What number of footage can my SD card maintain? That is the query I’m requested usually when readers of my weblog strive to determine the scale of the SD reminiscence card they should complement the digicam they simply bought.
On this article,
- I provides you with a fast estimate of what number of footage totally different SD reminiscence card holds.
- Plus, I’ll present with you a extra exact technique you possibly can apply to your particular digicam and get higher estimates.
- And at last, I’ll share what’s the optimum reminiscence card measurement right now and the scale of reminiscence playing cards I’m utilizing in my pictures.
However the easiest technique to determine what number of photographs a reminiscence card can maintain is to divide the scale of the reminiscence card by the typical picture measurement your digicam produces.
To simplify the method of calculating what number of can SD card maintain, I precalculated the most typical eventualities and provide you with a transparent reply.
The Means I Calculated What number of Pictures Every SD Card Can Maintain
I used 3 eventualities for calculating what number of images you possibly can retailer on a SD card.
State of affairs #1: You Use a DSLR or Mirrorless Digital camera
At this level, the 2 hottest DSLR traces of cameras are the Nikon D3xxx and the Canon Insurgent sequence.
Nikon D3xxx cameras, when taking pictures in JPEG format, produce file sizes between 10MB and 13MB.
Canon Insurgent cameras produce JPEG photographs between 7MB and 11MB.
For my calculations, I used the typical file measurement of 10MB for DSLR and mirrorless cameras when taking pictures JPEG.
When taking pictures RAW, relying on ISO settings, Nikon cameras create file sizes between 22MB and 26MB.
Canon Insurgent fashions generate RAW photographs between 32MB and 38MB.
State of affairs 2: You Use the Smartphone.
When you verify the JPEG file measurement produced by numerous smartphones you possibly can see that measurement can differ between 4MB and 6MB
State of affairs 3: You Use GoPro or One other Motion Digital camera
GoPro cameras, relying on the mannequin, when taking pictures at full decision produce JPEG photographs between 6MB and 10Mb.
To estimate the variety of images you possibly can retailer on a SD reminiscence card, I divided the scale of the cardboard by the typical measurement of the digicam photographs
That straightforward.
However please keep in mind, it is just an estimation as a result of we deal we averages and the ultimate results of the variety of photographs every card can maintain is an approximation solely.
How Many Pictures Can a 16GB SD Card Maintain?
| DSLR (JPEG) | DSLR (RAW) | Good Telephone | GoPro Hero 8-11 |
| 1,638 | 468-682 | 3,276 | 2,048 |
On DSLR and mirrorless cameras the JPEG file measurement varies from 7MB to 13MB. It signifies that a 16GB reminiscence card will maintain between 2,340 and 1,260 images, with a mean of 1,638 photographs. When taking pictures RAW the picture measurement is larger (between 22MB and 38MB), and the 16GB can retailer between 468 and 682 images.
With an approximate picture measurement between 4MB and 6MB on a smartphone, the 16GB SD reminiscence card can maintain between 4,096 and a couple of,730 images with a mean of 3,276 JPEG images.
On the GoPro motion digicam, an 16GB reminiscence card will retailer between 2730 (6MB per picture) and 1638 images (10MB per picture) with a mean of 2048.
Finest 16GB SD Reminiscence Playing cards
How Many Pictures Can a 32GB SD Card Maintain?
| DSLR (JPEG) | DSLR (RAW) | Good Telephone | GoPro Hero 8-11 |
| 3,276 | 936-1,364 | 6,553 | 4,096 |
With the typical JPEG picture measurement on DSLR cameras round 10MB, the 32GB reminiscence card will maintain about 3,276 images. When taking pictures in a RAW format, the file sizes differ from 22MB to 38MB, and a 32GB reminiscence card can retailer between 936 and 1,364 photographs.
On a smartphone, the approximate picture measurement is between 4MB and 6MB, and the 32GB SD reminiscence card can maintain between 8,192 and 5,460 images with a mean of 6553 JPEG photographs.
GoPro motion cameras, at full decision, produce JPEG picture sizes round 6MB and 10MB. The 32GB reminiscence card will mean you can retailer roughly between 5,462 (6MB per picture) and three,276 images (10MB per picture).
Finest 32 GB SD Reminiscence Playing cards
How Many Pictures Can a 64GB SD Card Maintain?
| DSLR (JPEG) | DSLR (RAW) | Good Telephone | GoPro Hero 8-11 |
| 6,552 | 1,872-2,728 | 1,3106 | 8,192 |
The typical JPEG picture measurement on most DSLR cameras is round 10 MB. With a 64GB reminiscence card, you’ll be capable of maintain within the neighborhood of 6,552 photographs. When taking pictures in RAW format, the file measurement can vary from 22MB to 38MB. With a 64GB reminiscence card, you can retailer about 1,872 to 2,728 footage.
