Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

We have all come to depend on the SD cards.

A few years ago I twice lost a whole day's shooting when an SD card failed Happened two times with different SD cards.

I was so happy to get the second card slot on my D7000. Of course the same in the D7100. Naturally I haven't had a failed SD card since.

Last night I was shooting the moon. Got home, pulled the card from the camera and the computer would not recognize it. I tried an auxiliary sd card reader plugged into two different USB jacks. No joy.

I went back to the camera and put the second card. There were all my photos. And my breath.

The bad card was not some third-tier brand. It was a Sandisk. So was the one that worked.

I know the advertising tells you how they test these things and they should be indestructible. They run over them with 10 ton trucks, drop them from great heights, grind them into the sand under their heel, etc. Bah Humbug. They do fail. Not often but they do.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Computer guy here. Try formatting it in the camera again. Did you pull the card while the camera was on? I've done that bad move before and formatting it in the camera gave it new life. That second slot is good if you're doing a mirror image. In my D7200, I just got a real high speed card for continuous shooting and the slower card in Slot 2 slows things down, so I now have mine set to use Slot 2 as overflow. I'm going real fast now, but I don't have a safety net anymore. Good luck. If you need a new card, I just got a 95MB/s Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB from Amazon for about $50. It rocks! My camera almost never buffers now during continuous shooting. Highly recommended.

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

Every time I see a post about this subject, I always make the following comment:
Never remove your SD card from the camera it is not necessary !!

Unless it is being replaced with a new one.

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

Not bad advice, but if using a camera cable or wireless transfers are not good options and removing cards is preferable, at least remove the cards only with the camera powered off. The failures described in the original post sound more like a operating system write issue than a SD hardware problem.

neilds37 Loc: Port Angeles, WA

That was before Windows 10. I'm still waiting for the firmware update for the camera in order to use the cable again.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

Why not?

Sure you could return from a long shoot with dead batteries and wait to download until the battery is charged again, but that is a total waste of time, and very unnecessary. SD and CF cards are made to go into computers, so why do you think we should not remove cards from the camera? What do you base this misguided idea that cards should not be removed from a camera on?

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Per OPs post, the card was working in the camera it and was only after removal that it failed to operate. There is some risk of damage or failure in removing and inserting the cards. Operater error, static electricity, bent, fatigued or broken camera pins, card connector comtamination, are a few of the risks.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I suggest you give the card edge connector a good cleaning using a degreasing agent like ethyl alcohol. Do not uses excessive amounts use just enough to wet the contacts.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

Yea, and you could get hit by a bus when you leave the house. Does that prevent you from leaving the house. There is more risk of your camera shutting off in the middle of a transfer corrupting files then by removing a card.

cmikal

I believe the intent of the comment regarding not removing the cards mostly relates to doing so with the camera on and to a lesser degree - don't ever remove the cards unless you have to. The advice is sound, IMO and not at all misguided.

When you hear about problems retrieving images from a camera, it typically involves a problem with the SD card. Many times the problem isn't a hard failure with the card, but more often the way the card was handled. Forgetting to turn the power off first can cause problems. Static electricity from careless handling can cause problems. Inserting and removing the card incorrectly or forcefully can cause problems. Removing the card from your PC before selecting "Safely Remove this Device" from your PCs menu can cause problems. If, in the process of inserting an SD card into the camera, you break the connector, thats a huge problem. IF, on the other hand, you wear out or break the USB cable, it can be replaced cheaply. If you wear out or break the USB connector on the camera, you can still fall back and remove the SD card, since that connector should be pristine, since it was rarely used for insertion and removal. Connectors do wear out. They all have a finite life.

Notice that I never said "you WILL" have problems by removing the SD card. I only said you "may", you "might", you "can".

Very few people follow the proper handling procedure for electronic components, especially when they have exposed electrical contacts. Touching the contacts is a potential source of early SD card failure (static electricity). Very few people follow the proper procedure for removing an external hard drive from the PC. (Select the "Safely Remove" feature prior to removal). From the perspective of your computer, your SD card is an external hard drive. Improper removal is a potential source of failure.

