Memory Card Calculator
How many photos fit on your SD or CFexpress card? Pick megapixels, format and card size.
Common card sizes
| Card | Photos | Per photo |
|---|
Estimate with a margin of roughly 10 to 20 percent. File sizes vary per camera, scene, ISO and compression setting. A busy scene with lots of detail is larger than a flat sky. Want it exact? Take one photo, read its size in the EXIF viewer or your file explorer, and enter that above. Usable space on a card is about 93% of the marketing GB figure (filesystem and reserve).
How large is a photo really?
JPEG
JPEG is compressed and smaller. A 26 MP JPEG at fine quality is around 10 MB. At normal quality, about half. Good enough for sharing, end use, and if you do not edit heavily.
HEIF / HEIC
Modern format from Apple and Canon. About half the size of JPEG at the same quality. Nice for long days or phone shots, but not universally supported. Check your workflow.
RAW
RAW keeps everything the sensor saw. Three flavours in modern cameras:
- Lossy compressed (Fujifilm Compressed, Sony Compressed, Canon C-RAW, Nikon High Efficiency): about half the size of lossless. Not visibly worse for most photographers in practice, but you lose a sliver of dynamic range and colour depth.
- Lossless compressed: the standard. A 26 MP file is around 30 MB. Full RAW data, no quality loss.
- Uncompressed (14-bit, sometimes 16-bit): nearly double the lossless size. Faster to write on older cameras, but rarely needed otherwise.
RAW costs space but gives you all freedom in white balance, exposure, and colour correction.
TIFF
TIFF 16-bit is an uncompressed archival format. Huge, around 150 MB for 26 MP. Almost never out of a camera, but common from post-processing when you want to keep a file for print or delivery.
How much card do I actually need?
A typical photography day is between 200 and 800 photos. A wedding photographer hits 1500 to 3000 across a full day. A sports photographer with fast burst can rack up thousands per hour. Always plan margin, and consider that two 128 GB cards beat one 256: if one fails, you still have your work.
And the speed?
Capacity is one thing, speed is another. For 4K video look at V30 or V60. For 6K and 8K you need V90 or CFexpress. For bursts with large RAW files, a fast UHS-II or CFexpress card prevents the buffer from filling. If your camera keeps shooting without stalling, your card is fast enough.
Two slots? Use them
If your camera has two card slots, write to both. Weddings, paid shoots, anything you cannot repeat. Costs nothing extra except a second card. Also check the what-to-bring tool to pack your bag methodically.
Memory Card Calculator: how it works
The memory card calculator tells you how many photos fit on an SD or CFexpress card, based on megapixels, file format and card size. Use it when buying a new card, or when planning a shoot where you need to know your storage will hold up. Fill in your settings and you get an instant estimate.
File size varies more than most photographers expect
RAW files from a 45-megapixel camera can be three to four times larger than JPEGs from the same body. A 128 GB card feels generous until you run through it halfway through a full-day shoot with uncompressed RAW.
Running the numbers beforehand removes that guesswork. The calculator applies a compression factor based on the format you select, so the estimate reflects real-world file sizes rather than theoretical maximums.
How many cards do you actually need for a shoot?
A wedding, sports event or multi-day travel assignment each has a different shooting rhythm. Knowing your cards capacity per format lets you decide whether to bring two cards or four, and whether to shoot RAW, JPEG or both.
If you also want to know what print sizes your resolution supports, the Print Size Calculator gives you that in seconds. It pairs well with this tool when you are evaluating a new camera body or planning a client deliverable.
Frequently asked questions
How many RAW photos fit on a 128 GB card with a 24-megapixel camera?
Expect roughly 3,000 to 3,600 uncompressed RAW files, depending on your camera's compression. Lossless compressed RAW can push that closer to 4,500 or more.
Why does my camera show a different photo count than the calculator?
Cameras estimate remaining shots based on current settings and buffer state, and that figure updates shot by shot. The calculator uses average file sizes for the selected format and resolution, so small differences are normal.
Does card speed affect how many photos I can store?
No. Write speed determines how fast files are saved to the card, not how many fit. Storage capacity and file size are the only factors that determine how many photos you can store.