ButchS Loc: Spokane, WA

1. You would need to check each manufacture specs. But, most flash memories are shock resistant to ordinary bumps and drops - but none of them will withstand being smashed by a hammer. Most electronics are temperature resistant up to about 140°F. The plastic case is generally well sealed but don’t get them wet on purpose. If they do get wet put them in a bag of rice for several days. And then try them. But don’t be surprised if they don’t work. As far as x-rays most flash memories will be fine going through the airport x-ray machine. But don’t go blasting them with a commercial x-ray source.

2. Size is partially determined by the number of megapixels your camera produces. The more megapixels the bigger the card you will need. My Nikon D810 produces 36 megapixels and I used 128 GB memory cards. My Fuji XT3 produces 26 megapixels but I still use 128 GB cards because I like all my cards to be the same for interchangeability purposes. SD (etc) cards have gotten pretty cheap so I would recommend getting the highest capacity card that you feel comfortable purchasing.

3. SD, SDHC, SDXC which to get depends on what capacity you want. SDXC cards are a higher-capacity version of the SDHC card, which is a higher-capacity version of the original SD card. SDXC cards hold at least 64 GB of files and may hold up to 2 TB. By contrast, SDHC cards store up to 32 GB of data, and the SD card handles up to 2 GB.

4. For movies, you usually want the highest capacity card you can afford.

All that said, I find that most people get by just fine with a handful of 32 GB cards.

11bravo

Travel extensively, from tropical hot (Thailand), to bone numbing cold (Harbin ice festival, China), even on the same trip. Numerous X-RAY machines. Never had a memory card fail.

I do buy name brand, Samsung or SanDisk Pro cards. Don't use micro cards with adapter, prefer full size. When not in camera, in individual protective plastic case in camera bag, or a Pelican card case in carry-on. 32GB or 64GB, doing a quick mental calculation to see which is more cost effective per GB. 64GB allows me some slack if I'm too exhausted to offload card to computer every night.

Once done shooting, always keep minimum of 2 copies, either card and HDD, or 2 HDDs. THEN I will reformat card in camera. Windows 10 and TeraCopy, with Transcend usb3 card reader allows me to checksum file copies when going from card to computer.

Al P.

SD cards seem to be rather impervious to pretty much everything but stomping.
Nice review here:
https://havecamerawilltravel.com/photographer/memory-cards-airport-security-scanners/

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

I’ve had cards run through x-ray machines and have washed them in the cloths washer. Between the SD cards and guitar pics I’ve washed I’ve concluded the pics and cards are lost socks that are victims of quantum physics. I always use multiple smaller cards rather than 1 large one. I had one fail in the 90’s so “once bit twice shy”.