Are you convinced yet? If not, continue to use the same processes and procedures that have served you well up to now. Just be aware that your odds of a failure are much greater than if you used the cable. It's not a guarantee of failure, just better odds of one.

There are lots of things in life you can do improperly or carelessly and get away with, but getting away with something doesn't mean its an acceptable course of action

JD750 Loc: SoCal

You asked "why not" I cited some of the risks, for you so you could understand that it is not risk free.

And what does removing an SD card have to do with getting hit by a bus? Why do you say such silly things?

I will stipulate that I have had 1 SD card failure. OP cited several card failures. I can say with certainty that I have not been hit by a bus when leaving my house, or anywhere else, and I'd bet OP has not ben hit either. So while it is a small sample, it would seem less likely to get hit by a bus than to have an SD card failure. And I have never ever had a camera shut off transferring info after taking a picture.

But your chosen risk posture with respect to removing cards, and getting hit by busses, is entirely up to you.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

Its a over-reaction and an unnecessary one at that. Also to draw a parallel that the card worked in the camera, but didn't work in the computer therefore the act or removing the card caused damage is ridiculous. I've heard stories, stories on this board of cards going through a washing machine and still worked. There really is no special handling needed on modern day cards.

Also having your camera shut off in the middle of a transfer is worse. You also make an assumption that photographers don't shoot more than one card. I can't tell a client that my only card is full therefore my job is over. Even someone who is not a pro, shoots more than one card on many occasions. Would you have them have a camera for each card they own?

I'm sorry, but it's just a silly notion that you should not take a card out of a camera.

cmikal

If you are happy with the way you transfer photos, who am I to argue.

There isn't a black and white cut and dried answer to the question. Your way isn't necessarily wrong, it just comes with more risk IMO. The last I checked, washing machines were low on the list of static generators, just the opposite actually, so the washing machine analogy isn't valid. As long as the card does not have power applied, it can get wet and unless its still wet when you plug it in, no harm done. Are you an Engineer? Do you understand the failure modes of electronic devices?

One other risk to removing a card that no one has mentioned is loss. Physical loss. SD cards are small. It's much easier to lose an SD card once its out of the camera than it is while it is still installed. About a year ago I was visiting my daughter in another state, 1000 miles away. My SD card filled up. I removed it and put a new one in the camera. I put the used one in its little plastic case and put it in my camera bag. At least I thought I did. When I got home I couldn't find the card. All my pictures....gone. It wasn't a technical failure, but a human failure that caused the loss. If I had used a newer, larger capacity card, rather than trying to make use of an old small capacity card, the card would have still been in my camera, where I could find it.

So again, your way isn't necessarily wrong. It just carries more risk. If you can't see the risk, don't understand the risk, don't care about the risk, and are willing to accept the risk, who am I to argue the point. You obviously have a process that seemingly works for you. Use it. Embrace it. Enjoy the day and just understand that there is a different way that also works well for a lot of people.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

You can say there is more risk all you want to, but saying it does not make it true. Try to tell your second and third shooters to hand over their cameras because removing cards is just too much risk. And using a large capacity card when you are paid for shooting a wedding or other event is taking a risk of losing everything if the card does fail, not very smart. I swap cards 3 times during a wedding to prevent a total loss. Thats mitigating risk. Never removing your card is not mitigating risk. It sounds more like a over reaction to losing a card

You assign risk that is not there, and create more risk by using large capacity cards. Because you are absent minded and lost cards does not mean others will do the same

cmikal

Keep doing what you are doing. If it works, don't fix it.

You have taken several opportunities to throw insults my way for reasons that are not clear to me. I don't appreciate it, and decline to participate further. If you treat your clients and the people that work with you and for you the same way you have treated me in this short period of time, I feel bad for them, especially the clients, since they would be contractually obligated to be part of your life for more than the span of a few messages on a forum.

This conversation between us is over.