How Many Pictures Can 1TB Hold?

You can fit about 170,660 pictures on a 1TB memory card if each image has a resolution of 20 megapixels. That number will change accordingly if you have a higher or lower resolution.

I’m Caleb, and I’ve been a photographer for five years. I have plenty of experience with the sports photography niche, where I’ve shot events at various levels in several sports.

Today, I’ll talk about storage and how much you can fit on a 1TB memory card or hard drive. 

If you need more storage and you’re considering one of these devices, keep reading to learn how much use you’ll get from it.

How Many Pictures Can 1TB Hold?

With a 20-megapixel camera, you can fit around 170,660 JPEG format pictures on a 1TB storage device without running out of space.

Of course, not every camera is 20 megapixels, but it’s a decent middle-range estimate that isn’t far off from many cameras on the market these days. Many newer cameras will have a higher resolution than this, while older ones may come in lower.

Resolution is important because it has a significant impact on file size. A higher-resolution camera will produce larger files, meaning you can fit fewer pictures on your memory card.

That said, 1TB is enough storage that the vast majority of photographers will have enough storage, even if taking lots of pictures with a high-resolution camera.

How Many RAW Pictures Can 1TB Hold?

The RAW format provides a lot more control with editing and is popular with professional photographers because of it. 

But if you want to shoot in that format, you’ll lose a lot of potential storage space due to the larger file size. The number of photos you can fit on the same memory card will drop to around 17,060 when shooting RAW.

This is still plenty of storage space and more than most photographers will need out of a memory card. 

If you’re planning on storing your photos on a memory card long-term instead of offloading them onto another hard drive, this format’s much larger file size may be an issue.

How Many Videos Can 1TB Hold?

It’s much harder to estimate how many videos can fit on a hard drive than pictures. 

While the format and the resolution mainly determine the file size of pictures, videos have another critical factor: length.

Longer videos take up significantly more space than shorter ones, so we can’t estimate how many videos would fit on a specific hard drive. 

It all depends on your camera specs and the length of the videos you’re shooting.

FAQs

Here are some other frequently asked questions about memory cards and storage.

Is 1TB Enough Storage?

1TB is more than enough storage for just about all photographers. In fact, it’s one of the largest storage sizes that you can buy.

How Many Pictures Can A 1TB External Hard Drive Hold?

An external hard drive stores photos in the same way as a memory card or any other storage device. The other estimates in this article should apply the same to an external drive.

Conclusion

A 1TB memory card is more than enough storage for most photographers, with room for around 170,660 JPEG format or 17,060 RAW format pictures shot with a 20-megapixel camera.

Have you ever needed this much storage? Tell us in the comments!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *