Compact flas and SD cards

[Ben]

Hi, Much is debated about camera and lenses,pro,s and con,s full frame , Micro 4/3rds etc, and yet nothing or not much is discussed of the very item that is essential, the image recording card,
Back in the old day,s ,film of different brands, speed, slide or negative was always on the discussion list for which brand or speed for the given job ,
The modern versions all in the main not particularly glamorous, only Giga bite is the notable requirement,
I wonder what members opinion is , if you are anything like me as a amateur, only use and REUSE, the first 20 or so frames before formatting, does this do any harm so as time goes by later images are not as good as first
Purchased at considerable expense 30, 60 gb only to use the first few frames seems a waste, If I remember right we could buy a 15 frame roll of film , ie for the week end ,
regards to all Ben

[Paulstw]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

One of the things that I love about film is that reason. Different films give different results. I don't rate Fuji Superia 400 colour but love Kodak Ultramax. It's nice to experiment. These days was have Lightroom to do what we like with the pics and create what we like.

I let my 32 Gb cards get three quarters full before formatting them. I then do a double format in camera. They are quite fast cards. It was a requirement for the 7D so they were bought. Nothing much else was thought about it after that though lol

[Quentin]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

Personally I don't 'recycle' my memory cards, I run with them for a year or so, and/or have separate ones for 'special projects' - and then I archive them as back ups to the images which have been transferred to my PC etc.
They are so (relatively) cheap nowadays that I do not see the need to keep re-using them. No need to buy the largest capacity ones either if you are an amateur, unless you are constantly taking pics. At the moment I use either 4, 8 or 16 Gigs., depending upon the camera and project.
Quentin

[collywobbles]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

35mm film was available in 20 exp. or 36exp. rolls. Usually in speeds ranging from 25 ISO to 1200 ISO - which was quite grainy.
I had some fun with 640 T (for Tungsten) slide film and pushing it a stop then developing it for 30% extra. I had reasonable results shooting at rock concerts.

[Ben]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

Hi, your comment are most interesting and informative on your personal views, I myself only have 8gb cards compact flash,
Maybe I should have praised the technology that the modern memory card has, all be it I have also read on various sites problems with them , myself never had such, keeping my fingers crossed,
I will take advise given and run the cards to a greater length in the future
Ben

[Oggie]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

...I let my 32 Gb cards get three quarters full before formatting them. I then do a double format in camera...

Run the thinking behind that by us out of curiosity.


There is an awful lot of myth and lore talked about memory cards. Get good ones (Sandisk) and don't do anything daft with them and they will last for years.

[collywobbles]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

I agree about the Sandisk cards; also Lexar are reliable and good performers too.

[Ben]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

Hi, I have learnt , that files are randomly stored on the card, unlike film in sequence, and no harm can be done by formatting at desired intervals,
also good as they are, Sandisk are not perfect and many instances of the camera not being able to format, I hope that this is informative Ben

[John27]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

nothing is infallible including Sandisk CF cards. I'v had a Sandisk Extreme fail on me, fortunately nothing of serious value was on it at the time. I still use Sandisk, but always download to a hard drive as soon as I get home for safety.

John

[jimsphotography]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

All flash memory (such as camera memory cards) can wear out after lots of use - they tend not to progressively fail but go down in one fall. However, the wear rate is set exceedingly height and you would have to use and re-use them many, many times before the probability of failure became significant.
As far as using them to store images on for many years (ie use the card and then store it away etc) then the image data is stored as electrical charge in what is called a floating gate - like all charged object this can slowly leak away in time and the image data lost - how long that takes I'm not sure
Hope this helps
James

[colin C]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

I have had cards fail me, but never had a Sandisc fail. So I have Run with Sandisc now for many years and also use a Sandisc card reader to upload to my computer.

[Les McLean]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

I generally stick with Sandisk, and as a failsafe, if I'm ever shooting a situation that is important (i.e. difficult to be repeated), then I shoot the same image to both memory cards, so if one card fails, I've got identical images on the other card.
Saying that, I haven't had a Sandisk CF or SD card fail on me (yet)

[Longshot]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

Agree-Sandisc CF but I also upload to a external hard drive as well and and always from a card reader not the camera. But a IT friend said the more you move the card the more risk you run of damage to to the pins etc which is also true.

[colin C]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

a IT friend said the more you move the card the more risk you run of damage to to the pins etc which is also true.

I have known so many photographers with so many cameras and only once have I known about a bent pin. I was able to teeze it back into a near enough position with tweezers and a 10x loupe, where the tapered pin receptacle in the CF Card did the rest. The original damage was caused by carelessness, being in a rush to change cards.

The lesson I learn't was to not rush, always check you are replacing the card the right way around, gently push to seat the card and if all feels ok, give that final push to engage the card.

[Longshot]

Re: Compact flas and SD cards

Yes you just need to be careful as Colin says but it can happen and as my friend said each and every move involves a risk. He's talking in general IT terms not just cameras.