PFRE-Logo-white-bg
Reading
blue-triangle-element

Articles

PFRE is the original online resource for real estate and interior photographers. Since 2006, it has been a community hub where like-minded professionals from around the world gather to share information with a common goal of improving their work and advancing their business. With thousands of articles, covering hundreds of topics, PFRE offers the most robust collection of educational material in our field. The history of real estate photography has been documented within these pages.
All Articles
blue-triangle-element

Latest

Image banner for the November 2023 PFRE Photographer of the Month Winner Javier Sotomayor, with a featured image of his winning photo titled "Open"

Congratulations to Javier Sotomayor, November 2023 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Open." Javier Sotomayor - Entry #879 Dave Koch - Entry #877 Peter Wingfield - Entry #874 Here's what Javier has to say: Hello First of all I wa ...

Contest
blue-triangle-element

OVERVIEW

For over a decade, photographers from around the world have participated in PFRE’s monthly photography contests, culminating in the year-end crowning of PFRE’s Photographer of the Year. With a new theme each month and commentary offered by some of the finest real estate & interior photographers anywhere, these contests offer a fun, competitive environment with rich learning opportunities. 

Contest Rules
blue-triangle-element

CURRENT CONTESTS

View / Submit
blue-triangle-element

PAST CONTESTS

View Archive
Resources
blue-triangle-element

Resources

PFRE prides itself on the depth and breadth of the information and professional development resources it makes available to our community. Our goal is to help real estate and interior photographers be successful while bringing the community together and elevating the industry as a whole.
blue-triangle-element

Conference News

No items found

How Many Photos Can an 8GB SD Card Hold?

In: 
Published: 08/12/2022

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Today, with just one Google search, you’ll easily find tons of storage options for your photos. These storage methods can easily make you overwhelmed. So, many photographers stick to the long-lasting SD card storage medium. Below, i’ve answered the question, how many photos can an 8GB SD card hold?

How Many Photos Can an 8GB SD Card Hold?

An 8GB SD card holds as many as 2,220 JPEG images shot at 12MP resolution. However, a camera captured in the RAW format can store around 220 images at the same resolution. At a resolution of 10MP, it can store around 2,288 JPEGs and 222 RAWs.

A black and a blue 8GB SD card and a micro SD adapter on top of a Yongnuo digital camera

Frankly, there’s no fixed answer to your question above. You’ll be surprised that this SD card can still hold up to 6,600 images simultaneously. Other times, the number of photos you can store on it will be less than 125. Let’s discuss the reason behind this below.

What Factors Affect the File Size of an Image?

Several factors contribute to the varying amounts of images you can store on a single card. As a result, every shot you take on your camera comes at a different size, irrespective of the resolution. Knowing how they affect your image size can help determine your camera’s average file size.

Below, i’ve discussed how each factor affects the average size of images on your SD card.

File Format

There are a ton of different file formats in which you can store your images. However, the most common ones are the JPEG and RAW file formats. They’re both widely known by photographers because of their ease of use. One of them offers high-quality images, the other, more storage space.

JPEG Image

Generally, JPEGs have smaller sizes compared to RAW images. This massive size reduction takes place while converting from RAW to JPEG. When compressing, you’re reducing the amount of data on the original image into a smaller-sized JPEG.

RAW Image

By default, a RAW file is of higher quality than a JPEG. It is often at least twice as big as a JPEG. This difference results from the lossless compression that a RAW file undergoes. A RAW file retains the same quality as the original image, even after compression.

Quality Settings

The quality of every shot from your shutter depends on the camera settings. The bit depth is one of the major camera settings affecting your image size. This refers to the storage space required by each image to store and display all its colors.

The quality and color depth increase when your image has a higher resolution. As such, more space is required to store the pixel for each color. This increase in storage requirement also affects the file size, causing it to become larger.

Camera Resolution

There’s a wide range of camera resolutions to explore depending on the shot you want to take. As a rule of thumb, the higher your camera resolution, the higher the quality, and the greater the image size.

Your camera’s resolution is in MegaPixels, which helps to determine the average size of any image. For example, at 16MP, the average size of JPEGs is 4.8MB, while a RAW will be around 48MB.

A man inserting an SD adapter for micro SD in a black DSLR camera in the studio

What Size Memory Card Do You Need?

