Pre-shoot packing

Memory Card Quantity Planner

Translate a mixed photo and video brief into working cards for every camera and recorded slot, plus deliberate spares.

Decision guide

Build a card kit from the capture plan

What this tool helps you decide

This planner answers how many equal-capacity memory cards should be packed for a defined photo, video, or mixed shoot. It distinguishes primary captured data from the additional bytes created by dual-slot recording. It also keeps working cards separate from unassigned spares. The decision is a kit quantity for a known production brief, not a prediction of exactly how many files a camera will create in every scene.

Before you start

Make test files with the intended camera, recording format, compression setting, resolution, frame rate, and bit depth. Average several representative photo files instead of copying a generic RAW estimate. Obtain video bitrate from the camera menu, manual, or a measured clip. Enter photo count and record minutes per camera. If different bodies have substantially different workloads or card types, run them as separate groups and combine the labeled packing lists afterward.

How the calculation works

Photo gigabytes equal image count multiplied by average megabytes and divided by 1,000. Video gigabytes equal minutes multiplied by 60 seconds and bitrate Mbps, divided by 8,000. Their sum is the per-camera primary payload. The planner reduces advertised card capacity by the usable percentage and then by the selected reserve. It rounds cards upward for each recorded slot before multiplying by camera and slot counts, so partial capacity cannot be shared unrealistically between bodies.

How to interpret the results

Cards per slot is the most important operational number: each camera path needs that many cards under the stated assumptions. Working cards cover the planned recording load, while spare cards remain available for a failed, quarantined, misplaced, or unexpectedly full card. Recorded payload can be twice the primary payload with dual recording, but the second in-camera copy should not be confused with a verified off-camera destination or a completed backup workflow.

Worked example

Suppose two cameras each make 2,500 photos averaging 48 MB and record 30 minutes at 400 Mbps. Each body produces 210 GB: 120 GB of photos and 90 GB of video. A 128 GB card at 93% formatted capacity with 10% reserve offers about 107 GB for planning, requiring two cards per slot. Dual recording across two bodies uses eight working cards. One unassigned spare per camera brings the travel kit to ten cards.

Assumptions and limitations

Real photo sizes change with image detail, ISO, compression, and camera processing. Variable-bitrate video can depart from a nominal rate. The model assumes the same workload per listed camera and one card capacity throughout the run. It does not test write-speed class, sustained recording certification, thermal behavior, file-system limits, firmware compatibility, counterfeit risk, or card health. Confirm supported media in current camera documentation and test uninterrupted recording before paid work.

Next steps

Label every packed card, assign a case position or unique identifier, and decide which visual state means empty, exposed, verified, and released. Then send the primary payload and working-card count to the Media Offload Time Planner. Use the Memory Card Rotation Planner when cards will be held after copying or reused during a multi-day production. Recalculate when the format, camera count, or slot policy changes.