Advice Wanted How do YOU use dual card slots?

[MountainMan79]

With reckless abandon mostly.

But otherwise I use it for lower quality jpgs on my R5. Not for sharing, but for when it’s time to review/cull and decide which RAWs I’ll be transferring and editing. I do this, because my laptop is painfully slow at viewing Canon’s CR3 files.

In other cameras I’ve used it as either overflow space or I’ve divided them to be images on one and video on another.

 

[Iron]

I'd love to hear others' thoughts on what value I'm overlooking or how you're using this feature to your benefit.

I use both slots in the K-3 in mirror mode (RAID 1) just for redundancy purposes. I use the same card brand/type and speed on both. I have a much master card which I can put on Slot 1 and I'll try that some other time.

I usually take out the card in Slot 2 as it's nearer/easier to take out and one time, some sectors on the card got corrupted during transfer (user fault). I just took the card from Slot 1, copied the files from there, and reformatted both drives at the same time. I had a lemon 128GB placed in Slot 1 before and I only found that after the K-3 notified me. It looked like the card became a bit too hot internally. I had that replaced under warranty and is now in the K-1.

I am using much, much faster cards than vs 10 years ago and I noticed that the newer, faster ones are much more prone to errors.

On the K-3, I find that I can delete all the files in Slot 1 and even when the playback button shows "No Images Found," the card in Slot 2 still has everything in it. I think it's gives good peace of mind. Cheers.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

For cameras with dual slots, I use one for RAW and the other for jpg. If the slots are different specs (UHS-I/ UHS-II or XQD/ CF/ SD) I use the faster media for RAW and jpg to the other. I don't do video, stills only.

This is what I do as well, with the JPGs of the film sim of choice. I find that if I’m shooting social settings, I’m not going to do a bunch of post, but I am going to share. Far easier to batch export the JPGs from the card than take the RAFs and export them to JPG, and I have an SDcard adapter for my iPhone, so I can import without even going to a computer. Bonus, if there’s something really good in there that I do want to work with, I got the RAW file at the ready.

I also have video go to slot 2, to keep from accidentally importing videos with my unprocessed RAW files.

This does mean card 2 gets loaded down quite a bit, and I’ll often just delete the contents without importing. It often won’t leave the camera.

If I went someplace memorable, I’d just go full backup mode for slot 2.

 

[John King]

Overflow in my cameras that have two slots.
Also useful when one leaves a card in one's card reader ...

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Also useful when one leaves a card in one's card reader ...

Every photographer’s nightmare when they discover their camera just became something to lug around with no purpose!

 

[DeeJayK]

Thanks, everyone, for weighing in and sharing your thoughts. It seems that I'm not alone in not really leveraging this feature, but you've all given me some ideas on how it might prove valuable.

For now, I think that unless I suddenly start shooting more video (unlikely) I'll abandon my "video on one and stills on the other" approach and adopt the full backup (RAID 1) mode. Your stories of card failures have chastened me a bit from my blasé attitude. I'll consider adopting Gordon's approach if I'm in a situation that requires shooting in burst mode.

- K

 

[doobs]

Overflow in my cameras that have two slots.
Also useful when one leaves a card in one's card reader ...

I do the exact same. Saying that, I've never needed to use the 2nd one, even on my extended European vacation.

 

[Irene McC]

Overflow. Good fast card in Slot 1 and older slower spare in Slot 2 which doesn't generally need to get used on a shoot

 

[John King]

Thanks, everyone, for weighing in and sharing your thoughts. It seems that I'm not alone in not really leveraging this feature, but you've all given me some ideas on how it might prove valuable.

For now, I think that unless I suddenly start shooting more video (unlikely) I'll abandon my "video on one and stills on the other" approach and adopt the full backup (RAID 1) mode. Your stories of card failures have chastened me a bit from my blasé attitude. I'll consider adopting Gordon's approach if I'm in a situation that requires shooting in burst mode.

- K

Keith, I tried using the second slot as backup, and as RAW -> card 1 and JPG -> card 2. In both cases, it slowed the camera down dramatically.

IMNSHO, one of the few design errors with the E-M1 MkII was not having 2x UHSII slots.

 

[davidzvi]

Back in the day for paid events, smaller cards changed regularly and especially before significant points. Since my first dual slot body, larger cards set to direct backup. Rarely had to change cards during an event.

Now with my E-M1.2 still a direct backup, but I don't worry about changing cards regularly on my single card E-P7.

 

[sasquatchphotog]

I generally use my second as overflow - rare to need it, but do on occasion.

I've been a semi official photographer for two weddings - for those, I used the second card in backup mode, and wrote copies of all images to both cards.

I don't always need/use the dual card slots, but when I do I'm very glad to have them.

 

[DeeJayK]

Keith, I tried using the second slot as backup, and as RAW -> card 1 and JPG -> card 2. In both cases, it slowed the camera down dramatically.

IMNSHO, one of the few design errors with the E-M1 MkII was not having 2x UHSII slots.

I'm generally pretty deliberative, so I'm not sure how much I'd notice a slight decrease in write time. But I'll keep a close eye on performance when I try the backup method and adjust accordingly.

I agree that making only one of the two slots UHS-II compatible seems like a strange place to cut costs.

- K

 

[Dricksfilm]

I'd love to get some input on how others are utilizing the dual card feature available on many cameras, as this is something that I don't feel like I've really tapped the potential of. I presume the options are somewhat different for the various manufacturers, but that many of the same features are available. If it matters, I'm using a Fuji X-H1 (dual UHS-II SD slots) as well as an Olympus E-M1.3 (dual SD slots, one of which is UHS-II).

