When buying a memory card, it’s good to have an idea about the storage capacity needed. Depending on the number of photos or the duration of video you’re planning to capture, you can decide how many memory cards you need to carry to your shoot. The memory card storage capacity needed depends on the file-size of the photo or the video files to be stored. And the file-size of photos and videos depend on factors like the camera model, the capture settings etc.
To calculate the approximate number of photos, or the length of videos, that can be stored in a memory card, let us assume the file-size of the following file types, to be the values, as given in the tables:-
1) Photo
| Image type | Image File-size (in MB) |
| DSLR RAW | 36 |
| DSLR JPEG (Fine Quality) | 15 |
| iPhone image | 3 |
| Android phone image | 3.6 |
2) Video
| Video Type | 1-min Video File-size (in MB) |
| iPhone Video | 160 |
| Android Phone Video | 252 |
| 1080p | 270 |
| 4K Ultra HD | 1460 |
Considering 1 GB = 1000 MB, we can calculate the number of image files or the duration of video files that can be stored in Memory cards of different storage capacities using the following equations:-
| Number of photos = (Storage space available) / (File size of a single Photo) |
| Duration (in minutes) of video = (Storage space available) / (File size of a 1-min video) |
How many Photos can be stored in a Memory Card?
How many minutes of Videos can be stored in a Memory Card?
Now that you have an idea about storage capacity of your memory card, hope you make better decisions on the next trip. Hope you never run out of space to capture that beautiful moment, just because you hadn’t planned for it. And as always, be prepared. Godspeed.