D200 shot counter

[obzelite]

I know the shot counter is an estimate on the average shot size, but this morning I started with 98 on the counter and I’ve taken 20 shots and the counter now says 94.
All the shots are landscapes, so roughly 50/50 land and sky. Just wondered if anyone else has noticed anything.

[Justin]

I've got an 8Gb card and it says something like 480 for a long time - then after I've taken about 500 shots I get 300 to go...

At 10Mb a shot (compressed NEF) that's about right, holds 800 but the counter is skew-if.

Maybe it only calculates based on uncompressed NEF

[MCWB]

Correct Justin, it's just like the D70 used to do with the old firmware. The counter when shooting RAW is the number of uncompressed RAW files that can still be written to the caed. As I'm shooting uncompressed RAW it's spot on.

[Justin]

Ok, so the other question is, I went straight to compressed NEF, is this a preference or there is something I am missing out on going to uncompressed?

[MCWB]

The uncompressed NEFs hold a bit more highlight data than the compressed ones. If file size is a concern then fair enough, it may not be worth the extra size, but when a 4 GB card is $120 who cares about file size! I want as much highlight data as I can get.

[Justin]

Thanks for that - is there anywhere you have linked to read more about this or is it a case of 'RTFM'

[obzelite]

ok, at the end of it all it said 74 left after i had taken 70 shots, when it initially started at 94.
formated the camera says the card will take 105, but the card was holding 110 shots and the indicator still said i had 74 to go.
i'll have to throw another card in it, see if its just the card doing funny things.

jjust seeing if i'm going crazy

[stubbsy]

ok, at the end of it all it said 74 left after i had taken 70 shots, when it initially started at 94.
formated the camera says the card will take 105, but the card was holding 110 shots and the indicator still said i had 74 to go.
i'll have to throw another card in it, see if its just the card doing funny things.

jjust seeing if i'm going crazy

Simon

That is normal for both the D200 and the D2x for the reasons Trent mentioned. It correctly counts the shots taken when you are shooting compressed RAW, but for the remaining shot count assumes you are shooting uncompressed and so usually shows only about half what will fit. If it says 94 at the start it kinda means you have room for a little over twice that (say 200) so when you have taken 70 of the 200 there should be room for 130 more. Half of that (allowing for camera thinking you are shooting uncompressed) = 65 left which is consistent with the 74 left figure.

I know it's a PITA and can't believe Nikon managed to fix it on the D70 and D70s but get it wrong on the D200. FWIW I have got to know how many compressed NEFs on average I'll get per card and use that, but doubling the remaining shot count is a good rule of thumb (in fact it will slightly under count).