New memory cards?

[spacecadet]

17 minutes ago, Nigel Kirby said:

I have found

https://www.picstop.co.uk/memory-cards.html

one of the cheapest around the UK as there is no VAT payable on there products.

 

Well maybe but that's not the reason. VAT in the IOM is the same and it's a single territory with the UK for VAT purposes. And they ship from Birmingham.

Cheap but they charge for postage.

Worth a look but 7dayshop seems to have recovered and has free postage again. Mostly no-name brands though.

Edited January 27, 2023 by spacecadet

[Harry Harrison]

6 hours ago, Nigel Kirby said:

have found

https://www.picstop.co.uk/memory-cards.html

one of the cheapest around the UK as there is no VAT payable on there products.

Thanks, I'll add that to my bookmarks. In fact my needs are so modest that Amazon is as good as anywhere, Extreme Pro 64GB 200MB/s is probably the most sensible option for my cameras these days. Those UHSII cards are eye-wateringly expensive but having just watched an Olympus sponsored video with Andrew Fusek-Peters on state-of-the-art bird and insect photography (from 9m 30s) I can see why they are needed for certain subjects, high speed bursts at 120 frames per second and Olympus Pro Capture where (as I understand it) half pressure on the shutter means continuous recording in the buffer so you never miss anything.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Harry Harrison

[Marianne]

I was using 8GB and 16GB cards with my Olympus and Nikon Cameras and went up to 32GB with my first Sony, which filled up incredibly fast, so went to 64GB as I've had a couple of cards go bad loosing, e.g. a whole day's shoot from Iceland (it was a Steel HD card, terrible they couldn't recover them) and when those kept filling so fast I finally bit the bullet and went for 128GB; it took about a year to fill one as I haven't been shooting as much, but having more free space on the SD card helps with the speed. The San Disk Extreme Pros are noticeably faster - I mistakenly bought a 128GB Ultra and now keep it as a backup - with large MP cameras the speed difference is very noticeable. 

 

I also bought one of the Sony cards and it seems very sturdy and fast. It was on sale at the time and glad I gave it a try. 

 

I tend to use a card until it is close to full, but have read it's better to reformat more often. I realize that when there is more free space they are faster, just like a computer, and I know it's bad to let them get completely full. Any thoughts on best practices? 

 

 

[sooth]

I use 64gb sandisk extreme pro 95mb/s from a few years ago, have three of them now, but only keep one of them in my camera on a daily basis. I tend to format the card for the next day, but that's because i don't really want to see images from my last outing on the camera and thinking i hope i don't run out of space in the camera despite owning 3 of these cards, and not taking an extra spare card with me.

[sb photos]

9 hours ago, Marianne said:

I tend to use a card until it is close to full, but have read it's better to reformat more often. I realize that when there is more free space they are faster, just like a computer, and I know it's bad to let them get completely full. Any thoughts on best practices? 

 

I usually I have SD cards in both slots, slot 2 mirroring slot 1. Once I've ingested a shoot I only leave images on the cards until they are backed up, then only retain the RAW files from keepers. Then I re format them in camera, check camera batteries and check all settings are at my default. I finally take a few test shots to ensure all is well and the cameras go back into my backpack. I recently put away older SD cards that had been heavily used since around 2015, they have been replaced with slightly faster 64 and 128GB cards. A new to me acquisition has 2 card slots, but only one is for SD cards. CFexpress Type B cards are more expensive, so dithering over choice.

 

[Ed Rooney]

 

I forgot where I put those memory cards! 😧

[Mr Standfast]

57 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

I forgot where I put those memory cards! 😧

Probably with your reading glasses...oops that may not help! 😉

[spacecadet]

14 hours ago, Mr Standfast said:

Probably with your reading glasses...oops that may not help! 😉

I should really know better than to keep ordering black frames, shouldn't I? A bit easier with bifocals, but taking them off before a bath is the real losing opportunity. Fortunately OH can usually see them.

Edited January 30, 2023 by spacecadet

[Allan Bell]

I had a problem with my Sony A6500 in Lincoln today.  I took a couple of images then it froze. It would not focus, non of the buttons worked, could not get into menu, etc. Tried just about everything but it would take a photo after some messing then freeze again.

 

As LCE was just a street away and it being bitter I popped in there to warm up and see if they could cast any light on the problem. After more messing about zilch. I told them I do not take the card out ever. So they took the card out and tried one of their behind the counter cards.  YUP! The camera fired up then failed again. They suggested sending it to Sony. I agreed as I do not like intermittent faults. They took their card out and popped my card back in again and, joy of joys, the camera functioned as it should and kept going.  So I continued with my photography trip around town and it did not skip a beat.

 

I asked the price of LCE cards and they started from £15. I told them I had spares at home. Trouble was I omitted to take one with me today. (Naughty boy!)

