Memory card and EN-EL 15 battery replacements.

[popcorn]

Hi,

I am going on a photo safari to the Madagascar Rain Forrests in 3 weeks.

I need an extra battery and another memory card for my D500.
I shoot in Raw and virtually never use video. Mostly wild-life, with BIF a high priority.

My present set-up is;
Various  EN-EL 15 & 15b batteries;  for new additional battery I have a choice of 15b( 1900mAH ) or 15c  ( 2280 mAH )

Against all logic, the 15c is cheaper here in Cape Town than the 15b ?!
Are there any other factors that I should be considering ( overheating, charging time ? )

I need to get an addition memory card for my Slot 1.
At present I have;
    
    SLOT 1       LEXAR    XQD            64 GB   440MB/s 

    SLOT 2        Sandisk Extreme      32 GB    80MB/s 

XQD batteries are no longer freely obtainable here, so I will have to buy a CFexpress Type B, probably a Lexar Professional Type B   128GB   1750 MB/s

Since i hardly ever use video, this seems over kill, as far as the write speed goes. Is there a less costly ( I don't want to use "Cheaper" ) equivalent quality, slower write speed card available?  

If I need to change cards from XQD to CF express  in a hurry, is it just a case of taking out the XQD and replacing with the CFexpress, or do I have to make menu adjustments to suit?

I should probably upgrade my Slot 2 card to say 64GB and faster write speed? I have it configured for overflow only.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

[BuckSkin]

I just learned of the existence of XQB memory cards from reading your post; I was not aware of their existence prior to that.

We have numerous memory cards, both SD and CF, of several brands and flavors, the majority being Sandisk and Transcend; but, I have developed a preference for anything Delkin Devices offers; the Delkin cards, whether SD or CF, just seem more robust and heavier/better built than anything else we have had.

I tend to keep the Delkins in the cameras and the others for spares.

Our two Canon 7D cameras use a single CF card; for several years, we have kept CF-to-SD card adapters in them without ever a hitch; and, if there is any difference in speed between an SD card in an adapter and a CF card by itself, I cannot detect it.

We do keep spare CF cards with those cameras in the event an adapter did go crazy on us.

The reason we like the adapters to SD is mostly because there are so many devices that will accept an SD card that have no provision for reading CF cards.

I have even on occasion used the CF-to-SD adapter with a SD-to-Micro-SD adapter in it, thus using two adapters to write to a Micro card and I could tell no difference from writing to the CF card itself.


My Canon 7DMkII has two card slots; one slot accepts CF cards (I am thinking both styles, Type I and Type II); the other slot accepts SD cards.

It has several options as to how and which card it writes to; I keep mine set to first always write to the SD card and automatically switch to the CF card in the event the SD card either becomes full or is not present in the camera.

I keep a 128GB Delkin SD card and a Sandisk 64GB CF card always in that camera; I don't use an adapter in that camera's CF slot as the CF card is only ever there for emergency backup.


As for batteries, I prefer anything Power Extra brand; I have found them to outlast and outperform the "recommended" camera branded batteries in every aspect.

By "outlast" the Power Extra batteries outlast in three aspects; they will take many more photos on a charge; they don't degrade and fail nearly so soon; and, they will hold their charge a lot longer when sitting unused in a drawer or camera bag.

I have good luck with Wasabi batteries as well, preferring them over the camera brand; but, I much prefer the Power Extra over the Wasabi.

And, thick icing on the cake, I can buy half-a-dozen Power Extra batteries for what a single Canon branded battery will cost.

[pontiac1940]

Oct 21, 2024 11:03:51 GMT popcorn said:

If I need to change cards from XQD to CF express  in a hurry, is it just a case of taking out the XQD and replacing with the CFexpress, or do I have to make menu adjustments to suit?

I know nothing about Nikon cameras. Note that the D500 requires firmware C: Ver 1.31 or later for CFExpress cards. 
You are wise to get a fast CFExpress card. At 10 fps, which you use for BIFs, you already know you need fast write speeds.

I do not have CFExpress cards but thinking of getting one but not larger than 128 GB. I am scared a huge storage capacity card (like 256GB or 512GB) in case the card gets lost. I am only using 32 and 64 GB cards now but I download daily. However, if I was going in a photo tour as you are, I'd buy a couple of new CFExpress cards at 64 or 128GB. 
 

Oct 21, 2024 11:03:51 GMT popcorn said:

I should probably upgrade my Slot 2 card to say 64GB and faster write speed? I have it configured for overflow only.

Good idea. Your Sandisk Extreme 32 GB at 80MB/s is not fast enough to keep up if shooting 20 or 30 photos in one burst. A CFExpress card would be better. 

Enjoy your tour. 

Clive 

[blackmutt]

Memory is cheap. Bring more than you think you need and then some

[popcorn]

Thank you,
I am not sure whether Slot2 in a Nikon D500 can take CFE cards?
I have never used the overflow in Slot 2, the XQD 64GB has handled all of my single day images. 64GB can handle about 2500 22MB NEF images from my D500.
Maybe I should put a 64MB CFE card in both slots, but they need to be at least 400MB/s?

[pontiac1940]

Oct 22, 2024 13:30:14 GMT popcorn said:

I am not sure whether Slot2 in a Nikon D500 can take CFE cards?

Ahhh. Good point. My Sony mirrorless cameras do not take CFE cards in Slot 2.
Sony Tough (and other makes) will write up to 300 MB/s.