Stills and slot 1 is occupied by a 1TB or 2TB CFx used for Video. SD totally meets my needs for stills in all but the rarest of circumstances. I like to keep my video and stills on separate cards.
Good luck to you sir. Everytime I've used the words "always" and "never" (especially in close proximity to each other), I've lived to regret it.