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File Size Question - SL2 vs M10R


tedwill

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I have an SL2 and an M10R.  Both are set to use DNG (not JPG).  When I take photos with the SL2, the file sizes are nearly 90mb.  With the M10R the DNG files are only ~46mb.  The SL2 is 47 Megapixels and the M10R is 40.  Why are the file sizes so far apart?  It seems the M10R should only have slightly smaller file sizes.

I checked the settings with both cameras and I don’t see a “large / medium / small “ setting for raw, or anything to select "lossless" or compression. On the SL2, I do have exposure bracketing on, but I can’t see how an indivvidual file would be twice as big with 47 megapixels vs 40.

Any help is greatly appreciated.  I’m planning a long trip and want to bring enough SD cards and backup SSDs for both.

Thanks!

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27 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

I have noticed that too.

I predict that the M10-R uses a better compression then the SL2 camera. I say that because the DNG from M10-R are slower to edit then the SL2 files. It must be compression.

Just buy more cards, there are no settings to change that.

Thanks.  I'm trying to calculate that now for the backup SSDs.  The cards are fairly inexpensive, but the backup SSDs are not.  I will most likely average 400-600 photos a day.  Each night, I'll dump the files from the SD to the SSD drive.  I won't be able to weed out the bad ones until I come back home 9 days later.  I'll shoot on SD, back up to SSD and when I fill a card, use the next one.

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I think that the SL2 doesn't have the option to compress DNGs. This probably improves the burst speed, at the expense of file sizes. The M and S cameras don't have much burst speed anyway, so they can get by with more processing overhead.

I use a LaCie DJI backup drive. It's very simple once set-up: insert your SD card, press a button, and everything is backed-up into dated folders. You can also tell it to do incremental backups, so it will only copy files that aren't already on the device (if you haven't re-formated since your previous backup). There's a smartphone app to browse your images. It's not an SSD (at least mine isn't), but LaCie rugged drives have been standard-issue in the cine industry for years, so they must be doing something right.

The "belt and suspenders" approach is to have two backup drives, and pack them in different suitcases or carry-ons.

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My imports initially go to an internal SSD working drive in my PC. Small ones are very inexpensive. Once I have sorted and edited through, I finally move that folder to an NAS which has much larger capacity of course.
I use Lightroom’s  Update Metadata and Preview function on DNGs after import to apply lossless compression to my main copies. It makes a difference with all DNG files from Leica’s other systems too. The file size change is especially dramatic with the SL2 and the S system.

On Import I am automatically creating a second copy of those original DNGs to a separate external HDD as a first backup.

As they are backup copies I use conventional external hard drives for that. Currently 8TB ones which are inexpensive.

Edited by hoppyman
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I have the LaCie Copilot Boos 2tb. I think it is very slow and heavy from battery and drive. I found that it took about 2hours for a 64bg card to copy. about then the battery was done too.

If you are taking a compute of iPad I would suggest using the multi port dongle and a Samsung drive T5 to back up your photos.

I did this on the iPad on my last trip using the files app.

I don't suggest using Lightroom for all does photos, it will import a few and never finish. 

I used the FOTOS app from Leica to pick a few pix that you want to share and edit does, in addition to the backup.

 

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