As I said before and elsewhere, where are all the prophotogs decrying Sandisk mlc??!! The silence is deafening, isn't it? Why has Sandisk become a top selling product?! Are millions of people being complete fools?!
Where are the bloodcurdling stories here on Dgrin of Sandisk card failures??!! Is there *one*? Who has said that Sandisk was not fast enough? Anyone?
It seems to me that the dissing of Sandisk by some here remains somewhat hypothetical in the face of user satisfaction.
Neil
I know this may not count because it's not TRULY Sandisk's fault themselves, but the reason I don't buy Sandisk anymore is not so much SLC vs MLC, but because of the sheer volume of fakes out there. I know you could probably avoid this by buying directly from B&H or Adorama, but I'm still hesitant.
Anytime something goes mainstream, bad things can happen.
My particular story is of two Sandisk 8 GB cards purchased off Amazon- A friend of mine lost an entire wedding rehearsal day / dinner because the cards corrupted and were completely un-recoverable- they were fakes, they weren't even 8 GB I believe they were 2 or 4 GB.
That, and the Sandisk rebate scam. It was a year or two ago, Sandisk out-sourced their rebate program to a company that had already gotten a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit against it. Or something like that. Either way it was a huge fiasco and tons of people were sneakily cheated out of their rebates, and the company employees were allegedly pocketing rebate checks.
I'm sure that the professional (and even consumer grade) Sandisk cards are perfectly good products. But I just don't want to go down that road and I can't in good conscience recommend that anyone else do so...
Well, Matt, each person goes down their own path in deciding on purchases. Just yesterday someone, seeing my Canon gear, asked me why I bought Canon stuff. He told me he once had a Canon p&s camera and it carked it. I will never ever buy another Canon product, he said to me.
I think to get to some rational assessment of products you have to separate out a few factors. What you describe is not about whether Sandisk cards are better or worse than other brands, but about circumstances indirectly associated with them. You don't talk about their quality or lack of it. It makes an intersting story, but it's not quite on topic.
Overfocused, before I bought my camera, and indeed any product I now own, I did exhaustive research on the internet and elsewhere. The kind of industry-lab tests you refer to are extremely interesting and useful. But when I take photographs I am reacting to my gear on the basis of what it is doing in my hand, and what I am seeing it give me. Contrary to the disgruntled guy I talked about above, I have had nothing but the greatest satisfaction from my Canon gear. I also am aware that this is the experience of the majority of photographers who use Canon gear. Use by many tens of thousands of Canon owners over the years has resulted in confidence in the brand. And this confidence is quite independent of those industry-lab tests. My point is similar with regard to Sandisk cards. Sure there are differences between slc and mlc cards, and I am not argiung with you about those differences. But the question is how relevant any differences are when stacked up against consumer experience of that product (and not peripheral issues like fakes, and maybe urban legends).
The references you give say something solid, but so too does the complete absence of complaints and horror stories from Sandisk users.
So, peace, eh? and keep your shirt on, mate! We are friends here.
....What you describe is not about whether Sandisk cards are better or worse than other brands, but about circumstances indirectly associated with them. You don't talk about their quality or lack of it. It makes an intersting story, but it's not quite on topic....
I think my opinion regarding Sandisk cards is VERY much on-topic, because even though like you said it is circumstance and not physical performance, I still do not recommend buying Sandisk cards any more. There are just too many factors that can lead to putting your images at risk, AND business practices / circumstances that I don't think consumers should support. Yeah, it might not be Sandisk's fault that they're the #1 most faked card out there. But they could have done much more to combat the problem. Instead, fake cards look nearly identical and most consumers will never know until it is too late. (And many consumers, if I advised them that Sandisk was a great choice, would probably neglect my warnings about fake cards, and they'd fall for a sweet deal on Amazon or eBay...)
The bottom line is that it just never ceases to amaze me, how people try and save $10 or $50 on the one part of their camera that is the most critical when it comes to storing their memories. We've got thousands and thousands of dollars worth of gear, and yet we buy a certain card just to get a $10 or $30 rebate in the mail in 4 months? Even if you're buying a ton of cards and might save $100 or $200, I just don't think it's worth it.
