lots of memory cards or...?

[darkroom]

Please help me decide what to do. (edited to add, decision has been made. Thanks all for the advice, - and Bobby and Mao for the loan!)

I'm soon going on a three day bird shoot. I currently only have two 2GB CF cards. That's far from enough. I'm guessing I'll probably need twice that much - 8GB in total. Should I A) go buy another 4GB's worth of CF cards? Or should I B) buy one of those portable mini downloadable devices. I don't own a laptop so that's not an option.

If option B) is the way to go, can anyone recommend one that is cheap but reliable?

Also know that this sort of adventure happens only once a year. What I decide to buy probably will only be used once a year.

Thanks for helping me figure this one out. :)

[Bobby]

Well, you have another option David, I have a 4 gig card I will be more than happy to loan you and I'm sure I can scrape up another one for you.

[Jeff M]

Sandisk Extreme III CF 4 GB cards sell for around $80, (with $30 rebates), right now...so you could get 8 GB of storage..for a final cost of $100.00
That's an option.
The Epson P4000 is nice...80 GB I think, of storage, but a price over $500.:wideeyed:
Just a couple of thoughts. I'd buy/borrow at least 4 GB cards. In film days, I'd calculate how many rolls I needed for job, then take double. I never seemed to have too much film.

[Mao]

Ditto what Bobby said, I can loan you a 4 gig. card for the price of your birding knowledge...How's that?

If you're gonna do anything David, loan the 4 gig cards now...and then eventually buy one or two 4 gig. cards. I don't see the need for a portable one for you right now - at least in my humble opinion. Use the money and treat the girls and the pictures of them are gonna be well worth it.

[pcho]

Hi David,

I would not worry about strage device esp. when CF cards are reasonably cheap now. You can get a high quality 8 gig extreme III CF for $86.95 after rebates fro www.mydigitaldiscount.com or $89.95 fro B&H

At those prices why would you purchase the less stable hard disk based storage device.

Perry

[Jonathan]

I easily went through 8gigs in a day while in florida shooting birds on a good day.Not always but there were a few days. That being said I would get a portable device. While I was in florida for a week i had 3 2gig cards and a laptop that i downloaded onto nightly.

[Ron Lacey]

As to option B check out Jeff's post from a few weeks ago..

http://www.pixel-shooter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4183

Ron

[E.B. West]

Well, you have another option David, I have a 4 gig card I will be more than happy to loan you and I'm sure I can scrape up another one for you.

Ditto what Bobby said, I can loan you a 4 gig. card for the price of your birding knowledge...How's that?

If you're gonna do anything David, loan the 4 gig cards now...and then eventually buy one or two 4 gig. cards. I don't see the need for a portable one for you right now - at least in my humble opinion. Use the money and treat the girls and the pictures of them are gonna be well worth it.


I can't figure out if I need a 500 or 600 mm lens. will you loan me one of those for a couple years?????:biglaugh: :biglaugh:

[Rudi]

It appears that you can borrow the cards for your trip, David, so that is not the issue here. BUT... given the choice, and considering the extremely low prices of CF memory these days, I would choose CF cards over a portable HDD any day! The moving parts in a HDD are not as reliable as the solid state memory in CF cards, and the act of having to transfer the files over presents a risk in itself. CF memory is so cheap nowadays that the portable HDD solutions are nowhere near as attractive as they were several years ago (let's not forget they were only invented because of the high price of CF memory at the time).

[darkroom]

You guys are the best. Thanks so much for responding with your knowledge/advice... I'm new to this digital scene so your input is valued.

I'm lovin option C) that Bobby and Mao put forth! :)
(private messages on their way)