Pictures on a smartphone usually have a measurement between 4MB and 6MB, and SD playing cards with 64GB capability can maintain as much as between 16384 and 10922 images, with a mean of 13106 JPEG photographs.
GoPro motion cameras, at full decision, produce JPEG photographs with file sizes starting from 6MB to 10MB. The 64GB reminiscence card will mean you can retailer between 10,922 (6MB per picture) and 6,554 images (10MB per picture).
Finest 64 GB SD Reminiscence Playing cards
How Many Pictures Can a 128GB SD Card Maintain?
| DSLR (JPEG) | DSLR (RAW) | Good Telephone | GoPro Hero 8-11 |
| 1,3107 | 3,744-5,456 | 26,212 | 16,384 |
The typical JPEG picture measurement on most DSLR cameras is round 10 MB. With a 128GB reminiscence card, you’ll be capable of maintain within the neighborhood of 13,107 photographs. When taking pictures in RAW format, the file measurement can vary from 22MB to 38MB. With a 128GB reminiscence card, you possibly can retailer about 3,744 to five,456 footage.
Pictures on a smartphone usually have a measurement between 4MB and 6MB, and SD playing cards with 128GB capability can maintain as much as between 32,768 and 21,840 images, with a mean of 26,212 JPEG photographs.
GoPro motion cameras, at full decision, produce JPEG photographs with picture sizes starting from 6MB to 10MB. The 128GB reminiscence card will mean you can retailer between 21,845 (6MB per picture) and 32,76 images (10MB per picture).
Finest 128GB SD Reminiscence Playing cards
How Many Pictures Can a 256GB SD Card Maintain?
| DSLR (JPEG) | DSLR (RAW) | Good Telephone | GoPro Hero 8-11 |
| 26,214 | 8,628-10,560 | 52,428 | 32,768 |
The typical JPEG picture measurement on most DSLR cameras is round 10 MB. With a 256GB reminiscence card, you’ll be capable of maintain within the neighborhood of 26,214 photographs. When taking pictures in RAW format, the file measurement can vary from 22MB to 38MB. With a 256GB reminiscence card, you can retailer about 8,628 to 10,560 footage.
Pictures on a smartphone usually have a measurement between 4MB and 6MB, and SD playing cards with 256GB capability can maintain as much as between 65,536 and 43,690 images, with a mean of 52,428 JPEG photographs.
GoPro motion cameras, at full decision, produce JPEG photographs with file sizes starting from 6MB to 10MB. The 32GB reminiscence card will mean you can retailer between 43,690 (6MB per picture) and 26,214 images (10MB per picture).
Finest 256GB SD Reminiscence Playing cards
How Many Pictures Can a 512GB SD Card Maintain?
| DSLR (JPEG) | DSLR (RAW) | Good Telephone | GoPro Hero 8-11 |
| 52,428 | 17,256-21,120 | 104,856 | 65,536 |
The typical JPEG picture measurement on most DSLR cameras is round 10 MB. With a 512GB reminiscence card, you’ll be capable of maintain within the neighborhood of 52,428 photographs. When taking pictures in RAW format, the file measurement can vary from 22MB to 38MB. With a 512GB reminiscence card, you possibly can retailer about 17,256 to 21,120 footage.
Pictures on a smartphone usually have a measurement between 4MB and 6MB, and SD playing cards with 512GB capability can maintain as much as between 131,072 and 87,381 pictures, with a mean of 104,856 JPEG photographs.
GoPro motion cameras, at full decision, produce JPEG photographs with picture sizes starting from 6MB to 10MB. The 512GB reminiscence card will mean you can retailer between 87,381 (6MB per picture) and 51,428 images (10MB per picture).
Finest 512GB SD Reminiscence Playing cards
What Components Decide Picture File Measurement?
JPEG File Measurement
The primary mistake that photographers make after they attempt to estimate what number of images can match on a reminiscence card is after they use the variety of megapixels on the digicam sensor as a main issue of their calculations. Though there’s a direct correlation between the megapixel depend and the scale of the picture it produces (the upper the megapixel depend, the bigger the picture), it’s nearly unimaginable to estimate the precise file measurement.
When you shoot in JPEG format, you should utilize a number of high quality choices—like an additional tremendous, tremendous and customary—that produce totally different file sizes.
Plus, totally different digicam settings and taking pictures circumstances have an effect on the scale of the JPEG file. For instance, excessive ISO images usually characteristic a big quantity of digital noise, which leads to a lot bigger JPEG recordsdata. Pictures with wide-open skies could have a a lot smaller file measurement than a picture with a forest that’s stuffed with element.
