How long does SD cards last

joeinmiamijoeinmiami Registered Users Posts: 82 Big grins
edited August 8, 2008 in Accessories
I am not sure if this topic have been covered, if it has, well we all make mistakes.

I take about 500 photos a week during baseball season and I have being using Sandisk SD Extreme II and III in my D80 and, like most of us, once I transfer the photos to my PC, I erase the cards and reuse them.

How many times can I do this? When it is a good time to replace them BEFORE they start failing? Should I set up a time table and replace the cards when this time table is reached?


Thanks

Joe :D
www.jlm-photos.com

Comments

  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited August 4, 2008
    Life of Flash Memory: SD / CF cards
    That really is dependent on brand and what they say on their site.....I believe lexar gives you approx 10K removal and insertions but yet they also give a lifetime warranty.......so if yoiu want to replace before a failure it will be on you if it fails it will be normally be replace by them free of charge (except for shipping of old back for study.....Lexar used to even replace if you were able to recover your files, as they know it could fail again at any time.) For me Lexar and Transcend have been wonderful.
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

  • davidweaverdavidweaver Registered Users Posts: 681 Major grins
    edited August 8, 2008
    At a minimum carry 3 times what you think you might want to shoot. you have a spare for when you have a failure and you have a spare in case shooting gets especially good. :-)

    I have little SD experience but I have had CF cards partially fail. One time I could only extract the raw files from the card when on the camera, but failed to read in 3 other devices.

    Pre shoot suggestions: Just before you shoot an event, format the card, check that you are shooting in whatever formats you want (RAW+Jpeg for me) and then take a few test shots. Review and delete each of the 3 or 4 pictures. I have had cards gack while doing this so I just pop in another card.

    if you notice that it takes a very long time to save an image to the card then it is time to change cards now. (the little green light stays lighted for more than a few seconds after a couple images.

    I'd suggest writing down the date you placed the card into service onto the card. I do that with rechargeable batteries, but that's a different thread.
Sign In or Register to comment.