Memory Card life

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How long can I expect a memory card to last before it causes problems? Are there any dos/dont's that will help extend the card's life?

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[andyturk]

"How long" is a really difficult question to answer because it depends on what's inside the card and how you use it.

I've got some 10+ year old cards that showed damage when I tried to load the images from them (I copied the images years ago, but didn't erase the cards). There'd be a section in the middle of the image that'd be some kind of bright color stripe where the bits had failed. If the failure occurred in the directory information for the card, I think the entire thing would have been unreadable.

If possible, format an SD card in the camera that's going to write to it rather than a computer. Also back up data on your cards to some other storage medium if possible. SD cards aren't really delicate, but they're also not as reliable as an SSD in your computer which uses a journaled filesystem and has lots of error correction.

On long trips, my preference is to use a collection of smaller-sized cards rather than one big card, which would be a single point of failure.

More than you ever wanted to know about SD cards: https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=1022

[TomB_tx]

Each area of a an SD (or similar) card has a limited number of times it can be re-written. However, as you erase files the card will give preference to use lesser used space until it need to re-use that space, so if you let the card manage the space it is not a concern - they cite 10 years of normal use as typical. It is suggested that constant re-formatting may affect the life, but this isn't clear. I never re-format and have never had a problem. I did find this on a search:

"... memory cards should be formatted now and then, but it doesn't have to be very often. If you format it every time you empty it, you will perform write operations to the same part of the memory, which shortens it's life span. ... When you delete files, the data is left on the memory card but marked as reusable."

[jdlaing]

I’ve had some go bad in six months and some that have lasted for years. Luck of the draw.

The better quality name brand ones should last longer.

[lct]

Never got problems with my memory cards in 15+ years but i do not format them in my cameras, only with SD Formatter. 

[lanetomlane]

All interesting. I'm still using the same cards as I had with the M8; how many years ago was that? I format the cards in camera, as soon as I've downloaded the images. Even if I've just taken a couple of test shots I still format it, rather than deleting the images.

I've only ever had one card fail and that was in a Nikon whilst on safari and even then I was able to download the images. If I remember correctly the next time I put the card in the camera I got some sort of warning message and so the card went straight in the bin.

[lawman]

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On 1/4/2020 at 7:54 AM, TomB_tx said:

Each area of a an SD (or similar) card has a limited number of times it can be re-written. However, as you erase files the card will give preference to use lesser used space until it need to re-use that space, so if you let the card manage the space it is not a concern - they cite 10 years of normal use as typical. It is suggested that constant re-formatting may affect the life, but this isn't clear. I never re-format and have never had a problem. I did find this on a search:

"... memory cards should be formatted now and then, but it doesn't have to be very often. If you format it every time you empty it, you will perform write operations to the same part of the memory, which shortens it's life span. ... When you delete files, the data is left on the memory card but marked as reusable."

If you don’t format after downloading images do you just delete all images before reshooting?

[TomB_tx]

2 hours ago, lawman said:

If you don’t format after downloading images do you just delete all images before reshooting?

Yes. I put the card in a Windows PC, use Lightroom to import the images, then use Windows to delete all the images, eject the card, and back to the camera. Never had an issue with this method.

[albertknappmd]

I format frequently so as to wipe the card clean of prior files and back up every day.

SD cards are essentially indestructible and CHEAP. While they may last a decade, I usually retire them after one or two years.

Albert

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[Herr Barnack]

On 1/4/2020 at 10:51 AM, andyturk said:

"How long" is a really difficult question to answer because it depends on what's inside the card and how you use it.

I've got some 10+ year old cards that showed damage when I tried to load the images from them (I copied the images years ago, but didn't erase the cards). There'd be a section in the middle of the image that'd be some kind of bright color stripe where the bits had failed. If the failure occurred in the directory information for the card, I think the entire thing would have been unreadable.

If possible, format an SD card in the camera that's going to write to it rather than a computer. Also back up data on your cards to some other storage medium if possible. SD cards aren't really delicate, but they're also not as reliable as an SSD in your computer which uses a journaled filesystem and has lots of error correction.

