What Level of Photographer Are You: A One Slot or Two Slot?

The Internet experts are at it again, and this time Nikon is in their crosshairs.

The much-awaited Nikon mirrorless cameras, the Z6 and the Z7, were released last week after much hype. However, within hours the Internet was abuzz with claims Nikon had a substantial failure on their hands. These experts were claiming Nikon's new mirrorless cameras could never be used by any respectable “professional” photographer. One person stated in the comments section “...this is almost unforgivable.” Unforgivable? All of this because Nikon decided to include one memory card slot.

I'm not trying to advocate for or against the latest Nikon release or any camera release for that matter. I'm advocating for consumers to decide what is right for them based on their reasoning that is based on their own needs.

Well, at least not all of the Internet experts have lost their minds. The lead video by Matt Granger along with the video below by Daniel Norton attempt to address the hysteria with logic, something that doesn't get many page views. To claim that the number of memory slots contained in a camera determines the level of photographer who will use a particular camera is pure nonsense. I dislike using the word “professional” to describe the talent of a photographer but for this article, I will since that is how most of these experts are referring to photographers that will not use this camera because of the number of memory card slots.

The claims that a professional photographer must have two memory cards because they would never risk the loss of data by using only one card is nonsense. How long have these so-called experts been photographing? My goodness, what did photographers do in the film days? Or the first days of digital photography when cameras only came with one memory card slot? Did they refuse to photograph because of the fear of losing data? Sure dual card slots can be used as a backup and reduce the risk of data loss, but to say that this is an absolute must for “professional” photographers is a complete cow fertilizer claim. These people who are claiming a one slot camera is a failure are now off looking for the next nonsense topic to get page views. They attempt to justify their claims with subpar logic and are no help to real photographers of any skill level.

Do yourself a favor and evaluate your own needs in a camera and buy the camera that fits those needs, not a camera because some person on the Internet says the camera is only for certain types of photographers.

Douglas Turney's picture

Doug Turney is a Connecticut based photographer who specializes in non-ball sport types of photography such as motocross, sailing, and cycling. But that doesn’t stop him from shooting other types of photography too. Doug believes photography is photography and doesn’t like to be typecast. Doug loves to travel and often shoots when traveling.

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Actually, shooting with one card is not that unimaginable. A lot of pros do tether shooting, and that is usually one hard drive at a time(ssd).

Has someone given us a reason why having two slots would ever be a BAD thing, all else being equal?

I think the big issue is not that the cameras have only one slot per se, but that a camera costing >$3000 has only one slot.

That's rather like buying a $500,000 house and discovering it has only one bathroom. We might well get by with only one bathroom, but an architect who did that deliberately would face serious criticism.

I've the perfect solution for all the "cry babies" complaining about not having two card slots...don't buy the camera. Problem solved.

To all the self righteous jokers that argue against two card slots...

https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/wedding-photographer-bride-reward-phot...

If only this photographer had a second card that stayed in the camera the entire wedding... 🙄

I’ve added this conversation it to my wedding consultation and how a very high percent of wedding photographers think their better than an insurance plan of shooting on two cards.

Makes my fucking head spin. I’m speaking to all you Canon and Nikon mirrorless shooters. You pulled the trigger too soon.