Im looking into more memory.. Whats the best out there?
And what size?
I have a 20D.
THanks.
Linda

I STRONGLY recommend not going with the microdrives as they are more likely to experience problems. The flash drives are MUCH more reliable.

I'm a big fan of Lexar, but I hear SanDisk is good too, I just don't own any of their stuff...

Size wise depends on what you're shooting and your budget. If you're shooting RAW probably no smaller than a 1 Gig, but more likely 2 GIG. With JPEG a 512-1 Gig should suite you fine.

What applications are you shooting and what file types?

Good luck!

CF all the way... Microdrives just scare me... especially after seeing four fullsized hard drives crash within a month of each other. Scary thing is, the microdrives and the hard drives function on the same principals as each other... kinda freaky.

Definitely look into CF cards, since November the prices have really dropped and have made purchasing these cards very reasonable. A great investment you can't go wrong with.

i'm a big fan of the 2GB lexar pro 80x cards, however i just picked up a 2GB sandisk extreme iii card (currently the fastest 2GB card on the market) and i am very happy with it! you can usually expect to pay approx. $100 per GB, although ymmv.

QUOTE (Musicmanchris @ Feb 24 2005, 11:51 PM)

I STRONGLY recommend not going with the microdrives as they are more likely to experience problems.  The flash drives are MUCH more reliable.  I'm a big fan of Lexar, but I hear SanDisk is good too, I just don't own any of their stuff... Size wise depends on what you're shooting and your budget.  If you're shooting RAW probably no smaller than a 1 Gig, but more likely 2 GIG.  With JPEG a 512-1 Gig should suite you fine.  What applications are you shooting and what file types?  Good luck!

"I'm a big fan of Lexar, but I hear SanDisk is good too, I just don't own any of their stuff..."


I was wondering about the SanDisk cards. Are those fast?

The only reason I asked about the mirodives is because a friend of mine that works for Wolfe suggested them. I’m using CF cards now..


"Size wise depends on what you're shooting and your budget. If you're shooting RAW probably no smaller than a 1 Gig, but more likely 2 GIG. With JPEG a 512-1 Gig should suite you fine."

This entire raw debate has me a bit confused. I have tested both ways raw and jpeg. I just can’t see the difference..
Of course I’m still learning.

"What applications are you shooting and what file types?"


Applications? I’m not sure if you mean for editing.. But I use ps 7 and shoot portraiture, fine art and weddings.

I have been using jpeg.. I’m starting to research reasons not to.

As always Thanks for your advice!
You guys Rock!

Linda

Linda ---

From what I've heard so far (and I'm still researching too...), I would rather shoot RAW just for the fact of quality of the image. With JPEG, you can only really blow up a print to 11x14 without getting any pixelation. And I shoot a lot of fine art photos which hang in galleries and they are a lot bigger then that, so I think once I get into digital, I will definitely go RAW.

Just a thought...

--- Gregg

I think your acceptable print size may depend a lot on your lab, as well as your camera. I'm looking at a crystal-clear 30"x40" print right now that I shot in "large jpg." Many times, your lab can do a much better job enlarging (using RIP software designed specifically for thier printers) than you can at home with Photoshop.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the difference between RAW and JPEG is not really the ultimate size that you can blow things up. The difference is the ability to edit the picture.

When you take a JPEG picture in your camera the camera is taking all that information and throwing most of it away. That is why a JPEG is a compressed image and why your file size is about 3-4 megs instead of 8 or 9.

When you shoot RAW, it is literally saving ALL (or almost all) of the data that your camera is processing. That way, you have WAY more power to edit that picture without damaging the image. Color correcting and adjusting exposure are way easier in RAW and don't damage the file.

However, at the end of the day you still are converting those files to JPEG. Your lab will not accept a RAW file to print. So when you print them or give them to the client you have to convert it to JPEG anyhow. So if you're incredible at getting your color and exposure right on the money everytime by all means shoot JPEG! You'll save yourself a lot of space and RAW will be unnecessary. (However, I have yet to meet the photographer who never messes up exposure/color and every shot.)

Hope that makes sense...

What about converting your RAW files for large prints directly to uncompressed TIFF files. By doing this, are you not avoiding losing all information in the file like you would a JPEG? Can anyone say for certain if converting a file to a JPEG reduces the quality of the image? I'm curious to hear some facts as to why or why not it affects the quality when you are trying to produce a large print.... Anyone with some numbers/info?

You may not see the image quality difference in a large JPEG file vs. one converted from RAW. But compression does throw out information. Here's another test though, regarding JPEG vs. TIFF. Take a JPEG file, open it, make an adjustment to the image, save it and close it. Do this several times. Now do the same with the TIFF file, but keep saving it as a TIFF. Now make two prints of an enlarged area of the image. You'll be blown away by the quality deterioration in the overworked JPEG. The bottom line is, make all your adjustments to your RAW or TIFF files, then save once and for all to JPEG. If storage space isn't a problem, save the RAW/TIFFs as backup (which you should be doing anyway.)
Christopher

QUOTE (BrianAdamsPhotoGraphics @ Feb 25 2005, 12:16 AM)

i'm a big fan of the 2GB lexar pro 80x cards, however i just picked up a 2GB sandisk extreme iii card (currently the fastest 2GB card on the market) and i am very happy with it!  you can usually expect to pay approx. $100 per GB, although ymmv.

Hey Brian- I took your advice and bought the 2GB sandisk extreme iii card. I just wanted to thank you for your advice!
You rock!

((Hug))
L.

no . . . you rock! thanks for the hug. i'm glad i could help! now let's see some of your new photos . . .