Memory card failure rate and dual slot

jaomul · Oct 14, 2014

Not a pressing question but rather out of curiosity.

I bought an sd card for a ridiculously low price on eBay about 8 years ago that came on holiday with me and failed with a few hundred shots in my camera. It was a dud and I suspect a clone of the brand name it supposedly was, but I should have known better.

Any card I have bought since had been from reputable suppliers. I have never had another card fail.

Many discussions now dis newer cameras saying it only has one card. In days past you didn't have a backup film.

Have you had a card fail on you? Do you consider a backup slot a necessity?

SCraig · Oct 14, 2014

I like having dual slots, not only for the duplication in case of a card failure but also to assist in cases of my own stupidity.

I always move files from my camera to my computer as soon as I get home from shooting. Once, and it's been a while so I don't remember the exact circumstances that caused me to do it, I accidentally deleted the directory on my computer before I made a backup of them there. After I finished calling myself a few choice names, I simply swapped the cards in my camera and copied them again. No loss, no foul.

I've also deleted files from my camera and then later wished I hadn't. Not a problem, there is a duplicate on the other card.

I always use Sandisk SD cards and, like you, haven't had a single read error or failure. I've used Sandisk and Kingston memory in computers for many years with similar results so personally those are the only two brands I'll use in my computers or my cameras.

Braineack · Oct 14, 2014

I've had a card fail. A San Disk Extreme Pro actually; it was replaced for free.

The card still wrote, but it performed like a 10 MB/sec card and it was painfully obvious when you shot how slow it would be to write my 24MP files.

I always have a backup card in the dual slot, and carry at least two more; I hardly fill the first.

curtyoungblood · Oct 14, 2014

I've never had a card fail, and dont consider the back slot necessary. They are, however, extremely useful. I can't tell you how many times I have left my desk in a hurry with my camera card sitting in the card reader. Since I've got two card slots, I generally don't even notice until I get back and see a card sitting in the reader.

I should say, that I also don't often shoot things that are critically important and can't be replaced or will cost me thousands of dollars if I lose them. If I was shooting weddings, I would absolutely be writing to both cards.

tirediron · Oct 14, 2014

I like dual slots, but I don't consider the lack of them a show-stopper to my buying process. I've never had a card fail in service.

Derrel · Oct 14, 2014

I have bought a bunch of d-slr cameras over the past 14 years, all of them except one camera had only SINGLE card slots. The only memory card failures I had were on two IBM microdrives, which were actually actual micro hard disks inside CF card type enclosures! On solid-state CF cards, I have not had any cards fail. I have bought mostly high-end SanDisk memory cards. I am still using several SanDisk cards I bought in May of 2005. The vast majority of d-slr cameras have always had one,single memory card slot. Two cards is nice, but is overrated as a necessity; I view two card slots more as a luxury than a necessity.

Tailgunner · Nov 1, 2014

I had a glitch with a Scan disk extreme pro once that had me worried. Thankfully it cleared up and started working once I got home. I've been using second slots as a back up every since.

fotomonkey · Nov 1, 2014

I never had any trouble with my massive 340MB IBM Microdrive. :1247:

I've got dozens of CF/SD/Micro SD cards and have only had one fail. Unfortunately it was during a wedding as the bride was walking towards me (I'd say down the aisle but it was at the beach). That's why you have two cameras. :cool-48:

I like the idea of dual slots namely for splitting images from video but I agree with Derrel that it's more of a luxury than a necessity.

runnah · Nov 1, 2014

Never. But I am good about cleaning and reformatting cards.

snerd · Nov 1, 2014

Never had one fail. I also use the higher-end SanDisk's. I have no need of the 2nd slot, really, but sometimes I'll use it for the day's bracketed shots, while keeping the other shots on first card. Makes it easier to manage when I'm importing them into LR.

Gary A. · Nov 1, 2014

I shoot a lot. I shoot nearly everyday. I've been shooting digitally for more than a decade ... I've never had a card fail. I only buy SanDisk.

dannylightning · Nov 1, 2014

I cant ever recall having a SD card fail I know I have some that are really old and they still work.

cowleystjames · Nov 2, 2014

If you make a living from photography then I'd say a back up card is pretty much a necessity. I've never had a card fail as such, but I have had a camera stop writing to a second slot (Nikon D800e)
It wasn't saving to the SD card but was writing ok to the CF.
I had no idea it wasn't, no error displayed but when I got home the card had several part images along with two full images and then nothing.
Thankfully, I run backup on the second card on all my bodies, so nothing lost.
The SD card worked fine in the card reader and is still working to this day, turned out the card slot had connectivity issues, according to Nikon, and was repaired under warranty.

fotomonkey · Nov 2, 2014

cowleystjames said:
If you make a living from photography then I'd say a back up card is pretty much a necessity. I've never had a card fail as such, but I have had a camera stop writing to a second slot (Nikon D800e)
It wasn't saving to the SD card but was writing ok to the CF.
I had no idea it wasn't, no error displayed but when I got home the card had several part images along with two full images and then nothing.
Thankfully, I run backup on the second card on all my bodies, so nothing lost.
The SD card worked fine in the card reader and is still working to this day, turned out the card slot had connectivity issues, according to Nikon, and was repaired under warranty.

Come to think of it, the card reader in my body crapped out on me so I doubt it was a card failure at the time. I take it back. I've never had one fail.

holly12345 · Dec 4, 2014

I have had 3 cards fail now but have always been able to recover the files with image rescue software. However, this last time it didn't work and I totally freaked out. I tried a few different softwares and finally found Recoverfab through an internet search. I sent my SD card that was not readable by my camera or computer to them and they where able to save all the photos from the shoot...thank GOD! I thought I was going to loose a client but I didn't have to thanks to Recoverfab. All three of my cards that have failed have been Lexar. I also use Sandisk so I am not sure if it is just a Lexar issue but Lexar did say they would replace the cards. Still, they can give me back the time I spent freaking out about loosing my photo files. Here is the link to Revocerfab if anyone gets in the same situation: http://recoverfab.com