If you’re shooting on a 20-megapixel camera, a 16GB storage device can hold around 2,666 JPEG format pictures. However, this number can change drastically if your camera’s resolution is higher or lower than this example number.
I’m Caleb, and I’ve been a photographer for more than four years. My specialty is sports photography, and I’ve shot many sports, from soccer to basketball.
In this article, I’ll explain how many photos you can fit on a 16GB storage device. I’ll also talk about the factors that can raise or lower that number. If you’re unsure if 16GB is enough storage, read ahead for an explanation.
Contents
How Many Photos Can 16GB Hold?
A memory card or flash drive of 16GB can hold around 2,666 pictures before running out of space. But this assumes that the pictures have a 20-megapixel resolution and that the format is JPEG.
Resolution and format are the main factors that determine file size. And obviously, the size of the files decides how many of them you can fit on a single memory card. Higher-resolution photos have larger file sizes, while lower-resolution images have smaller ones.
Twenty megapixels is a reasonably mid-range resolution, but many cameras exceed that number. In fact, plenty of entry-level cameras have higher resolutions these days.
So if you’re figuring out if 16GB is enough storage for you, make sure to check the specs of your camera. If the resolution is higher than 20 megapixels, you can assume you’ll have less storage than this rough estimate of 2,666 pictures.
How Many RAW Pictures Can 16GB Hold?
JPEG isn’t the only photo format out there. Many photographers use the RAW format because it offers more control during the editing process and produces much larger files.
You can only fit about 266 RAW format photos on a memory card of the same size. This larger file size is considered one of the main disadvantages of the RAW format.
If you’re planning on shooting RAW, you’ll have to either deal with this reduced capacity or bring a larger memory card to compensate for the giant file sizes.
FAQs
Here are some other frequently asked questions about memory cards and storage.
How Many Videos Can 16GB Hold?
There’s no real answer for how many videos can fit on a storage device. That’s because video file sizes are impacted not just by resolution and format but also length. A short video may only be a few megabytes, while a large one can fill a memory card on its own.
How Many Photos Can 16GB Hold At 24 Megapixels?
Twenty-four megapixels is a relatively common resolution for entry-level and intermediate cameras these days, but this increased resolution comes at the cost of file size. With a 24-megapixel camera, you can only store around 2,222 photos on the same 16GB storage device.
Conclusion
You can store around 2,666 photos of 20 megapixels on a 16GB storage device, assuming they’re in JPEG format. If you’re shooting RAW, expect that number to drop to around 2666.
What’s the size of the memory card that you currently use? Tell us in the comments!
