memory cards?
 

One for the photographers and videographers, do you change you memory cards periodically? I had one fail yesterday and luckily the camera records to two cards. It was a good quality card that was around four years old. I've ordered a new card and card reader but what do the people that shoot photo's and video do? I have spares but the one that failed yesterday added the files to the card but would not let me remove them from it.

I dont know what could cause the failure, I have been lucky enough to not experience it. I have recovered images for many many people in my past life working at Jessops. Sandisk's own recovery software (not just for Sandisk cards) was actually quite good, and came free with their Extreme cards. It could be worth looking into recovery software, with most giving you a trail before buying. The trials will normally recover two or three images before telling you to buy, at least you will be able to see if it works. (another very good for the price software, was Image Recall, although I am not sure if it still exists).

Have you tried connecting the camera to the computer, and use it as a card reader? I have found, if I have issues with accessing the files, this will work.

There used to be a procedure for physically removing the cards and inserting them, as 'hot swapping' could prove damaging. I am not sure of it, as I always was able to hot swap (inserting the card without having to prompt the computer or camera that a new 'drive' was coming. I dont think this is (or has been) an issue since half way through Windows XP though. But perhaps something along these lines has caused the issue. EG removing teh card, or battery dying whilst it was still writing to the card. The file structure has been damaged, and whilst the files are still there, the reading device cannot recognise it correctly because of damage to the code. At this point, I used to reformat the card in the card reader, and then use Image Recall which to my knowledge recovered the files (and older since deleted ones too!).

When I use cards, I format them in the cameras before using them (obviously after downloading them).

If you have two card slots, you should be able to configure what each slot does. If they are big enough, you could simply use them to duplicate to each slot. If I was shooting anything important, I would use small cards changing frequently. Or if a larger card, I would rotate them regularly. This way it would mean if one failed, I wouldnt lose everything. For a dual slot system, I would still work like that - a double failsafe.

I generally use Sandisck cards in both slots and shoot to both cards in raw format so everything gets backed up. slot one is a CF card and slot two is an SD card. I use a 32 gb in slot 2 as that is just as back up and the CF card is between 4 and 8gb due to lowering the risk of a card failure and losing images even though there's two cards. All images taken were available on the second card. Mrs sworks managed to recover the card using iSkysoft which i'd recommend but I no longer trust the card so it's gone in the bin. I remove the CF card and use a card reader as it's easier than connecting the camera to the computer and realise the risk of pin damage but I don't use the camera anywhere near as often as I would like. Interestingly the two failures I have had was a Kingston card and a generic one yesterday that was bought as a present. I think both were about 3-4 years old.

Check the pins, especially on the card reader. I threw one out recently, as it could read there was data on the card, but that was as far as it went (I could not open the card at all). There was at least one pin flattened. I dont know how I did it, as from years experience with so called faulty cameras, I was super careful.

The bent pin marked the plastic on my card, so I dumped it too. If the card is physically damaged around the pin holes, it increases the risk of damaging a pin in the camera too. So check the edge of the card where the pin holes are,for Mark's or small grooves. Quite often this will be the first evidence of a damaged or lost pin.

If you have a bent pin, sometimes you can straighten it with a fine flat head screwdriver. But, they are fine pins, and can break. I had a 50% success rate with this, but, they generally do not survive a second bend (so not using the damaged card in that slot again is imperative).

As you have an sd slot also,I would recommend using it as the main slot. They are more forgiving in terms of sliding it in and out.



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I bought a new card reader along with a new card to be on the safe side but my spare CF card worked fine in the reader so it’s definitely a card issue. I binned the old card yesterday unfortunately as that would of been a good check but I’ll have a look at the slot in the camera just to be on the safe side. Good shout about using the SD card to export images rather than the CF. A few years ago I looked at wifi cards but iirc they worked different to how I thought and wanted it to so didn’t bother. I’d love to upgrade the camera body but with times as they are I think it will have to wait.

Last year I had a SanDisk SD card fail on a dash cam. I was stopped by the police in Kenya and accused of speeding. I was then asked for a substantial bribe, but on playback to prove my innocence a message alert said the files were corrupt. I was so annoyed, being threatened by the police and I thought I had it all on camera.

Now I only use Toshiba and Samsung SD cards in the dash cam and DSLR. So far I have not had any issues with either.

As much as I love the photos you post Phil I don’t think I could live where you do. I suppose you are used to the way of life there now?

Good morning Mark, thank you for comments, much appreciated. I decided to sleep on your question as it involved much soul searching on my part. Am I used to the way of life here by now?

The upside of where we live, it’s like paradise, a secret garden and home hidden from the road. We overlook a beautiful garden with a forest, a natural stream with a waterfall. There is always something to see and do here, we never get bored and the weather is mostly warmer than in the UK. We love to get away on safari camping in the bush or swimming in the warm seas of the ocean and it’s tropical waters.

The downside is there is no welfare state or NHS and the standards of health care are not the same as they are in the UK. Only 3.8% of the population is over 65 and there are no state care homes. This could explain the low death rates from Covid-19. Social media is monitored so what I write has already been reported here. Since restrictions started, there has been 64 deaths from the extra judicial killings which have been condemned by the government. None of this ever reaches the international news. We keep a low profile when we are out, we are not flashy and I drive an old 4x4. Apart from the corruption, we are okay.

I divide my time between Kenya, South Africa and the UK. We love the UK :}:}

I am not sure if that answers your question, perhaps I am still undecided ;)

Fingers crossed, but so far never had a card failure. But I only use them once, insert a new card, format it, fill it up and then remove it for a new one. Images in the meantime are downloaded from the camera to PC.

Hi Mark,

I only use Sandisk compact Flash cards.....32GB 120MB's UDMA 7 Extreme to be precise.
Mine are used every day and on average I'm shooting between 300-1000 images per day.
You have to be careful with cards as there are a lot of fake versions about.

I have never (touch wood) had a card failure, Like you I have two slots and both cards are set to record the same files. If one did fail then at least I have a backup.

I have to do this shooting commercially to make sure my clients receive their images.
The same reason I have a second camera body and spare batteries......Bulit in redundancy I guess;)