I'm sure that most card brands and products are going to work perfectly 99% of the time, and as a whole a legit Sandisk card is probably among the most reliable. I have four or five Sandisk cards myself and they serve me well. But if someone is asking me what they should buy, TODAY and in the future, I can't bring myself to recommend anything less than the best. Both in quality AND reputation.
Anyone is welcome to recommend Sandisk's latest generation of memory cards, because a recommendation is personal opinion based on experience and research. It's probably a good recommendation, but my own experience and research lead me to make a different recommendation.
WOW! What a thread. I tell you what, you learn something new on this board every day. Now, to start off with, I don't have experience using any other card besides sandisk. I think now, I have almost 20 different cards, ranging from speed and different sizes. I have never had an issue. I once was a second shooter and the main shooter ran out of memory (way to go dude) and I let him borrow a couple of mine. He did not format before use and had issues. His own fault really. I have even left one in my pocket and sent it through the washer and dryer. It was clear and still works, no issue. I have no obligation to them, and would be willing to try a different brand, and I just might, just to see. I don't even think I can tell the difference in speed between all my cards. Guess I will have to pay more attention now.
Comments
Anytime something goes mainstream, bad things can happen.
My particular story is of two Sandisk 8 GB cards purchased off Amazon- A friend of mine lost an entire wedding rehearsal day / dinner because the cards corrupted and were completely un-recoverable- they were fakes, they weren't even 8 GB I believe they were 2 or 4 GB.
That, and the Sandisk rebate scam. It was a year or two ago, Sandisk out-sourced their rebate program to a company that had already gotten a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit against it. Or something like that. Either way it was a huge fiasco and tons of people were sneakily cheated out of their rebates, and the company employees were allegedly pocketing rebate checks.
I'm sure that the professional (and even consumer grade) Sandisk cards are perfectly good products. But I just don't want to go down that road and I can't in good conscience recommend that anyone else do so...
=Matt=
My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
I think to get to some rational assessment of products you have to separate out a few factors. What you describe is not about whether Sandisk cards are better or worse than other brands, but about circumstances indirectly associated with them. You don't talk about their quality or lack of it. It makes an intersting story, but it's not quite on topic.
Overfocused, before I bought my camera, and indeed any product I now own, I did exhaustive research on the internet and elsewhere. The kind of industry-lab tests you refer to are extremely interesting and useful. But when I take photographs I am reacting to my gear on the basis of what it is doing in my hand, and what I am seeing it give me. Contrary to the disgruntled guy I talked about above, I have had nothing but the greatest satisfaction from my Canon gear. I also am aware that this is the experience of the majority of photographers who use Canon gear. Use by many tens of thousands of Canon owners over the years has resulted in confidence in the brand. And this confidence is quite independent of those industry-lab tests. My point is similar with regard to Sandisk cards. Sure there are differences between slc and mlc cards, and I am not argiung with you about those differences. But the question is how relevant any differences are when stacked up against consumer experience of that product (and not peripheral issues like fakes, and maybe urban legends).
The references you give say something solid, but so too does the complete absence of complaints and horror stories from Sandisk users.
So, peace, eh? and keep your shirt on, mate! We are friends here.
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
I'm done, yes! Peace, yes! Now what if I like to get naked? :stud
Would it be worth it?!
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
Fantastic. NoodZ.
(well i think this thread has been exhausted... lol)
The bottom line is that it just never ceases to amaze me, how people try and save $10 or $50 on the one part of their camera that is the most critical when it comes to storing their memories. We've got thousands and thousands of dollars worth of gear, and yet we buy a certain card just to get a $10 or $30 rebate in the mail in 4 months? Even if you're buying a ton of cards and might save $100 or $200, I just don't think it's worth it.
I'm sure that most card brands and products are going to work perfectly 99% of the time, and as a whole a legit Sandisk card is probably among the most reliable. I have four or five Sandisk cards myself and they serve me well. But if someone is asking me what they should buy, TODAY and in the future, I can't bring myself to recommend anything less than the best. Both in quality AND reputation.
Anyone is welcome to recommend Sandisk's latest generation of memory cards, because a recommendation is personal opinion based on experience and research. It's probably a good recommendation, but my own experience and research lead me to make a different recommendation.
=Matt=
My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum