400 GB SanDisk Ultra microSD card

[joebartels]

Just out, @tibber can now photograph the world

SanDisk Ultra 400GB microSDXC UHS-I card with Adapter - SDSQUAR-400G-GN6MA

[big_load]

That's going in the wrong direction. I have no motivation to pare my photos down to a postable number.

[chumley]

@big_load
You have some good company on this site!

[tibber]

Just out, @tibber can now photograph the world

SanDisk Ultra 400GB microSDXC UHS-I card with Adapter - SDSQUAR-400G-GN6MA

now I just gotta retire

[chumley]

Has anybody here had an SD Card failure? I know people have lost them, but that's a separate issue. Hard drives fail all the time (and generally have a 5 year lifespan give or take). I'd be afraid of having so much data on a single device. Redundant backups are your friend!

[joebartels]

I had 1 or 2 fail a decade ago. Imagine they have a better grip on static zapping or whatever the issue was. The issue with these solid state drives is the number of lifetime writes/burns is less than magnetic. Though I can't imagine that to be much of an issue to an individual consumer unless they daisy chained as a commercial data bank.

Out of curiosity I googled and it's all over the board up to 30% fail. I read on several forums to replace after 2 years. Yet lifespan is stated on more to be 10 years including the SD Association which boggles my mind exists. One guy reported no issues after a wash cycle in a washing machine, personally I wouldn't try that on a card you care about...lol Manufacturing defects and users pulling the cards out during a write cycle "seem" to top the list of failure. Higher end cards work around defects like hard drives by mapping bad blocks, which keeps the system from the bad blocks.

fun fact
1 GB = 1 Million Commodore 64s
( the greatest selling single computer model of all time, sassy considering only 12.5 million were produced )

[The_Eagle]

@chumley
I have had my phone destroy 3 of them.

[CannondaleKid]

@chumley
Whether MMC, CompactFlash, SD, SDHC, SDXC, I've never had any memory card failure (even USB sticks).
I can't offer much as far as expected lifetimes because I no longer use the oldest ones, but I have two 3 year-old cards still in regular use.

[RowdyandMe]

I'm holding out for a 5 terabyte stick just for my music

[chumley]

One guy reported no issues after a wash cycle in a washing machine

I've put my USB thumb drives through the wash a bunch of times. Never had a problem...

[RowdyandMe]

@joebartels
Wow you'll have room for all your selfies

[outdoor_lover]

I've never had a Card Failure either... But I've been told to stick with Sandisk as it seems to be the most Reliable...I have a couple of Cards that are at least 4 Years old and still doing just fine... I won't use anything bigger than a 32GB though and even that big makes me nervous... I've only filled one up once on a Single Trip and that was last Month to California... 20 Days on the Road, my longest Trip ever.... Came home with right at 32 GB worth of Photos...over 7000 Images....

[syoung]

Has anybody here had an SD Card failure?

Knock on wood but I've never experienced a failure either. I have had a few DOA right out of the package though.

[JoelHazelton]

Has anybody here had an SD Card failure?

Yep. Out at the EF Black River setting up for an evening shot. Had to drive back to Show Low through a stormy, rainbow-y sunset to buy a new one from Walmart. Of course it was dark by the time I was back to the forest. Still, I'd rather have the card fail before the shot than after the shot.

Newer pro DSLRs often have 2 card slots configurable to mirror each other for redundancy. Most will never need it, but when they do it'll be that rainbow lightning shot, or an expensive wedding shoot or something.

Tips I've heard for extending the life of a card:
1. Don't delete photos off the card after transferring to a computer; rather, format the card.
2. When formatting the card, format in the camera using the camera menu. Don't format on the computer like you would a hard drive.

I don't remember the source or how reliable (and I'm by no means a technical authority when it comes to cameras), but the tips seem pretty logical.

[CannondaleKid]

Tips I've heard for extending the life of a card:
1. Don't delete photos off the card after transferring to a computer; rather, format the card.
2. When formatting the card, format in the camera using the camera menu. Don't format on the computer like you would a hard drive.

I don't remember the source or how reliable (and I'm by no means a technical authority when it comes to cameras), but the tips seem pretty logical.

Yes, good tips.
However... for folks who really care about their photos, IMO the MOST logical thing would be to carry a spare card!
While they aren't the same size I always bring 2 spare cards along, each in a different spot.

[Digital_Sherpa]

I've owned many and only had one fail, but it was disastrous. It was an older 1Gb Sandisk and was working fine in the camera but when I tried to offload the pics to the computer it would only display an error message saying the card was corrupted. Sandisk's recovery utility didn't work either. So an all day trip up the Zion Narrows is committed to memory rather than bits and bytes. I always have at least 5 cards in my kit at all times, so if I'd known there was a problem I could have potentially minimized the impact in the field.

And I agree with Joel, formatting the card in the camera is the best option AFTER copying the files to the computer AND making a backup.

[CannondaleKid]

And I agree with Joel, formatting the card in the camera is the best option AFTER copying the files to the computer AND making a backup.

For sure!

While I have had no physical/electronic card failures, I HAVE experienced procedure failure on more than one occasion:
Deleting files from a card after I 'thought' I had already copied the files off.

Luckily I've recovered each time with EasUS Data Recovery Wizard. (both Windows & Mac free versions)

One important note: The chance of recovering all the files intact rises astronomically by re-formatting before each use.
Conversely, the more times files have been added & deleted without reformatting the less likely to recover the files INTACT.
(They may be 'recovered' but ultimately are gibberish)

[Thoreau]

I've had microSD card failures before (SanDisk even) and saw my first ever desktop SSD failure about two weeks ago. (I work in IT, so I see a LOT of hardware, so that one failure is beyond rare in my experience.)

I still stick primarily to Sandisk and Samsung memory though, as they've been reliable for me every time it's ever counted. Sandisk pro (or whatever series) SD cards for the SLR, and Samsung pro whatever microSD for my phones.

Knock on wood, but even back in the days of compact flash, I never had any memory failures on cards used in my cameras, but I'll be damned if I'd ever use the largest model they make at any given time. I kinda get nervous running the 128GB card in my 80D, but it's my go to just in case I ever find a storm to chase or another situation where having the space instantly available without a card change might matter.

The good news is, the constant advancements on the top end will continue to trickle down and make larger/faster cards at the lower levels more affordable and readily available. I'd imagine 32 and 64gb cards are gonna be cheaper than candy sooner than later.