How long do you keep SD/CF cards

[DanK]

I have only used SanDisk CF and SD cards since I started with digital years ago, and I have never had a single card failure. However, today I realized that my main body, a 5D III, is going on 7 years old. The cards I have in it have been there since the day I received the camera, and I have a hunch that at least one of them was from an earlier camera.

So, I wonder whether I am walking on thin ice.

Of course, what matters isn't age per se but rather reads, writes, erasures, and reformats. I take a relatively small number of photos, but still, 7 years is a long time.

I'm just curious how long people use their cards. They are cheap now, particularly SD cards, so I am thinking maybe I should play it safe and replace them.

[Tronhard]

I have both CF and SD cards that go back quite a few years myself and so far (touch wood) I have had only one card failure and that was actually with a brand new card. My experience with electronic components is that they often fail early in their life due to manufacturing issues, after which - depending on the type and use of the device, they can last for very long times.

That experience is born out by the Consumers Institute over here. It is used to provide the benchmarks for the reasonable life of a device for a consumers law - The Consumers' Guarantee Act. This says that the vendor is responsible for fixing or replacing a device or service if it is within it's reasonable life span, not the manufacturers guarantee. Thus a TV would come under that for 10 years as it is considered that this is the reasonable life span for such a device. According to the Consumer's Institute, a high proportion of failures are within a short period of purchase and thus fall inside the makers' guarantee period.

That all said, a lot depends on how the object is used. Thus poor usage or wear and tear are not accepted. In the case of the SD cards I have on occasion found that people removing a card or USB drive from a computer, while it still had files open and in use by another program, could kill the device - basically the files were not released and, when the card was removed, FAT table was so scrambled that it could not be read or re-formatted. This has happened to family and colleagues with both kinds of devices. Thus, as part of my own habits, I always go through the eject process and certainly have had a few times when to release a card I even had to shut down the computer, remove the card and then reboot.

[DanK]

Thanks. I’m similarly careful when removing the card.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Manfred M]

Dan - I only throw out the cards that fail, and I have yet to have a Compact Flash (CF) card fail, although I've had two or three SD cards (third party ones) fail. Like you, I've stuck with SanDisk or the equally highly rated Lexar cards.

The CF cards are likely worth several thousand writes per block before they fail. Memory management means that the memory blocks are managed so unless you are filling up your cards, you won't be rewriting the same blocks all that often. Based on the amount I shoot, I expect my camera to die before the cards do.

The CF specs have not been updated quite some time and the format is obsolete. Buying new CF cards means you are buying the same old technology, Modern SD specs are being updated so the cards have faster read / write performance than CF cards. XQD memory was viewed as the replacement for CF cards. So far as I know both Sony and Nikon have gone that route with their higher end gear, Canon, I don't know about.

[William W]

. . . I'm just curious how long people use their cards. They are cheap now, particularly SD cards, so I am thinking maybe I should play it safe and replace them.

I cut over to Digital in 2004. I still have and occasionally use the first card that put into the 20D, back then.

I have not yet thrown out any card. The only reason I have bought a new one to use is a lower price on more capacity, which means I might not use the older cards as much, but I do use a lot of cards when I am traveling.

I'd destroy any card at the first instance it appeared faulty. That (touch wood) hasn't happened.

Trev's opinion that if gear (intrinsically) fails, then it does so early in its life, resonates with me. I've had one massive digital failure, a Canon 5D, it happened at about frame 60 on the new camera. I acknowledge that gear wears out, I treat my cards carefully when removing and inserting them and I always use biodegradable detergent when washing them.

WW

(the last clause was a joke for those who are now aghast)

[Tronhard]

The CF specs have not been updated quite some time and the format is obsolete. Buying new CF cards means you are buying the same old technology.

Perhaps... but if you have cameras that use CF cards you don't have much choice. I still enjoy shooting with some old cameras that use only CF cards, and recent cameras like the Canon EOS 7DII, 5DMkIII, IV and DsR with dual card slots still use CF cards alongside SD cards.

The CF format may be 'obsolete' but they still work and if that is what a camera takes... I invest in Lexar Professional 64GB 1066x cards and they do OK.

[Astro]

I have a number of sd cards, but have only had one failure in more than 10 years. I have a Cannon 5D sR, and previously a 7D, with dual CF and SD card. I have always used dual write when shooting and the only failure I have ever had was when I 'filled' a card. Specifically a camera message came up indicating failure to write to the SD. Following this the card had been corrupted such that I could not recover it. I never did work out the final cause, though I have a suspicion it was linked to the dual write and the differently sized master index file on SD as opposed to CF cards!

Since then I am careful not to shoot until a card fills. I actually have 3 generations of cards which I 'rotate' quite religiously.

I used to use Sandisk and a proprietary card supplied by Calumet, but these are no longer available so these days I stick to SanDisk.

Thinking about it now, I have not bought any new cards for my cameras in at least 5 years.

