Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

In 20 years of reformatting I have yet to wear a card out. So how many thousands of times is required?

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Don't know. The cards of today are in no way the same cards of the 1990s. They are generally very reliable. I have never had a card fail. I suspect that most that do fail are from mishandling, write interruptions, or random causes. CF cards, of course are particularly susceptible to pin failure. Most pins are made of brittle metal. Even if you are fortunate to discover a bent pin and straighten it, the likelihood is that it will still eventually break off, as result of the work hardening done by the original bending and later straightening.

I have had multiple USB thumb drives fail. In every case, the cause traced to a failure between the connector and the rest of the device...mechanical failure or interconnecting wiring failure.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

A bunch...

In actuality, good question!

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Until I got the R7 all my cards were Cf. Yes,I was terrified of bending a pin in the camera so great care was taken and thus far no bent ones. But I have seen others not so fortunate.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

bhapke

All solid state storage does go bad. There are two ways they fail. One is that the voltage levels of the data can degrade with time. If the data being stored is re-written often enough (by taking new photos for example) this will probably not be a problem. The other way they fail is with writing. Solid stage memory is rated for a certain number of write cycles (usually 1,000 to 10.,000). Writing fatigues the insulator that surrounds the storage cell and repeated writing causes this to fail. All solid state storage controllers have a feature that randomizes writes to use the full area of the storage even if never used to capacity, as a wear leveling feature, so early failures are very rare in name brand units, but they will eventually all fail with continued use. I wouldn't loose much sleep over it, since they will probably last longer than the cameras we use them in, and you will probably upgrade to newer technology or larger capacity storage before this is a problem unless you are a professional with very demanding usage.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I don't think they have anything on them. I will have to check to see if the computer card reader can see anything on them. I'll get back to you. They have always been stored in the little plastic cases that they were bought with.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

See if you can have the computer transfer a file to it (them) and get it back (view it).

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I always store the cards in the plastic boxes that they are sold with. Never a loose card rattling around in the camera bag or a pocket!
I'm a retired electronics tech, so I know the basics.
Some SanDisk cards, about six years old and I bought new cards 64GB (Lexar) when I bought the D850 so about four years old.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I have a hard wallet for eight of mine.
Overflow are in the little cases that they came in. But not all came in a little case.

Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

Bohica Loc: SE Coast of NC

Lost a D200 due to a bent pin in the CF reader. I've been much more carefull since then.

Bohica Loc: SE Coast of NC

Ah! A twiggit! lol, Snipe here!

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

Same here, take out card, download the data, format in camera after download. Only one failure in eighteen years and the others are working fine, some even after eighteen years. I also rotate three cards.