Available shots on card don't add up.

Philoslothical · 07-25-2011, 11:41 AM

OK, I think I found a bug in my K-r. It's not critical, but it requires me to mentally convert the number of pics left to shoot whenever I look at the display.

I have an 8GB Class 10 Black's card, which seems to be rebranded Sandisk. Works great. It's really good for dumping bursts to the card quickly, and I haven't had a damaged file show up yet. When I put it in the camera, empty, and it says I can take 402 raw (dng) shots.

Yesterday I took 434 shots and it only used 4.3 GB, and the camera said I could take another 183 shots.

It's basically reporting half the number of available shots. No clue why.

ablundon · 07-25-2011, 12:01 PM

From what I understand DNG files take advantage of JPEG lossless compression. I'm not sure of the details but I also shoot DNG. You'll note that the DNG file sizes can vary quite a bit. Therefore, since the camera cannot anticipate what you will be shooting it probably bases the estimates on the maximum file sizes with minimum compression.

I just looked at shots I took yesterday, the smallest file was 9900 KB while the largest was 15700 KB.

Philoslothical · 07-25-2011, 12:06 PM

Ah, that might be it. The vast majority of mine end up at 9-10 MB, but if it's allowing 20 MB as the conceivable maximum per shot, that would add up. Thanks.

**Just1MoreDave** · 07-25-2011, 12:13 PM

The newer cameras do compression on everything - lossless on RAW, but still compression. The shots available assumes your files are a typical size but they vary. If your files compress a lot, you get a lot more on a card than indicated.

Images that don't have too much detail or color compress better. I was taking a lot of photos to catch lightning recently and had the same experience. Some of those files are a third the size of average images.

Philoslothical · 07-25-2011, 12:29 PM

I love the quality of answers on this forum.

Thanks both, I'll just take the number as a (very) rough indication from now on. I wish there were a way to have it display remaining megabytes instead of shots.

And yeah, I shoot many many shots with large areas of bokeh in them, often >75% of the image will be a fairly smooth gradient, so that would explain why so many of mine are towards the lower end of the expected range.

Joe Nation · 07-26-2011, 12:54 AM

At least it's underestimating it's capacity. Better than thinking 'oh I've got loads of space left' only to fill up the card in ten minutes

icejam · 07-26-2011, 10:20 AM

It looks like K-r is underestimating the capacity in .jpeg mode by about 50%. At least for me

A 4GB SD according to the camera can store 550 pics but will hold anything between 750 and 800 pics @ 5000 kB per photo (on average with 12MP size + best quality).

Parallax · 07-26-2011, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by icejam

It looks like K-r is underestimating the capacity in .jpeg mode by about 50%. At least for me

A 4GB SD according to the camera can store 550 pics but will hold anything between 750 and 800 pics @ 5000 kB per photo (on average with 12MP size + best quality).

That's because the final file size is dependent on the subject matter. A picture that contains a lot of empty sky can be compressed far more than the same scene could be if the sky were filled with multi-colored, highly detailed hot air balloons. The camera has no way of predicting what you will take a picture of next, so it predicts remaining photos based on minimal compression.

07-25-2011, 11:41 AM	#1
Philoslothical Veteran Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 1,889	Available shots on card don't add up. OK, I think I found a bug in my K-r. It's not critical, but it requires me to mentally convert the number of pics left to shoot whenever I look at the display. I have an 8GB Class 10 Black's card, which seems to be rebranded Sandisk. Works great. It's really good for dumping bursts to the card quickly, and I haven't had a damaged file show up yet. When I put it in the camera, empty, and it says I can take 402 raw (dng) shots. Yesterday I took 434 shots and it only used 4.3 GB, and the camera said I could take another 183 shots. It's basically reporting half the number of available shots. No clue why.

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07-25-2011, 12:01 PM	#2
ablundon Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Paradise, NL Photos: Albums Posts: 106	From what I understand DNG files take advantage of JPEG lossless compression. I'm not sure of the details but I also shoot DNG. You'll note that the DNG file sizes can vary quite a bit. Therefore, since the camera cannot anticipate what you will be shooting it probably bases the estimates on the maximum file sizes with minimum compression. I just looked at shots I took yesterday, the smallest file was 9900 KB while the largest was 15700 KB.

07-25-2011, 12:06 PM	#3
Philoslothical Veteran Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 1,889 Original Poster	Ah, that might be it. The vast majority of mine end up at 9-10 MB, but if it's allowing 20 MB as the conceivable maximum per shot, that would add up. Thanks.

07-25-2011, 12:13 PM	#4
Just1MoreDave Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Aurora, CO Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,340	The newer cameras do compression on everything - lossless on RAW, but still compression. The shots available assumes your files are a typical size but they vary. If your files compress a lot, you get a lot more on a card than indicated. Images that don't have too much detail or color compress better. I was taking a lot of photos to catch lightning recently and had the same experience. Some of those files are a third the size of average images.

07-25-2011, 12:29 PM	#5
Philoslothical Veteran Member Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 1,889 Original Poster	I love the quality of answers on this forum. Thanks both, I'll just take the number as a (very) rough indication from now on. I wish there were a way to have it display remaining megabytes instead of shots. And yeah, I shoot many many shots with large areas of bokeh in them, often >75% of the image will be a fairly smooth gradient, so that would explain why so many of mine are towards the lower end of the expected range.

07-26-2011, 12:54 AM	#6
Joe Nation Forum Member Join Date: May 2011 Photos: Albums Posts: 61	At least it's underestimating it's capacity. Better than thinking 'oh I've got loads of space left' only to fill up the card in ten minutes

07-26-2011, 10:20 AM	#7
icejam Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Lancs Posts: 30	It looks like K-r is underestimating the capacity in .jpeg mode by about 50%. At least for me A 4GB SD according to the camera can store 550 pics but will hold anything between 750 and 800 pics @ 5000 kB per photo (on average with 12MP size + best quality).

07-26-2011, 10:33 AM	#8
Parallax Senior Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Dakota Photos: Gallery Posts: 19,332	Originally posted by icejam It looks like K-r is underestimating the capacity in .jpeg mode by about 50%. At least for me A 4GB SD according to the camera can store 550 pics but will hold anything between 750 and 800 pics @ 5000 kB per photo (on average with 12MP size + best quality). That's because the final file size is dependent on the subject matter. A picture that contains a lot of empty sky can be compressed far more than the same scene could be if the sky were filled with multi-colored, highly detailed hot air balloons. The camera has no way of predicting what you will take a picture of next, so it predicts remaining photos based on minimal compression.

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