Single vs Dual card camera systems

It seems discussions about dual slots are always somewhat controversial but I found this article that has some great points.


A few personal comments for single card cameras: I don't exactly agree with tethering though as I find it terribly unreliable or inconvenient. A separate backup device is highly recommended, but I wouldn't use a WD Passport Pro (or Lacie Copilot) as both are exceptionally slow and not really suited for pro work. There are much better solutions offered by Gnarbox and NextoDI (which I use) which also has CFAST and UHS-II support and are SSD based. They can also do a dual copy and verify at the same time.
 
Mar 25, 2011
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I'd not want to do a wedding without a backup card. A 2nd photographer is also a good idea, and a 2nd camera for sure. I've seen weddings with multiple photographers and multiple cameras. Its a application where you have only one chance. A failure is not going to happen frequently, but what if? How will you deal with it if it happens?

I think that any time you are making a living with your photography and have spent a ton of money on models, rentals of lighting, and transportation that multiple methods of limiting losses due to equipment failure are part of the cost of doing business.
 
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I'd not want to do a wedding without a backup card. A 2nd photographer is also a good idea, and a 2nd camera for sure. I've seen weddings with multiple photographers and multiple cameras. Its a application where you have only one chance. A failure is not going to happen frequently, but what if? How will you deal with it if it happens?

I think that any time you are making a living with your photography and have spent a ton of money on models, rentals of lighting, and transportation that multiple methods of limiting losses due to equipment failure are part of the cost of doing business.
Totally agree. In film days it was common practice to not send all the rolls from a wedding to the lab at the same time just in case there was a screw-up at the lab. Of course, each roll only had 10-12 shots (for 120 medium format, maybe 24 if you used 220) so there were a lot of rolls.

So far I've only had one card failure - loss was minimal but still a major scare and huge pain to eventually recover a portion of the impacted shots. I'm only guessing, however to me it seems likely those who shoot a lot of video might be more susceptible to card failures as they exercise the card more constantly. Does anyone know if that is correct?
 
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Of course two cards is better than one. I never had a card failure, but Ironically, yesterday I had a disk drive failure on my NAS box.
With EOS R, that has only one card slot, I can send any picture as it is taken instantaneously to my cell phone or tablet for safe keeping. It is seamless and worry free somehow. Caveats are that it is jpeg only and wi-fi should be on on both devices which may negatively impact the battery life. Not a perfect solution but better than nothing. :)
 
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Don Haines

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Jun 4, 2012
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How old was the card ? How many times had your cat chewed it ?
Only slightly chewed :) and about 4 years old.

It was working fine, I even looked at images on it a few times, and while I was shooting the camera refused to take a picture, and when I looked at the screen it said that there was no card in the camera. I can not read the card in my computer, on a laptop, through a card reader, or on another camera. It is totally dead! No life! It is like I have an inert chunk of plastic.
 
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Don Haines

Beware of cats with laser eyes!
Jun 4, 2012
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Of course two cards is better than one. I never had a card failure, but Ironically, yesterday I had a disk drive failure on my NAS box.
With EOS R, that has only one card slot, I can send any picture as it is taken instantaneously to my cell phone or tablet for safe keeping. It is seamless and worry free somehow. Caveats are that it is jpeg only and wi-fi should be on on both devices which may negatively impact the battery life. Not a perfect solution but better than nothing. :)

I would be very surprised if future cameras did not have the option to send RAW files to a backup device.
 
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I would be very surprised if future cameras did not have the option to send RAW files to a backup device.
For sure, in the next gen cameras equipped with 5G wireless connectivity, we’ll see drastically faster download and upload speeds and huge improvement in latency during communication. Therefore transferring RAW files will be a reality sooner than later.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
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The only card failure I've seen was when I sold a 6 month old Canon 30D to a local lady. I had just purchased a 40D because I badly wanted live view. The buyers camera had failed, so she wanted a replacement. When she put her CF card in the camera, it started briefly then died, exactly as her old one had done. The card had shorted internally. Since the camera was in warranty, my local dealer sent it in and Canon repaired it at no charge for her.
 
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I've been using digital cameras, and other devices that use memory cards, since the 1990's and have never had a card fail on me.
I use a 5d3 for events and weddings and have never needed to use the second card.
Now also having an R, it doesn't bother me at all that it only has one card.
YMMV.
 
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pwp

Oct 25, 2010
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YMMV alright. I never wear a seatbelt and I've never had a crash. :mad: Why have Public Liability Insurance? Nobody has ever tripped on one of my light-stands or cables and broken their leg! Health Insurance? Nah...I never get sick. Get the picture?

Over the years I have had top quality cards fail. I lost a client on the back of one of them. For me it's not complicated. I owe it both to my clients and to my business's potential credibility to adopt the very simple option of writing to two cards. It's close to being the cheapest insurance available.

-pw
 
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LDS

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For sure, in the next gen cameras equipped with 5G wireless connectivity, we’ll see drastically faster download and upload speeds and huge improvement in latency during communication. Therefore transferring RAW files will be a reality sooner than later.

WiFi is already faster than 5G, the problem to achieve the faster speeds with both is you need a multiple antennas configuration on each device (MIMO) which is not easy to build into small devices you keep in your hands.

While, the higher the frequencies, the more opaque to the signal walls and common objects become.
 
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pwp

Oct 25, 2010
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WiFi is already faster than 5G, the problem to achieve the faster speeds with both is you need a multiple antennas configuration on each device (MIMO) which is not easy to build into small devices you keep in your hands.

While, the higher the frequencies, the more opaque to the signal walls and common objects become.
Maybe. So in the meantime, keep it simple and write to two cards if your work has any genuine value. Why is this even an argument?

-pw
 
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