So far what I've done is use one slot (the UHS-II slot, in the case of the Olympus) for video and the other for stills. That said, I only very occasionally shoot any video, so I'm not sure that setup really makes the most sense for me.

I know that I could use the slots to both store the same images (essentially creating an in-camera backup) or to store images sequentially (i.e. use the second when the first fills up). Neither of these uses cases seems all that compelling to me — my concern about the failure of a solid state memory card is pretty low, and I would almost never shoot enough images to fill up a card (I use mostly 64GB+ cards). I also understand that I could set up one card to store JPGs and the other to store RAWs, but it seems like that would only complicate my personal workflow, such as it is.

I'd love to hear others' thoughts on what value I'm overlooking or how you're using this feature to your benefit.

- K

Probably have found an answer by now but, speaking from experience. I'm a filmmaker, and I often go on shoots 7h + with total memory used in the 300GB+ . And so I have the highest memory sd cards. I have 2 v90 256 gb . And i put them both in slots to use and when the first one is nearly full, i switch to the other one. Thats what I used to do. And its fine if you're very careful with your data, which i was, until i wiped a whole card. I'm still waiting on the recovery to show up, and i cross my fingers.

Correct layout to use. If you need one card, get two. If you need two get four. If you are too broke, your second should be in a lower rating, but high enough not to slow you down. Ex. I get a V90 and v60 . You run dual as backup. So when you shoot. The first will go as main in the fast card and the second will go as back-up. When you do switch card. Get your second pair. If you are finished and ready to export. Turn off your camera, remove your backup, place it safely. Then proceed to export from the main. Do do back ups on drive afterwards.

 

[Dricksfilm]

Probably have found an answer by now but, speaking from experience. I'm a filmmaker, and I often go on shoots 7h + with total memory used in the 300GB+ . And so I have the highest memory sd cards. I have 2 v90 256 gb . And i put them both in slots to use and when the first one is nearly full, i switch to the other one. Thats what I used to do. And its fine if you're very careful with your data, which i was, until i wiped a whole card. I'm still waiting on the recovery to show up, and i cross my fingers.

Correct layout to use. If you need one card, get two. If you need two get four. If you are too broke, your second should be in a lower rating, but high enough not to slow you down. Ex. I get a V90 and v60 . You run dual as backup. So when you shoot. The first will go as main in the fast card and the second will go as back-up. When you do switch card. Get your second pair. If you are finished and ready to export. Turn off your camera, remove your backup, place it safely. Then proceed to export from the main. Do do back ups on drive afterwards.

I have successfully recovered my files. Lets just say it won't happen again, but if it does, ill be ready. I got sick when I thought I lost everything.

 

[davidzvi]

.....
Correct layout to use. If you need one card, get two. If you need two get four. If you are too broke, your second should be in a lower rating, but high enough not to slow you down. Ex. I get a V90 and v60 . You run dual as backup. So when you shoot. The first will go as main in the fast card and the second will go as back-up. When you do switch card. Get your second pair. If you are finished and ready to export. Turn off your camera, remove your backup, place it safely. Then proceed to export from the main. Do do back ups on drive afterwards.

Another option (memory) depends on how much and what you shoot.

When I first got my D800 and then D750, I used two different methods. For the D800 I couldn't afford really large CF cards, so I got large CF and 2X SD cards. I would shoot Lossless Compressed RAW on the SD's card and large fine JPegs on the CF cards. With a 36MP JPeg, I still had more than enough image data to work with compared to the 12MP D700 I was shooting. For the D750 I would get one larger high-speed card and two (or more) half-size high-speed cards. Most often, those two were cheaper than the larger one. I could keep the one larger card safe in the camera while only swapping out the smaller ones while shooting events.

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

As I stated in post #6 of this thread, I find I'm still relying on that second card being in the camera when the first one is still in the computer slot. (sigh)

 

[John King]

As I stated in post #6 of this thread, I find I'm still relying on that second card being in the camera when the first one is still in the computer slot. (sigh)

AoA, while I have been caught once in 8 years with my E-M1 MkII where having the second card was a lifesaver ... These days, I keep my 32 GB UHSII card in slot 1, and (usually) an 8 GB UHSI card in slot 2.

I had more trouble in the past, even though my E-30 and E-510 both had additional xD cards, which were often lifesavers.

However, the cost of bigger cards was horrendous back in the early 2000s, as @davidzvi David has mentioned.
I recall paying over AUD $150 for a 2 GB CF card in around 2005. Fast cards are still very expensive here compared with the USA.

Of course, the lossless compressed RAWs and LSF JPEGs are far smaller than those of high MPx 135 format cameras, another small advantage.

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

John, my problem is when I forget to take the card out of the computer, but I go ahead and try to use my one camera that only has ONE slot! DOH!

 

[John King]

John, my problem is when I forget to take the card out of the computer, but I go ahead and try to use my one camera that only has ONE slot! DOH!

Yeah, I understand. My (original digital camera), my Nikon E5000 and my E-1 both only have one card slot ...

For some completely unfathomable reason, for years I only kept one card in my E-M1 MkII !!!
I corrected this strange behaviour last year ...

The xD cards just lived in my E-510 and E-30, just as if they were built in memory.

IMNSHO, ALL digital cameras ought to have some built-in memory for just this reason.

 

[drd1135]

I keep a card in both slots of the XT5 and storage is sequential. I have often left one in computer after editing and been saved by the other. I always check before I go out, but if I run outside for a bird, rabbit, etc., it’s annoying to have no card in the camera. I’m reminded of that when I run outside with an empty XT50.