On long trips, my preference is to use a collection of smaller-sized cards rather than one big card, which would be a single point of failure.

More than you ever wanted to know about SD cards: https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=1022

I have had similar problems; 90% of the time it was when using the 32GB version of https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1251880-REG/lexar_lsd64gcb1nl6332_64gb_professional_uhs_i_sdxc.html which I always bought from B&H (not Amazon, where there were some counterfeit SDXC cards floating around and causing problems at one point in time).  When this problem occurred, it would show up in somewhere between 10-15% of the files in a given import, not all of them.

it has been hard to get definitive information on what causes this phenomenon, but my understanding of it is this:  What is happening is that for some reason the preview of the file is being corrupted during the import process.  The file on the card is okay but something goes sideways during import, causing the small preview file to appear to be corrupted.  This means that if you have not reformatted the card or otherwise deleted the images, you could try to re-import them as the file on the card is (in theory) not corrupted.

As to how to prevent this, I started using a surge suppressor between the wall socket and my laptop and an external card reader, in case the cause was a current fluctuation or the card reader in my Macbook was in the process of failing.  I also changed to SanDisc SDXC cards https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1431033-REG/sandisk_sdsdxxy_064g_gn4in_extremepro_sdxc_64gb_card.html?sts=pi&pim=Y  These three changes have resolved the problem.

On another thread asking about this, jaapv said that we should move the manual sliding lock tab on the left side of the card to the locked position before importing images.  I was unaware that this should be done until jaapv pointed it out.  I always thought the lock tab was simply to prevent images from being inadvertently deleted or reformatted out of existence.

While I'm still not 100% certain of what the exact cause(s) of the corruption of the preview file during import are, the corrective actions I have taken have put a stop to this intermittent but exasperating phenomena.   At minimum, I would recommend switching to SanDisk SDXC cards; the surge suppressor and external card reader were not costly (around $50 USD for both) so those are cost effective options.

Hope this helps...

Edited January 6, 2020 by Herr Barnack

[mujk]

The idea behind formatting a card is that it will return the file system structure on the card to a consistent state, fixing any errors or inconsistencies that may have occured while writing or deleting files, e.g. when suddenly running out of battery. Otherwise the effect is very similar to deleting all files.

Formatting the card in the camera where it is going to be used, rather than somewhere else, will ensure compatibility and usually also sets up the needed folder structure. Formatting the card in a computer is usually safe as well, particularly when using software intended for formatting memory cards. However, using a card formatted in another camera of a different brand/model is not recommended.

[andyturk]

@Herr Barnack

"... but my understanding of it is this:  What is happening is that for some reason the preview of the file is being corrupted during the import process."

I think it's the luck of the draw. Depending on which bits actually failed, it could be the preview image, the main image, or directory information. My experience was unusual because I did copy data off the card soon after the images were made and there were no errors at that time. A decade later, I was curious about what was on the cards and that's when I saw the errors. So it was pure "bit rot" since the cards hadn't been used at all in the interim.

The underlying technology of flash storage has a limited number of erase cycles. That's when a sector of the chip is "erased" to be all ones (0xFF for nerds). However, that's not the same thing as erasing images or formatting a card. A small cpu inside the card manages everything and actually decides when to low-level format any particular piece of the memory. A technique called "wear leveling" ensures that the same sectors don't see too much use. So even if you reformat the card frequently, you're probably exercising different parts of the memory at a hardware level.

[lawman]

9 hours ago, TomB_tx said:

Yes. I put the card in a Windows PC, use Lightroom to import the images, then use Windows to delete all the images, eject the card, and back to the camera. Never had an issue with this method.

That's very interesting. I read somewhere that deleting a file can lead to problems so I have always adopted the practice of downloading my files to Lightroom and then reformatting the card in the camera. I have designated a number of cards to each camera and never mix and match them. I use mostly Sandisk Extreme Pro cards and so far over the years (M9 to M10P) I haven't had any problem. BUT, you are saying that it's a better practice to only delete files after downloading and then limit reformatting to very rare occasions, correct?  I have also taken to reformatting occasionally using SD Formatter. Thanks for the input.