Sending RAW photos after a wedding or a shoot: what the delivery really weighs
47.6 MB per frame on a 45 MP body, from the maker’s own manual. The maths for a full wedding, what fits in a free service, and how to deliver without posting a drive.
The short answer. A wedding means 1,500 to 2,500 frames. In RAW on a 45 megapixel body, the maker rates each frame at 47.6 MB: the day therefore weighs 70 to 120 GB, and twice that if you shoot RAW+JPEG.
No mailbox carries that, and no free service either: the most generous stops at 50 GB. Delivery happens through a link, or through a drive that travels.
What a delivery weighs, frame by frame
The sizes below are the camera maker's own figures for a 45 megapixel full-frame body, read on 9 October 2026: 47.6 MB in RAW, 20.6 MB in compressed RAW (C-RAW), 13.0 MB for a full-quality JPEG. The maker notes these vary with the scene, ISO and picture style.
| Frames | RAW | C-RAW | RAW + JPEG |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 (a two-hour shoot) | 19 GB | 8.2 GB | 24.2 GB |
| 800 (half a day) | 38 GB | 16.5 GB | 48.5 GB |
| 1,500 (a typical wedding) | 71 GB | 31 GB | 91 GB |
| 2,500 (two photographers) | 119 GB | 51.5 GB | 152 GB |
Look at the middle column: C-RAW more than halves the weight without leaving the raw format. It is the only setting that really changes the order of magnitude, and it is decided before the wedding, not after.
“552 5.3.4 Message size exceeds maximum permitted”
This is what the photographer who tries email anyway gets back, sometimes an hour after believing the message had gone:
552 5.3.4 Message size exceeds maximum permitted
A single 47.6 MB RAW frame already breaks the 25 MB per-message limit at Yahoo and Gmail alike — and encoding adds roughly a third on top. Email is not a delivery channel; it is a notification channel.
Why a RAW file is so heavy
A JPEG throws information away to fit in little space. A RAW keeps what the sensor saw: 14 bits per colour instead of 8, no lossy compression, and every pixel the sensor has. That is exactly what lets you rescue a blown white dress or a dark church.
Hence a simple rule: you don't deliver RAW files for convenience, you deliver them when the client asked for them. For everyone else the delivery is the edited JPEGs: 300 photos at 13 MB fit in 3.9 GB — an order of magnitude less.
What the free services accept
Checked on 9 October 2026 on the providers' own pages.
| Service | Per transfer | What fits |
|---|---|---|
| WeTransfer Free | 3 GB, and 10 transfers or 3 GB per 30 days | a selection of JPEGs, no more |
| Smash Free | 2 GB without queuing | the same, with a queue above that |
| SwissTransfer | 50 GB | one wedding in C-RAW, just barely |
| toobigtoshare | 2 TB | the whole card, RAW included |
Delivering a wedding without posting a drive
Gather the delivery into one archive — an uncompressed zip is enough, RAW files are already compressed — and send its address. toobigtoshare takes up to 2 TB per transfer: the 71 GB of a wedding go in one piece, with no splitting into batches.
The client clicks and downloads: no account to create, for you or for them, and no email address is asked for. An upload that size runs for hours; if it is cut off, it resumes where it stopped. Files are deleted after 3 days, on a date and time shown in advance, so the client knows how long they have and you are not watching a storage quota fill up.
The price doesn't follow the volume: $5.49 per transfer, for 4 GB of JPEGs as for 120 GB of RAW. No subscription to carry between seasons.
Deliver the photos with toobigtoshare — up to 2 TB, no account, one link for the client.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a wedding in RAW weigh?
Between 70 and 120 GB for 1,500 to 2,500 frames on a 45 megapixel body, based on the 47.6 MB per frame the maker publishes. In compressed RAW, expect 31 to 51 GB.
Should you deliver RAW files to the client?
Only if they asked and your contract covers it. A client who wants to print or archive is served by the edited JPEGs: 300 photos at 13 MB fit in 3.9 GB, against 71 GB for the full card.
Should you zip before sending?
Yes, but without compression: it gains almost nothing on RAW files, and above all it keeps the delivery as one file, in order, rather than a folder scattered on arrival.
Which service takes 70 GB in one go?
No free plan in this survey: SwissTransfer stops at 50 GB, WeTransfer Free at 3 GB per transfer. toobigtoshare accepts up to 2 TB per transfer, with no account and no subscription, for $5.49 per transfer.
A wedding to deliver, in RAW?
toobigtoshare carries up to 2 TB per transfer, with no account for you or the client. Uploads resume after a dropped connection. $5.49 per transfer whatever the size, files deleted after 3 days.