Oddly enough I use a variety of cheaper cards for my phone and tablet and never gave much consideration to card performance as I did for my digital cameras.

[Donald]

I treat my cards carefully when removing and inserting them and I always use biodegradable detergent when washing them.

Bill, is that the same stuff that you drink to get rid of viruses?

[Tronhard]

Bill, is that the same stuff that you drink to get rid of viruses?

If it's approved by 'The Donald'...

Ah, but there is a video on the web showing how to do this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrdkFXsr5Us so it must be OK!

[DanK]

The CF specs have not been updated quite some time and the format is obsolete. Buying new CF cards means you are buying the same old technology, Modern SD specs are being updated so the cards have faster read / write performance than CF cards. XQD memory was viewed as the replacement for CF cards.

Unless one's selecting a new camera, that's not a real choice. As Trev notes, you have to use whatever your camera uses. the only choice, apart from the brand, is the speed. I don't generally shoot sports and have found that even my old cards are fast enough for the short bursts I occasionally take.

Given the replies, I think I'll just leave well enough alone.

The coming Canon R5 will have "a super high-speed CFexpress card slot plus a UHS-II SD card slot". The 1D X III has two CFexpres slots.

However, the 5 D Mark IV, which I am seriously thinking of buying if the R5 is too expensive, still has one CF card slot, and it was introduced less than 3 years ago.

By the way, if you want to see the Donald's disinfectant episode, its here.

[billtils]

....
However, the 5 D Mark IV, which I am seriously thinking of buying if the R5 is too expensive, still has one CF card slot, and it was introduced less than 3 years ago.

By the way, if you want to see the Donald's disinfectant episode, its here.

I'm getting too old for this ... after reading your post about high-end Canon cameras, I clicked the link expecting to see something from CIC's Donald ...

[Donald]

I'm getting too old for this ... after reading your post about high-end Canon cameras, I clicked the link expecting to see something from CIC's Donald ...

The 'Donald' is here .......... but hopefully I have a modicum of intelligence and sense.

[Manfred M]

Of course, there is this old favourite for Canon shooters...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrdkFXsr5Us

[DanK]

The 'Donald' is here .......... but hopefully I have a modicum of intelligence and sense.

Unfortunately, the other Donald has problems beyond a lack of intelligence and a lack of common sense. I won't enumerate.

[shreds]

CF format has been updated, as noted in the thread and may even prove to be better than Sony’s QXD format. Given the “proof of the pudding” with four CF cards for twelve years in two cameras, that will have exceeded 100000 shutter actuations, I think there is little need to worry about such cards, provided they are regularly formatted both in camera and in the computer. However my next camera will use the updated version CF Express which has pretty good read/write speeds.

[dgaustad]

I've been using the same CF and SD cards on my cameras going on a decade with no issues. Over that time I have continued to upgrade as I purchased new camera bodies but generally have kept the cards with their own bodies and as I've added bodies new cards go with those but have never retired any cards.

My most heavily used cards are on my sports bodies where I'll shoot close to 2000 raw files at a single event and about 50,000 shots in a year. I've been averaging about 80,000 shots a year when all my cameras are considered. After 6+ years those cards are all still going strong. I have 3-4 cards for each camera that I numbered and rotate through with an average size of 32-64GB. All of my bodies have dual slots so if I am doing something paid I shoot with both the CF and SD on so I have a backup.

I used to purchase only Lexar however a couple years ago moved to Sandisk (Extreme Pro). I guess it depends on how safe you want to be but even a new card can fail. I remove the cards from my cameras after each shoot to pull onto my PC and then put them back in the camera until the card is full. I never erase files from them and format only after they are full putting them back in the sequence until it's their turn again.

[Abitconfused]

I recently had a memory card that my camera indicated was defective. The camera would not even format the card. I formatted the card using my computer (not Quick format but the regular format) then the camera would format the card and it has been fine since.

[xpatUSA]

Trev's opinion that if gear (intrinsically) fails, then it does so early in its life, resonates with me.

Old post, I know, Bill.

That is not just an opinion. One of my duties long ago was to be knowledgeable about the reliability of electronic stuff. There is a well-known diagram called the 'bathtub curve' of reliability versus elapsed time from new.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathtub_curve

"infant Mortaiity" applies ...

[rpcrowe]

I have never had an SD or CF card which worked originally fail. However I did have two CF cards fail initially. I think that the brand was Kingston. However, I use only SD cards now and stick with ether Lexar or SanDisk. By the way, I have quite a few SD cards and rotate them often.

[Manfred M]

I recently had a memory card that my camera indicated was defective. The camera would not even format the card. I formatted the card using my computer (not Quick format but the regular format) then the camera would format the card and it has been fine since.

Once I have a serious failure like the one you mention, I will toss the card. The risk is to great when it comes to the risk of losing my work. I've had a couple of SD cards fail and I threw them out; both were branded by companies that do not produce their own memory. Like Richard, I have been using Sandisk and Lexar for at least the past 10 years and those cards continue to work well.