Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Loser Troll.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Wow! Aren't you testy?

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Troll

Rongnongno Loc: FL

So everyone is a troll now. Look at your thread, it is complete nonsense. I wonder how many pages this will fill.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Actually, the XQD card is much faster (writing) and using pins, it is less prone to 'incidents'. It is by far the best choice of the two.

huyenguyen408

set up depending on you and type of camera, I normally download my shots to both, but video goes to 2nd only and clear all once in a while. Reason for using both was if something goes wrong with one, I still have copies in the other.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

SD cards and SSD cards are designed for completely different services.

We do know that SSD cards have a built in controller designed to distribute frequent writes throughout the relative large memory to minimize wear out. SD cards write much more infrequently and do not require such monitoring. Wear out of an SD card is unlikely.

The actual storage mechanism of both types is similar they store charge in a small cell which escapees with heat and time. Both types are refreshed when accessed. SSD cards are higher capacity and have much smaller storage cells. Wear out of a SSD card is likely over time.

All storage media wear out with time and decay without use or refresh. It is a law of thermodynamics and can’t be beat except at absolute zero temperature. Nevertheless solid state memory is not the best choice for long term storage. Archival storage of data is best accomplished by redundant storage continuously refreshed.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I doubt you'll every wear them out. Cards die from static electricity, physical stress, pocket lint, and liquids faster than they die from use.

I've been using some cards for eight years without failure. The only time they are exposed is when transferring from camera to reader or camera to anti-static case or reader to anti-static case. I don't pocket them or leave them sitting around...

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Here is a summary of the expected number of Erase/Write cycles that can be expected from NAND Flash Memory from the Enterprise Storage Forum:

Please note that there are 3 cell type mentioned below: SLC, MLC and TLC

SLC = Single Level Cell. This the case that a cell has only two states -- zero or one. These are the early memory cards, and they were very rugged. But capacity and speed are low.

MLC = Multi Level Cell. This case allows each cell to store 2^2 states which is 4 levels. This means that the internal comparators have to be able to resolve Vdd/4 increments. If a part is working at 1.8V, then we would have 4 regions for the cell to output it's level. That would be 0 to < 0.45V, 0.45V to < 0.9V, 0.9V to < 1.35V, and 1.35V to 1.8V. This means that one cell contains 4 possible states and we could call them 00, 01, 10, and 11 -- two bits per cell.

TLC - Triple Level Cell and this time it is 2^3 = 8 states, meaning that it can store 000, 001, 010, 011, 100, 101, 110, 111 or 3 bits of data per cell.

To make this even more challenging, each generation becomes faster, and the data stored in each cell has to be 8 repeatable distributions as a shift in level would make it read a different group of 3 bits.

Note also that they mention the number of Write Cyles. Understand that in order to do a write cycle, a block needs to be erased first, thus Write Cycle = Erase Cycle / Write Cycle.

https://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/hardware/ssd-lifespan-how-long-will-your-ssd-work/

How SSD/Flash Endurance is Measured
The endurance rating of NAND flash SSDs is expressed in write cycles. They have a limited number of write cycles, after which the oxide layer of the flash memory cells starts degrading. This impacts the performance of the SSD.

The endurance rate is also called the program/erase cycle, or P/E cycle. When new data is stored in the SSD, an existing data block must be erased electrically. Unfortunately, a continuous P/E cycle deteriorates the oxide layer of the NAND flash memory cells. Thus, these cells eventually wear out, which affects their data-storing capacity.

Another undesirable phenomenon that affects SSD performance is write amplification. When writing data into the storage drive, the actual amount of the write gets multiplied. This increases the number of writes and thus shortens the reliable operation time of the SSD, crashing its consistency. Different factors affecting the write amplification are garbage collection, over-provisioning, metadata, log structures, and de-duplication.

You will find key differences in the flash endurance of single-level cell (SLC), multi-level cell (MLC), and triple-level cell (TLC) architecture:

SLC NAND flash can endure around 50,000 to 1,00,000 write cycles.
MLC NAND flash can sustain up to 3,000 write cycles. eMLC or enterprise MLC version supports about 10,000 write cycles.
TLC NAND Flash has low endurance and can take about 300 to 1,000 write cycles.


Note: There are others papers that specify different numbers max write cycles.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

In an unplanned experiment I ran a SD card through at least one wash but not the dryer. Wiped off and inserted back in the camera it has worked flawlessly for a number of years. I do not recommend it but… Looking at the design the only wear point is the gold plating on the contacts. You can see wear but I would not retire a card until operation became intermittent. Where you format a card is between you and your god but I don’t know how to format a card in my camera. I have a simple script that increments a counter in the volume name. Ifo a card fails I will have a data point to report.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Yep - to put it into perspective consider a conservative number of 600 max block erase/write cycles, a camera that produces 32MB raw files, and a 32GB card. That’s 600,000 images written. Even assuming 300 absolute worst case max to account for bad blocks, wear leveling, write amplification, etc, you can still write 300,000 images. Odds are you’ll wear out your shutter or trade your camera before you exceed the TBW (total bytes written) of your SD card.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I have seen both CF Cards fail and SDXC cards fail, but in every case, it was because the user did something really stupid. It was all too easy to bend the pins in the camera sockets of bodies that used CF cards. That would take a body out of service until the pins were straightened.

The holes in CF cards could get loose and dirty and fail to make good contact.

Spill a soft drink or sugary latte on a card, and it can get wonky. Water, OTOH, doesn't seem to do much if the card is dried. A heavy static discharge can kill one. Dropping a card in a pocket with keys and coins is a good way to damage it. Bending an SD card too much can render it useless. Treated gently, protected from static discharge, and kept clean and dry, cards can last the life of a camera.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

That's a huge waste of time and more wear and tear on your cards and camera than necessary.

I have a camera with 2 SD 64mb card slots, #2 is an overflow. I only shoot raw. I can fit more than 2000 images (24MP, about 25kb each) on either card so the first card is never as much as 10% full. Since I don't come close to filling the first card the second one is just a spare. I have never had a card fail.

I never remove the cards from the camera and insert them into the computer. I use a cable. It's a little slower but that's academic since I seldom collect more than 200 shots on the first card. The only contacts that are exposed to wear and tear are the cable (cheap), the camera's USB socket and one of the computer's USB sockets.

It's a myth that formatting is any better than simply deleting files. If your camera can't successfully overwrite previously recorded data then it's probably going to fail writing properly on a formatted drive.

I never reformat either card unless I am about to update the firmware. How often do you reformat your computer's internal hard drives? After three decades I have only done it once and it didn't help because the drive was toast anyhow.

If I'm on a trip I upload all of my images for the day to my portable computer and put another copy on a USB drive.

I use the same approach for my Z7 which has only one 128MP XQD card and I have never worried about that one either.

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

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I don't purposely switch the cards in the slots. I use a card reader to transfer pictures to my computer and if I have pictures on both cards, I just put the cards back without paying any attention to which slot they had been in. I've never had any problems doing it that way.