How Many Hours of Video Can 32GB Hold?
32 GB holds about 1 h 20 min of consumer 4K at 30 frames per second, about 2 h 51 min of 1080p, and about 4 min 50 s of ProRes 422 HQ at UHD. Below that it depends entirely on the codec, and on this capacity it also depends on the file system, which is the part most pages leave out.
Open the full calculator for codecs, audio and safety margin.
Every format, on 32 GB
Each line is a published data rate or a documented derivation, never an estimate invented to fill a row. The source is in the last column, and it links to the document it came from: the Apple ProRes white paper, the GoPro HERO13 Black capacity chart, YouTube recommended upload encoding settings and the Blackmagic RAW data rate calculator. The full trail is on the sources page.
| Format | Data rate | Recording time | Per minute | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoPro HERO13 Black 1080p 30 fps, standard bit rate | 24.84 Mbps | 2 h 51 min | 186.3 MB | GoPro capacity chart |
| GoPro HERO13 Black 1080p 60 fps, standard bit rate | 37.18 Mbps | 1 h 54 min | 278.9 MB | GoPro capacity chart |
| GoPro HERO13 Black 4K 30 fps, standard bit rate | 53 Mbps | 1 h 20 min | 397.5 MB | GoPro capacity chart |
| GoPro HERO13 Black 4K 30 fps, high bit rate | 103.4 Mbps | 41 min 15 s | 775.8 MB | GoPro capacity chart |
| GoPro HERO13 Black 4K 60 fps, high bit rate | 138.8 Mbps | 30 min 45 s | 1.041 GB | GoPro capacity chart |
| GoPro HERO13 Black 5.3K 60 fps, high bit rate | 138.8 Mbps | 30 min 45 s | 1.041 GB | GoPro capacity chart |
| YouTube 1080p upload target, 30 fps | 8 Mbps | 8 h 53 min | 60 MB | YouTube |
| YouTube 1080p upload target, 60 fps | 12 Mbps | 5 h 55 min | 90 MB | YouTube |
| YouTube 4K upload target, 30 fps, low end of the range | 35 Mbps | 2 h 1 min | 262.5 MB | YouTube |
| YouTube 4K upload target, 30 fps, high end of the range | 45 Mbps | 1 h 34 min | 337.5 MB | YouTube |
| ProRes 422 Proxy, HD 1080 30p | 45 Mbps | 1 h 34 min | 337.5 MB | Apple white paper |
| ProRes 422 HQ, HD 1080 30p | 220 Mbps | 19 min 24 s | 1.65 GB | Apple white paper |
| ProRes 422 Proxy, UHD 4K 30p | 182 Mbps | 23 min 27 s | 1.365 GB | Apple white paper |
| ProRes 422 HQ, UHD 4K 24p | 707 Mbps | 6 min 2 s | 5.303 GB | Apple white paper |
| ProRes 422 HQ, UHD 4K 30p | 884 Mbps | 4 min 50 s | 6.63 GB | Apple white paper |
| ProRes 4444, DCI 4K 24p | 1.131 Gbps | 3 min 46 s | 8.483 GB | Apple white paper |
| Blackmagic RAW 12:1, 6K DCI 24 fps | 477.8 Mbps | 8 min 56 s | 3.583 GB | Blackmagic ratio, derived |
| Blackmagic RAW 5:1, 6K DCI 24 fps | 1.147 Gbps | 3 min 43 s | 8.6 GB | Blackmagic ratio, derived |
| Blackmagic RAW 3:1, 6K DCI 24 fps | 1.911 Gbps | 2 min 14 s | 14.33 GB | Blackmagic ratio, derived |
ProRes on 32 GB
Apple publishes a target data rate for every supported frame size and frame rate in the Apple ProRes white paper. On a card this size an intermediate codec is measured in minutes rather than hours, which is the clearest argument there is for recording proxies alongside.
