Pat writes:
How many photos will fit on a 16GB flash drive? I have 27,000 photos I want to back up. I am 72 and not tech-savvy.
Great question, Pat. The truth is that number will vary depending on the size of the photos, but here are some general guidelines from the folks at SanDisk. They make a lot of memory storage devices, so they ought to know.
For Compressed JPEG at 100% quality, you can expect this many images per disk or card. The larger the image, the more space it takes up.
|
Megapixels |
File size (MB) |
1GB |
2GB |
4GB |
8GB |
16GB |
32GB |
64GB |
128GB |
|
4MP |
1.2 |
715 |
1430 |
2861 |
5722 |
11444 |
22888 |
45776 |
91552 |
|
5MP |
1.5 |
572 |
1144 |
2288 |
4577 |
9155 |
18310 |
36620 |
73240 |
|
6MP |
1.8 |
476 |
953 |
1907 |
3814 |
7629 |
15258 |
30516 |
61032 |
|
7MP |
2.1 |
408 |
817 |
1634 |
3269 |
6539 |
13078 |
26156 |
52312 |
|
8MP |
2.4 |
357 |
715 |
1430 |
2861 |
5722 |
11444 |
22888 |
45776 |
|
10MP |
3.0 |
286 |
572 |
1144 |
2288 |
4577 |
9155 |
18310 |
36620 |
|
12MP |
3.6 |
238 |
476 |
953 |
1907 |
3814 |
7629 |
15258 |
30516 |
|
14MP |
4.2 |
204 |
408 |
817 |
1634 |
3269 |
6539 |
13078 |
26156 |
|
16MP |
4.8 |
178 |
357 |
715 |
1430 |
2861 |
5722 |
11444 |
22888 |
|
22MP |
6.6 |
130 |
260 |
520 |
1040 |
2080 |
4161 |
8322 |
16644 |
For Uncompressed RAW images, expect this many per card.
|
Megapixels |
File size (MB) |
1GB |
2GB |
4GB |
8GB |
16GB |
32GB |
64GB |
128GB |
|
4MP |
12.0 |
71 |
143 |
286 |
572 |
1144 |
2288 |
4576 |
9152 |
|
5MP |
15.0 |
57 |
114 |
228 |
457 |
915 |
1831 |
3662 |
7324 |
|
6MP |
18.0 |
47 |
95 |
190 |
381 |
762 |
1525 |
3050 |
6100 |
|
7MP |
21.0 |
40 |
81 |
163 |
326 |
653 |
1307 |
2614 |
5228 |
|
8MP |
24.0 |
35 |
71 |
143 |
286 |
572 |
1144 |
2288 |
4576 |
|
10MP |
30.0 |
28 |
57 |
114 |
228 |
457 |
915 |
1830 |
3660 |
|
12MP |
36.0 |
23 |
47 |
95 |
190 |
381 |
762 |
1524 |
3048 |
|
14MP |
42.0 |
20 |
40 |
81 |
163 |
326 |
653 |
1306 |
2612 |
|
16MP |
48.0 |
17 |
35 |
71 |
143 |
286 |
572 |
1144 |
2288 |
|
22MP |
66.0 |
13 |
26 |
52 |
104 |
208 |
416 |
832 |
1664 |
As you can see, you would need probably a 128 GB flash drive or two 64 GB drives. For this many files, you might consider just buying an external hard dedicated to backing up your photos. This would also leave you room to add additional photos later on.
~ Cynthia
Hey Cynthia, sure a lot of stress over ‘hard drives’ lately. If your photos are so proprietary, a flash drive is the last place I would keep them. Thats what external hard drives are for. If you wish to just store personal picts in a safe place the ‘Cloud’ is probably preferential, its usually free and you don’t have to flip it over and over to get it in the ‘USB port’.
Forget flash drives get yourself 3GB or larger external hard drive it is easy to do.GO FOR IT.
Cynthia,
Your arithmetic is no doubt correct, but the file sizes are probably way more than are needed. Resize, perhaps by 1/10 and then only a 16GB flash is necessary. I agree that preserving photos on a flash drive is not a good idea for long-term safekeeping.