Dual memory cards - what is best practice?

[Trespassers W]

Two of my most recent cameras (5dMkiii and now R5) have dual memory card slots. I almost always use RAW files and ideally I would like to have two identical copies in case one of the cards fails, but given that SD is slower than CF or CFExpress I usually have Card A (CFExpress) set to RAW and Card B (SD) set to Large JPEG.

JPEG files come handy if I need to quickly pop in SD card in my laptop and share image without too much editing, but in 90% cases I use RAW and JPEGs go to trash after I made sure all my RAW images were successfully copied to their storage location.

Just curious what settings people are using for memory cards on their cameras.

 

[Bobtographer]

Unless you're machine gunning the crap out of everything speed of the 2 cards doesn't matter - if you need to shoot RAW to both then do it.
I only shoot JPEG/HEIF if I'm doing a slideshow at a wedding.

 

[i-G12]

I'm probably in the minority. I use one slot for photos (RAW) and the other for video.

 

[Trespassers W]

I'm probably in the minority. I use one slot for photos (RAW) and the other for video.

Do you do it for easier file management? I think videos are stored in a separate folder, so they shouldn't be hard to find.

 

[i-G12]

Do you do it for easier file management? I think videos are stored in a separate folder, so they shouldn't be hard to find.

Yep. For me it's for the ease of use. Pop out the card upload to FCPX and that's that!

Of course the downside is there is no backup should there be a problem!

 

[argar]

Traditionally, I save JPEG on one card and Raw on the other.

 

[Lubos-PM]

In the 5D Mk IV, I saved RAW on one card and JPEG on the other for a long time. Ever since my RAW card crashed on an airshow, I've been saving to both RAW cards, even now in the R5.

 

[bobpal]

I save RAW to both cards on my R6 and R6II but also have been doing that on every camera I have owned for 10 years. I have never had a problem with filling the buffer.

 

[paddler4]

When I use both, I use both for raw. I rarely do anything that requires more speed than the slower of my cards can handle. And if you want to spend the $$, you can buy fast SD cards for that slot--not as fast as CF Express, but fast enough for most uses.

Then again, I virtually never shoot JPEG. I shot raw+JPEG for a few months when I first started shooting raw ages ago but stopped when I realized I was simply throwing them out. The only time I shoot raw+JPEG now is with my drone, which won't shoot only raw.

 

[cnskusa]

On my Sony A7IV, I save uncompressed RAW on Slot 1 and fine JPG on Slot 2. Most of the times I don't use the JPGs, but it is useful for quick sharing etc. before I can get to the computer to process RAWs.

 

[mrfixitx]

For me it is RAW on card 1, JPEG on card 2 so I at least have some sort of backup if card 1 fails or a photo is corrupted somehow (rare but it has happened to me in the past).

 

[MakisM1]

I am not worried about writing speed. I use older (and cheaper) SD cards, never had a problem with speed. I record cRAW on both (I had 1 SD card fail in 21 years, probably my fault from not dismounting the card before removal from the reader) but card failure is still my main concern. During the photo safari in Kruger National Park, I kept the CF card permanently in one slot and I downloaded (and backed up) every photo I took on a daily basis from the SD card. At the end of the backup, I did a low level format on the SD card. So I had 4 sets of photos (1 in CF, one on laptop and 2 in two backup disks. I carried 3 in my photo bag and sent one with the luggage.

 

[Trespassers W]

I am not worried about writing speed. I use older (and cheaper) SD cards, never had a problem with speed. I record cRAW on both (I had 1 SD card fail in 21 years, probably my fault from not dismounting the card before removal from the reader) but card failure is still my main concern. During the photo safari in Kruger National Park, I kept the CF card permanently in one slot and I downloaded (and backed up) every photo I took on a daily basis from the SD card. At the end of the backup, I did a low level format on the SD card. So I had 4 sets of photos (1 in CF, one on laptop and 2 in two backup disks. I carried 3 in my photo bag and sent one with the luggage.

This is a true reliability!

I've been doing RAW and JPG for many years, but since the speed is not an issue I think I will switch to RAW on both cards for backup. I am less worried about data failures once they are copied to my Synology NAS, I think I have a pretty reliable configuration there (RAID-5 and weekly backup to Amazon Glacier).

 

[MakisM1]

This is a true reliability!

I've been doing RAW and JPG for many years, but since the speed is not an issue I think I will switch to RAW on both cards for backup. I am less worried about data fails once they are copied on my Synology NAS, I think I have a pretty reliable configuration there (RAID-5 and weekly backup to Amazon Glacier).

I have to confess a little detail... The Linux photo database I am using (called Shotwell) will import RAW and whatever JPG I created in camera (RAW+JPEG). If I import RAW, it will create a JPG of half size from the JPG embedded in the RAW and store it along with the RAW. So, by opting only for RAW, I save space in the SD card, AND the SSD in my tower. A true win-win situation. The only catch is that I cannot delete the JPGs which were embedded in the RAW. If I delete wholesale, say 150 JPG from a photo session, I will see them slowly being recreated by Shotwell, while the program slows to a crawl to do this...

 

[Nick5]

In my 5D Mark III’s, now ten years old, I “Record Separately” to both the CF and SD card. No need to “Back Up” when traveling.
Only when shooting sports is when I remove the SD card so I can shoot longer.

 

[strobemonkey]

I use the same capacity cards on both slots and save cRAW and small jpg on both.

 

[Pictoraider]

As far as I'm concerned, I optimize my raw files as much as possible at the time of shooting by adding an extra + 1IL 1/3 to my spotmeter measurement on a neutral mid-gray 18% chart : in doing so, the jpeg images developed by the in-camera software from these optimized raw files do have a severely burnt-out look so I don't/never save them except on a CF or SD card.
Because of such photographic practice, I tend to save raw files in duplicate on both dual memory cards - in case one of my two recording media should fail.

 

[Trespassers W]

My CF Express (card 1) is always set to RAW, but for the SD card I've been lately switching back and forth between RAW and large JPEG depending on the situation. If I was shooting some important event not far from home I did RAW on both for reliability/backup reasons. Traveling on vacation few days ago I had second card set to JPG so I could quickly edit and share pictures away from my desktop computer.

 

[ShipleyNW]

I write everything to both cards. Backup in case one fails, I guess. The slowest card drives the write speed, but that rarely gets in the way. There's no real downside to using 2 cards, but not a lot of utility either, as far as I can tell. I usually work with 1 card and the other one never comes out of the camera. Still have to format both of them when I'm done.

 

[mathogre]

Almost always I write RAW to both cards. However, years ago I was doing photos for our high school band camp. It was an away camp, and I would shoot one day and upload the photos for parents the next. As a chaperone, photography was secondary, but parents really liked photos of their kids, so the onus was on me to get the best shots possible.

For band camp, I would shoot RAW on one card and jpeg to the other (5DMkIII). This was all about time. Jpeg meant I had a decent enough photo with little additional post processing. I'd straighten photos, maybe adjust exposure if needed, and that was usually it. RAW meant I still had the best data for archiving. During the day I'd shoot. Mostly this was for the practices, but some was for candid shooting. That night I'd begin the processing. I'd back up the cards, post process the jpegs, and resize them for upload over a weak wifi network. At the beginning of the week I'd be uploading mid-day the next day, but by the end of the week I'd upload before the sun came up. A day's shoot was on the order of 400 photos a day.