Because of this, relying on JPEG high quality, totally different digicam settings, and numerous taking pictures circumstances, the file measurement can differ anyplace from 1MB to 20MB for a similar digicam mannequin.
RAW File Measurement
When taking pictures RAW, the scenario turns into much more complicated. RAW recordsdata differ in bit depth from 12-bit to 14-bit. The upper the bit depth, the larger the file measurement. It’s doable to calculate the file measurement when you already know the megapixel depend and the bit depth, however just for uncompressed RAW recordsdata. Nonetheless, many producers use RAW compression which varies from lossless to lossy.
Instance. A Sony a6000 24-megapixel sensor produces 25MB RAW recordsdata. A Fujifilm X-T2 24-megapixel sensor produces 48MB RAW recordsdata. Sony’s RAW recordsdata are compressed however Fuji’s are uncompressed.
On high of every part, some digicam producers have their very own smaller variations of RAW recordsdata akin to sRAW and mRAW.
As I mentioned, it is vitally sophisticated and complicated.
So, What’s the Extra Correct Option to Estimate How Many Pictures a Reminiscence Card Can Maintain?
Let me present you the simplest method of discovering the reply!
Let’s say that I shoot with my Sony a6000 and I need to estimate what number of footage I can retailer on a 32GB and a 64GB SD card earlier than I determine which to purchase.
I dive into my grasp library listing the place I maintain all of my unprocessed images.
Within the file browser (Explorer or Finder), I see that every one my RAW images are sized between 24MB and 25MB.
Subsequent, I exploit the desk under to find out that I can retailer 1,100 RAW recordsdata on a 32GB SD reminiscence card and 2,200 RAW recordsdata on the 64GB model.
If I verify the JPEG model of the photographs produced by the Sony a6000, I see that the scale varies between 5MB and 13MB. I exploit a mean worth of 8MB for my calculation. This tells me that I can retailer 3,432 JPEG photographs on a 32GB SD card and 6,864 photographs on the 64GB model.
Reminiscence Card Desk Calculator
You should use my technique with the reminiscence measurement calculator desk under to estimate what number of images a 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB SD reminiscence card can maintain.
| Picture Measurement (MB) |
SD Card 16GB |
SD Card 32GB |
SD Card 64GB |
SD Card 128GB |
SD Card 256GB |
SD Card 512GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 MB | 16,384 | 32,768 | 65,536 | 131,072 | 262,144 | 524,288 |
| 2.0 MB | 8,192 | 16,384 | 32,768 | 65,536 | 131,072 | 262,144 |
| 3.0 MB | 5,461 | 10,922 | 21,845 | 43,690 | 87,381 | 174,762 |
| 4.0 MB | 4,096 | 8,192 | 16,384 | 32,768 | 65,536 | 131,072 |
| 5.0 MB | 3,276 | 6,553 | 13,107 | 26,214 | 52,428 | 104,857 |
| 6.0 MB | 2,730 | 5,461 | 10,922 | 21,845 | 43,690 | 87,381 |
| 7.0 MB | 2,340 | 4,681 | 9,362 | 18,724 | 37,449 | 74,898 |
| 8.0 MB | 2,048 | 4,096 | 8,192 | 16,384 | 32,768 | 65,536 |
| 9.0 MB | 1,820 | 3,640 | 7,281 | 14,563 | 29,127 | 58,254 |
| 10.0 MB | 1,638 | 3,276 | 6,553 | 13,107 | 26,214 | 52,428 |
| 11.0 MB | 1,489 | 2,978 | 5,957 | 11,915 | 23,831 | 47,662 |
| 12.0 MB | 1,365 | 2,730 | 5,461 | 10,922 | 21,845 | 43,690 |
| 13.0 MB | 1,260 | 2,520 | 5,041 | 10,082 | 20,164 | 40,329 |
| 15.0 MB | 1,092 | 2,184 | 4,369 | 8,738 | 17,476 | 34,952 |
| 16.0 MB | 1,024 | 2,048 | 4,096 | 8,192 | 16,384 | 32,768 |
| 17.0 MB | 963 | 1,927 | 3,855 | 7,710 | 15,420 | 30,840 |
| 18.0 MB | 910 | 1,820 | 3,640 | 7,281 | 14,563 | 29,127 |
| 19.0 MB | 862 | 1,724 | 3,449 | 6,898 | 13,797 | 27,594 |
| 20.0 MB | 819 | 1,638 | 3,276 | 6,553 | 13,107 | 26,214 |
| 21.0 MB | 780 | 1,560 | 3,120 | 6,241 | 12,483 | 24,966 |
| 22.0 MB | 744 | 1,489 | 2,978 | 5,957 | 11,915 | 23,831 |
| 23.0 MB | 712 | 1,424 | 2,849 | 5,698 | 11,397 | 22,795 |
| 24.0 MB | 682 | 1,365 | 2,730 | 5,461 | 10,922 | 21,845 |
| 25.0 MB | 655 | 1,310 | 2,621 | 5,242 | 10,485 | 20,971 |
| 26.0 MB | 630 | 1,260 | 2,520 | 5,041 | 10,082 | 20,164 |
| 27.0 MB | 606 | 1,213 | 2,427 | 4,854 | 9,709 | 19,418 |
| 28.0 MB | 585 | 1,170 | 2,340 | 4,681 | 9,362 | 18,724 |
| 29.0 MB | 564 | 1,129 | 2,259 | 4,519 | 9,039 | 18,078 |
| 30.0 MB | 546 | 1,092 | 2,184 | 4,369 | 8,738 | 17,476 |
| 35.0 MB | 468 | 936 | 1,872 | 3,744 | 7,489 | 14,979 |
| 40.0 MB | 409 | 819 | 1,638 | 3,276 | 6,553 | 13,107 |
| 45.0 MB | 364 | 728 | 1,456 | 2,912 | 5,825 | 11,650 |
| 50.0 MB | 327 | 655 | 1,310 | 2,621 | 5,242 | 10,485 |
| 55.0 MB | 297 | 595 | 1,191 | 2,383 | 4,766 | 9,532 |
| 60.0 MB | 273 | 546 | 1,092 | 2,184 | 4,369 | 8,738 |
| 65.0 MB | 252 | 504 | 1,008 | 2,016 | 4,032 | 8,065 |
| 70.0 MB | 234 | 468 | 936 | 1,872 | 3,744 | 7,489 |
| 75.0 MB | 218 | 436 | 873 | 1,747 | 3,495 | 6,990 |
| 80.0 MB | 204 | 409 | 819 | 1,638 | 3,276 | 6,553 |
| 85.0 MB | 192 | 385 | 771 | 1,542 | 3,084 | 6,168 |
| 90.0 MB | 182 | 364 | 728 | 1,456 | 2,912 | 5,825 |
| 95.0 MB | 172 | 344 | 689 | 1,379 | 2,759 | 5,518 |
| 100.0 MB | 163 | 327 | 655 | 1,310 | 2,621 | 5,242 |
What’s Optimum SD Reminiscence Card Measurement?
Folks usually ask me why we’d like reminiscence playing cards larger than 32GB if we are able to retailer hundreds of high-resolution recordsdata.
Let me clarify.
I usually shoot in RAW+JPEG in order that I can seize the JPEG model with my telephone or pill for quick enhancing on the highway. This will increase the file measurement for each shot to 33MB (25MB+8MB).
Subsequent, I nearly all the time bracket my photographs, taking no less than three consecutive variations of every shot at totally different publicity values. This will increase the file measurement for every shot to just about 100MB.
Because of this I can solely retailer 276 bracketed photographs on a 32GB SD card. That’s merely not sufficient room for my customary taking pictures fashion.
For the final two years, I largely used SD reminiscence playing cards with a capability of 128GB however am now regularly upgrading them to the 256GB variations.
Essential Reminiscence Card Specs Past Storage Capability
When contemplating a reminiscence card, don’t simply concentrate on storage measurement. There are key facets associated to reliability and velocity that deserve consideration.
Reliability: Keep away from unknown Chinese language manufacturers as they might lack the reliability wanted to guard your knowledge. This might result in knowledge corruption and the lack of your images. Go for trusted manufacturers like SanDisk.
On the identical time, train warning even inside well-known manufacturers to keep away from counterfeit playing cards. When buying from Amazon, choose respected resellers akin to Amazon itself, B&H, or Adorama.
Card Pace: Card velocity is a vital issue affecting how shortly your digicam can write knowledge, together with images and movies, to the cardboard.
Gradual playing cards will be irritating when taking pictures within the discipline. Avoid the SanDisk Extremely for optimum efficiency, as it might restrict your digicam’s capabilities. Think about investing a bit extra in fashions like SanDisk Excessive or SanDisk Excessive Professional for quicker knowledge switch. This reduces the time your digicam spends clearing its buffer, essential for avoiding missed picture alternatives and sustaining a easy pictures workflow.
Conclusion: How Many Photos Can My SD Card Maintain?
Choosing the proper reminiscence card includes extra than simply measurement. Think about your pictures wants, prioritize reliability and velocity, and purchase from respected sellers. Whether or not you’re a frequent or occasional photographer, understanding these particulars ensures a easy and safe expertise.
When selecting a reminiscence card, concentrate on what actually issues to your pictures, permitting you to seize moments with out worries about reminiscence card limitations.