[Leica] The Cr è me de la Cr è me Card

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

As I've mentioned numerous times over the months the camera I'd been mainly
using was the Nikon D40x.
Its compact in that sense Leica Like. And I tend to have it with me wherever
I go.  To the movies. To the bathroom.  Put it under my pillow at night. And
use it for jobs as well.
I"d walked into a Best Buy 5 months ago and got my first 4 gig card for it
for what felt like chump change at the time. And SD card.
So I got 300 + shots on a roll with it!
That itself may have been the reason why this camera stole my heart over
these many months. The 2 Gig  compact flash cards I had for my D200 only had
about 120 shots in them. I had two of them and needed both. Then I had a
bunch of 100 gig cards only 60 on a roll.  So with the D200 I was shuffling
cards in the dark or the hot sun.
When I went out with the D40x I was ok with that one card.
And the little battery also I didn't need to bring a backup.
Lasts a week on one charge.

So the other day earlier in the week I was thinking I thought....
Wonder what the 4 gig Compact flash cards are costing nowadays?
As I was getting back to carrying all that extra weight and awesomeness of
the D200 again... More control. More choice of glass.
Well then it occurred to me that Compact Flash cards are supposed to be
CHEAPER than SD cards anyway. MORE MEGS FOR THE BUCK!
So I got on the B&H site to check out the price point on their 4 gig cards
to see if I could swing it.
Was I surprised to find that not just the 4 but the EIGHT GIG cards are now
in the less than hundred dollar - Mark can afford it now - range.
I'm skipping the 4 gigs. 4 gigs are for babies!
So I picket up my 8 gig card two days ago. SanDisk Extreme III
less than 100 bucks.
$99.99
Almost 500 shots on a roll I could not believe it!
My D200 felt much more awesome in my hand. It nearly vibrated with
potential!
I knew that whatever it was;
I was going to shoot the heck out of it.
Nothing was beyond my limitations
I have achieved Global Domination!

Next comes Terabyte hard disks as I'll need those. They are flying out the
Apple Store and B&H for chump change I guess.
Gigs gigs the musical fruit the more you click the more you cram into your
even bigger hard disks.

And the better your shots with more to choose from is the main idea.

It's the percentages which makes for the best shots once you've gotten into
roll film and beyond is what I think. If you pick 20 shots out of 300
they're going to be much better shots than if you pick them out of  72 or
144.
Now I'm picking them out of 500 or close.
Pick out 50, take out 10.
Whittle away another 10. Then 10 more again.
What are you left with?
You dazzle yourself unless you had a very unlucky day.
"I shot those!?" you can really impress yourself if the percentages are low
enough.
The Cr?me de la Cr?me has truly arrived.


Last I looked  1.5 years ago I think the 8 gig CF cards cost $1600!

Mark William Rabiner
markrabiner.com