2TB memory cards aren’t available yet. But if you get your hands on one in the future, you can expect to store around 341,320 pictures without running out of space. This assumes you’re using JPEG format, and each photo is 20 megapixels.
I’m Caleb, and I have five years of photography experience. I specialize in sports photography, and I’ve covered several sports over the years, ranging from basketball to boxing.
In this article, I’ll talk about 2TB storage devices and how much you can fit on them. If you need more storage and wonder whether two terabytes is overkill, keep reading for the complete breakdown.
Contents
How Many Pictures Can 2TB Hold?
If you’re shooting with a 20-megapixel camera, you can fit roughly 341,320 pictures on a 2TB memory card or hard drive.
Of course, not every camera has a 20-megapixel resolution. It’s a number that falls in the middle ranges of quality, and plenty of cameras are out there with higher or lower resolutions.
Naturally, if your camera’s resolution is higher, it will create larger files, and each one will take up more storage space. On the other hand, a lower resolution means you can fit more files.
With that being said, you more or less don’t have to worry about space if you’re working with a 2TB memory card. Even if your camera is very high resolution, it’s unlikely most photographers will ever come close to filling a massive memory card like this one.
How Many RAW Pictures Can 2TB Hold?
The other major file format used when shooting photos is RAW. This format offers advantages in the editing stage but comes at the expense of much larger file sizes.
Because of the larger file sizes that come with this format, the number of pictures you can store will drop to about 34,132 with the same 2TB memory card.
This is still more than enough to cover the needs of almost any photographer, but it’s still worth pointing out.
How Many Videos Can 2TB Hold?
Judging how many videos a particular memory card can hold takes a lot of work. That’s because the length also determines video file size in addition to resolution and file format.
There’s no solid answer to this one. If you’re shooting many short videos, you’ll be able to store more of them on a single memory card.
On the other hand, if you’re shooting videos that are minutes long, expect them to use a lot more space.
Shooting video generally takes more storage than taking pictures. In fact, videographers will likely get more value out of a 2TB memory card than photographers since their files require more storage space.
2TB Memory Card Availability
If you’re looking for a 2TB memory card for your camera, you won’t actually find one yet. There’s no company currently selling them.
The closest comparable product is a 2TB micro SD card. In the future, you may be able to use this with a DSLR camera via an adapter, but these larger micro SD cards are in the prototype stages and aren’t for sale yet.
2TB external drives, however, do exist and are available to buy right now from many brands. So if you need a high-capacity storage option for when you move your photos off your memory card, this is a good option if you don’t want them to fill your computer’s hard drive.
FAQs
Here are some other frequently asked storage questions.
How Many Pictures Can A 2TB External Hard Drive Hold?
The amount of pictures that fit on a particular device doesn’t change based on the device type. All the estimates in this article stay the same, whether using a memory card or an external drive.
Is 2TB Enough Storage?
2TB is enough storage for almost all photographers, and it’s a bit overkill for many. If you’re a videographer, however, a drive like this might be needed for working with large video files and large amounts of footage.
Conclusion
2TB memory cards aren’t on the market yet, but 2TB external hard drives are. You can fit around 341,320 pictures on one of these, but you might not need all that storage unless you’re shooting hours of video.
Have you found a need for a storage device this large? Let us know in the comments!