There are undoubtedly more memory card sizes than you can initially comprehend. When you look past the technical details, you’ll discover that choosing a suitable card is quite easy. You mainly need to focus on your intended use for the card and some of the features you require.

Photo Use

Before deciding on a memory card, you must evaluate the project. Some photos could look better with lower-quality settings and smaller resolutions. This clarifies the difference in size between some images and others. Depending on your specialty, I have some suggestions for you.

Landscape Photos

Most landscape photographs use a 3:2 aspect ratio. The size of a picture is also affected by the aspect ratio because of the relationship between the two. A resolution of 6000*4000, or 24MP, is realistic for this aspect ratio.

This pixel number is between 4.5 and 8.2 MB in JPEG file size. The same image in RAW format might be anything from 52 MB to 64.9 MB in size. Thus, most landscape photographers will find their ideal storage space to be at least 1TB.

Real Estate Photos

You have a lot of creative freedom as a real estate photographer. You could be shooting the interior of a residential building or the exterior of a commercial property. However, for each client, you might take dozens of pictures.

Typical property photos might range from 10 to 50 MB in size, depending on the quality settings. Therefore, you will need at least 8GB to accommodate most of your recent pictures.

Wedding Photos

The number of wedding photographs you shoot will vary from client to client. Besides, keep in mind that the typical size of a high-quality wedding photo is at least 10MB. You might use a storage capacity of 1 terabyte (TB) or more if you need more storage flexibility.

Types of Memory Cards

A memory card is your camera's principal means of storage. So, most recent digital cameras have a memory card slot. Depending on how much data you need to store, you can select from many different types of memory cards. So, let's talk about a few of the more common ones.

CF (CompactFlash)

Due to its rapid read/write speeds, the compact flash card is widely used by photographers. It typically comes in sizes ranging from 8 GB up to 512 GB. The maximum number of RAW files it can hold is 14,222, and the maximum number of JPEGs is 142,222.

SD (Secure Digital)

You need a Secure Digital (SD) card to take digital photographs nowadays. An SD card also has a fast processing speed. However, it's quite slower than that of a CF card. It has storage capacities ranging from 2 GB up to 128 TB.

MicroSD

The capacity of this card is more than any other of its size. It can be easily included in cameras of different sizes. Not only that, it also offers massive storage, up to 128TB depending on the chosen format.

Speed

When deciding on a storage capacity, it's essential to consider the card's processing speed. This rate is expressed in megabytes per second (MB/S). There is a maximum processing speed of 985MB/S in the SDUC. The compact flash, SDXC, and SDHC processing speeds are similar.

Top view of black SD cards placed on a purple surface

How to Calculate the Number of Images an 8GB Card Can Hold?

Knowing your images' size is the easiest way to estimate how many you can store in 8GB. Can you supply images in RAW format, JPEG format, or both? Whether you prefer to keep your photos in JPEG or RAW format, each has an average file size.

Average Image File Size for JPEG

  • 6MP (1.8MB)
  • 7MP (2.1MB)
  • 8MP (2.4MB)
  • 10MP (3.0MB)
  • 12MP (3.6MB)
  • 14MP (4.2MB)
  • 16MP (4.8MB)
  • 22MP (6.6MB)

Average Image File Size for RAW

  • 6MP (18 MB)
  • 7MP (21MB)
  • 8MP (24MB)
  • 10MP (30MB)
  • 12MP (36MB)
  • 14MP (42MB)
  • 16MP (48(MB)
  • 22MP (66MB)

Related Questions

What Does Megapixel Mean?

A MegaPixel means 1 million pixels. It is the standard unit to measure the number of pixels in one image. A pixel refers to the smallest unit of any photo. So, every image is a continuous stack of millions of pixels combining to form a picture.

How Many Pictures Will a CD Hold?

A CD will hold around 106 to 583 JPEGs at a time. However, depending on the average image file size it will only hold between 10 to 60 RAW images. A CD has 700MB of storage space, which is quite limited in function. Thus, it’s not ideal for storing photos.

Conclusion

The huge increase in the number of photos taken daily calls for more durable storage mediums. I’ve discussed the number of images you can fit into an 8GB SD card. Besides, i’ve broken down some factors that affect the size of an image on your SD card.

Vendors

Rela Logo
CS6 PSE Logo
HD Photo Hub Logo
FullFrame Logo

Learning Topics

.
magnifiercrossmenucross-circle