| Format | 422 Proxy | 422 LT | 422 | 422 HQ | 4444 | 4444 XQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HD 1920 x 1080 24p | 1 h 58 min | 52 min 2 s | 36 min 28 s | 24 min 15 s | 16 min 10 s | 10 min 46 s |
| HD 1920 x 1080 30p | 1 h 34 min | 41 min 50 s | 29 min 1 s | 19 min 24 s | 12 min 56 s | 8 min 37 s |
| UHD 3840 x 2160 24p | 29 min 26 s | 13 min | 9 min 4 s | 6 min 2 s | 4 min 1 s | 2 min 41 s |
| UHD 3840 x 2160 30p | 23 min 27 s | 10 min 24 s | 7 min 15 s | 4 min 50 s | 3 min 13 s | 2 min 9 s |
| DCI 4K 4096 x 2160 24p | 27 min 32 s | 12 min 11 s | 8 min 29 s | 5 min 40 s | 3 min 46 s | 2 min 31 s |
GoPro on 32 GB
GoPro publishes recording times for the HERO13 Black on a 128 GB card in its GoPro HERO13 Black capacity chart, and states that you can scale them to your own card. These are their figures scaled by 0.25.
| Mode | High bit rate | Standard bit rate |
|---|---|---|
| 5.3K 60 fps | 30 min 45 s | 1 h 0 min |
| 5.3K 30 fps | 31 min | 1 h 6 min |
| 5.3K 24 fps | 31 min | 1 h 12 min |
| 4K 120 fps | 30 min 30 s | 47 min 45 s |
| 4K 60 fps | 30 min 45 s | 1 h 5 min |
| 4K 30 fps | 41 min 15 s | 1 h 20 min |
| 4K 24 fps | 49 min 15 s | 1 h 58 min |
| 2.7K 240 fps | 30 min 30 s | 50 min 45 s |
| 1080p 240 fps | 30 min 45 s | 55 min 45 s |
| 1080p 120 fps | 40 min | 1 h 16 min |
| 1080p 60 fps | 55 min 45 s | 1 h 54 min |
| 1080p 30 fps | 1 h 30 min | 2 h 51 min |
What 32 GB really is
A 32 GB card is the top of the SDHC standard. The SD Association defines SDHC as over 2 GB up to 32 GB, formatted FAT32. Those boundaries come from the SD Association capacity overview.
Your computer will report this card as roughly 29.8 GiB, because the operating system divides by 1024 three times and keeps writing GB on the screen. Both numbers describe the same 32,000,000,000 bytes. Every figure on this page uses the decimal reading, the one printed on the card, because that is the unit GoPro, Apple and Blackmagic use in the numbers this site quotes back to you.
FAT32 cannot hold a single file larger than 4 GB, which is why cameras using these cards split a long take into 4 GB pieces. The footage is intact and most editing software rejoins the parts on import, but it catches people out when they copy only the first file.
What this capacity is good for
Today a 32 GB card is a backup, a stills card, or the card that came in the box. For 4K it is a short leash.
The division, done on this card
Every answer on this page is one division, and it is worth being able to do it without a tool so you can check anybody who hands you a number.
Take 1080p, because that is what a card this size is realistically for. 32 GB is 32,000,000,000 bytes, so 256,000,000,000 bits. GoPro published times imply 24.84 Mbps for 1080p 30 on the standard setting. Divide one by the other and you get 2 h 51 min.
Now do it against the 4 GB file ceiling instead of the whole card, because that is the number that decides how many files you end up with. 4 GB is 32,000,000,000 bits, and at 24.84 Mbps that is 21 min 28 s per file. The same card, the same footage, two completely different questions answered by the same sum.
What one hour costs on 32 GB
The tables answer how long. This is the other direction, how much of the card an hour eats, and on the smallest capacity in the range that number gets uncomfortable fast.
- One hour of consumer 1080p 30, at 24.8 Mbps, is 11.2 GB, which is 35 percent of it.
- One hour of consumer 4K 30, at 53 Mbps, is 23.9 GB, which is 75 percent of it.
- One hour of a 4K delivery file at the YouTube target of 40 Mbps is 18 GB, which is 56 percent of it.
- One hour of Blackmagic RAW 12:1 at 6K DCI 24 fps is 215 GB, which is 6.7 times the whole card.
- One hour of ProRes 422 HQ at UHD 30p is 397.8 GB, which is 12.4 times the whole card.
