Photos & 80GB hard-drives

MarieAAP

Hi Folks

This is probably a very noobish Q, but I thought I would ask it anyway :P

I am trying to find out what sort of number of photos can you save to an 80gb external hard drive? Now I know the answer will ofc depend on the size of the photos, but I am looking at a guess-timate.

For example, iPods say approximately how many songs can saved to them.

Any ideas would be great,
Thanks
Marie

isofa

Say an average of a 10MP (mega-pixel)camera, will produce a top end quality JPEG of around 4MB.

That's roughly 256 photos in 1 GB, therefore 20,000 on an 80GB drive.

However JPEGs vary widely in size depending on compression and the subject matter. (A 10MP compact camera taking a photo of sky and clouds will probably produce a JPEG of around 1 to 2MB, of a very complex scene it could be 5 or 6MB from a good DSLR.)

[Deleted User]

Of course using a product like http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm can greatly reduce file sizes so it's all relative to what's important. Are you a budding photographer? Are these just for facebook etc?

JasX

Depends on how many megapixels your camera is capable of and weather you have it set to maximum resolution (which you probably don't need all the time).

Lets assume you have a fairly recent consumer digital camera set to a moderate setting, you'll probably find you take 3MB a photo so you could get about 25,000 photos being conservative.

However googling for 'average' sizes bought up this which gives a fair indication of where 'near professional' digital photo's and sizes are going, taking photos on the highest setting or having a top end camera will half or reduce that number by 75% if you double or x4 the size of your photo's but is a starting point.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091003140234AAzEK10

I assume you already own the 80GB drive as checking ebuyer thats so small its no longer generally sold... with 2.5" drives (laptop/ultra portable size) starting around £32 for 160GB or £38 for about 250GB.

bigger desktop type drives (3.5" -and you generally have to plug the case into the mains) are much bigger still for that money

MarieAAP

Thanks for the replies guys,

Haha, me a budding photographer, not likely My sunsets look like a painting that has had water damage.

The photos would come from a variety of cameras at different settings.

We are thinking of setting up a laptop and the drive and ask if people would like to download their photos from our wedding that evening / following morning before they leave.

This way we would get them and not have to rely on them being posted / emailed etc.

We have a friend who is thinking about upgrading, and asked whether we would find her old one suitable.

Marie

PS UMM, 20,000 photos I don't think we will be able to fill that up. So I guess my answer to her would be, yes!

[Deleted User]

80gb would be plenty of space for wedding photos, allowing for 12-20,000 photos (depending on size)
You might want to find some online space since people might forget to upload their photos. Don't forget to get hold of a memory card reader

MarieAAP

Ohh good idea Ringo, ty
M

spud17

You might want to find some online space since people might forget to upload their photos.

Some friends of mine, persuaded their wedding guests to email them any decent/interesting/compromising photos of the ceremony or reception.

These were sifted and then put on a Picasa Web Album, and all guests were then sent an email containing a link to the relevant page.

[Deleted User]

There's also photo bucket.. apparently room for 5000 photos - http://register.photobucket.com/?ref=aboutTitle

I love Picassa Web albums, but they're limited to 1gb on a free account.