Read the last two lines again. A professional codec does not fit an hour on this card at all, which is not a flaw in the card. It is the reason cameras that record those codecs are not sold with cards this size.
The 4 GB file split, which only happens down here
This is the one capacity on the site where the file system changes the answer, and it is worth understanding before you shoot rather than after.
The SD Association puts SDHC on FAT32, and FAT32 cannot store a single file larger than 4 GB. Your camera does not stop when it reaches that ceiling. It closes the file, opens the next one and keeps rolling, so a single unbroken take comes off the card as a numbered series. At the 53 Mbps that GoPro published times imply for 4K 30, 4 GB is about 10 min 4 s of picture, so a ten minute interview is already several files.
Nothing is lost and every serious editing application reads the series as one clip on import. Two things do go wrong in practice. Somebody copies the first file off the card, sees a plausible looking clip, and formats the card. Or somebody hands the files to an application that does not understand the convention, and the take arrives with a stutter at each join. Both are avoidable, and both have happened on jobs I was standing on.
The habit that fixes it is dull: copy the whole card structure, folders and all, never individual files. Everything a camera writes next to a clip, the index, the sidecar, the audio, belongs to that clip.
Why anyone still buys the smallest card
Because small cards force you to offload. A card that runs out at 1 h 20 min of consumer 4K gives the day a natural break, and a copied card is worth more than a full one. On a shoot where nothing can be repeated, I would rather change media at lunch than carry the whole day on one piece of plastic. That is a working preference and not a rule, but it is why the smallest capacity has not disappeared.
The other reason is the second camera. A locked off camera on a wide, or a stills body recording a safety, does not need the same media as the A camera. It needs media you can afford to forget about.
Common questions
How many hours of video can 32GB hold?
It depends on the data rate. At consumer 4K 30 fps, using GoPro published figures, 32 GB holds about 1 h 20 min. At 1080p 30 it holds about 2 h 51 min. At ProRes 422 HQ UHD 30p, which Apple publishes as 884 Mbps, it holds about 4 min 50 s.
How many hours of 4K video can 32GB hold?
At a consumer 4K bitrate of about 53 Mbps, roughly 1 h 20 min. At the higher bitrate setting the same camera cuts that to about 41 min 15 s. Professional codecs are far heavier: ProRes 422 HQ at UHD 30p gives about 4 min 50 s.
How long can you record 4K on 32GB?
The card holds about 1 h 20 min of consumer 4K at 30 fps, but holding it and recording it in one unbroken take are different things. Heat, battery life and per clip limits stop most cameras long before the media is full. At this capacity the SD standard also puts you on FAT32, which cannot hold a single file over 4 GB, so a long recording arrives as a series of 4 GB files. Plan around the shooting day rather than around one long take.
How many hours of 1080p video can 32GB hold?
At the 24.8 Mbps that GoPro published times imply for 1080p 30, about 2 h 51 min. A finished delivery file is much lighter: at the YouTube 1080p upload target of 8 Mbps, 32 GB holds about 8 h 53 min. Camera footage and delivery files are different animals and the gap between them is the whole reason a single answer to this question does not exist.
Why does my camera split a long video into 4 GB files on a 32 GB card?
Because the SD Association puts cards of this size on FAT32, and FAT32 cannot hold a single file larger than 4 GB. The camera closes one file and opens the next without stopping the recording. All the footage is there. Copy the whole card, folders included, and your editing software will join the parts on import.
Is 32 GB enough for a day of shooting?
For 1080p, usually. At the 24.84 Mbps that GoPro published times imply for 1080p 30, this card holds about 2 h 51 min. For consumer 4K it holds about 1 h 20 min, which is a morning rather than a day. For any professional codec it is a single setup: ProRes 422 HQ at UHD 30p, published by Apple as 884 Mbps, gives about 4 min 50 s.
What is the largest card that is still SDHC?
This one. The SD Association defines SDHC as over 2 GB up to 32 GB, so 32 GB is the ceiling of that standard and 64 GB is the first card in the next one, SDXC. The practical difference is the file system: SDHC is specified with FAT32 and its 4 GB single file limit, SDXC with exFAT, which has no limit you will meet.