 

On an earlier visit to Lincoln I noted that Boots where selling cards and they were cheaper so I picked a SanDisk 64GB card up from them for £12.99 just in case.

 

Allan

 

 

 

[Ognyan Yosifov]

18 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

I had a problem with my Sony A6500 in Lincoln today.  I took a couple of images then it froze. It would not focus, non of the buttons worked, could not get into menu, etc. Tried just about everything but it would take a photo after some messing then freeze again.

 

As LCE was just a street away and it being bitter I popped in there to warm up and see if they could cast any light on the problem. After more messing about zilch. I told them I do not take the card out ever. So they took the card out and tried one of their behind the counter cards.  YUP! The camera fired up then failed again. They suggested sending it to Sony. I agreed as I do not like intermittent faults. They took their card out and popped my card back in again and, joy of joys, the camera functioned as it should and kept going.  So I continued with my photography trip around town and it did not skip a beat.

 

I asked the price of LCE cards and they started from £15. I told them I had spares at home. Trouble was I omitted to take one with me today. (Naughty boy!)

 

On an earlier visit to Lincoln I noted that Boots where selling cards and they were cheaper so I picked a SanDisk 64GB card up from them for £12.99 just in case.

 

Allan

 

 

 

Allan, I remember a few posts back where you stated you never get the card out of the camera.

So, in the end, it is a good idea to take it out from time to time... 😉

[Allan Bell]

Just now, Ognyan Yosifov said:

Allan, I remember a few posts back where you stated you never get the card out of the camera.

So, in the end, it is a good idea to take it out from time to time... 😉

 

Not fully checked yet but that card has been in the camera since I got the camera and it was used in another camera for some time before that.

 

It is probably the card is malfunctioning just before failing completely.

 

Allan

 

[spacecadet]

IME camera freezes aren't caused by a faulty card. After all you can take a picture without the card in the slot.

[Allan Bell]

18 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

IME camera freezes aren't caused by a faulty card. After all you can take a picture without the card in the slot.

 

Yes but a fault in the card could be back feeding to the camera causing the freeze.  The card in question is a Delkin Devices 16GB Standard class 10 24MB/s.

 

It appears to be an old type.

 

Allan

 

[Mr Standfast]

There is a lot of infomation on the internet regarding SD cards. As always trying to work out what is reliable and what is not reliable is fun.

 

This chap seems to say some sensible stuff

 

https://www.colesclassroom.com/how-long-do-micro-sd-cards-last/

 

 

I also found the SD Card Asociation; they are the gatekeepers of the protocols and rules.  This is their site.

 

https://www.sdcard.org/consumers/faq/

 

From the FAQ's:-

 

What is the service life of an SD memory card?

 

This depends on how your product in(sic) manufactured. SD standards-based memory cards, like most semiconductor cards, store information in flash memory. The current technology along with normal usage typically gives the card a lifespan of 10 years or more, allowing consumers to upgrade their devices for many years and reduce consumer electronic waste.

 

🦔

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr Standfast]

On 26/01/2023 at 09:11, Harry Harrison said:

Ah, that will explain it then, I'll dig it out and have a look. The figures printed on the cards are notoriously difficult to comprehend  and the headline figures in bold or larger print are particularly misleading as they will refer to the Read speed rather than the Write speed. This site seems quite handy:

 

https://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/

 

A good read!

[Harry Harrison]

On the other hand:

 

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/sd-card-found-in-the-sea-in-2015-has-been-returned-to-its-owner-still-working

[John Mitchell]

40 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

On the other hand:

 

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/sd-card-found-in-the-sea-in-2015-has-been-returned-to-its-owner-still-working

 

I wonder if it was a cheapie or an Extreme Super Duper Triple Pro Plus card? 😎

[Regis]

Does anyone remember when 1GB CF cards were worth around $1000?

Edited February 5, 2023 by Regis

[geogphotos]

I've just bought two SanDisk Extreme 64GB 120MB/s UDMA7/20 Compact Flash CF cards

 

I know what about two words of that means.

 

Along with a couple of my older Ultra 32 and 16 cards that should keep be going for a while.

 

From the olden days I still have a clutch of 2 and 4 GB ones which I will probably let gather dust. ( ultra II and Extreme III)

Edited February 5, 2023 by geogphotos

[sb photos]

9 hours ago, Regis said:

Does anyone remember when 1GB CF cards were worth around $1000?

 

Can't remember that but but can when a relatively unknown make 500MB CF card cost me just over £50. Still have a box of Kingston 4GB CF cards somewhere.

[sooth]

.

Edited October 19, 2023 by sooth

[Betty LaRue]

On 04/02/2023 at 19:21, Regis said:

Does anyone remember when 1GB CF cards were worth around $1000?

I can’t say I remember those figures exactly, but I remember when I bought my first digital camera, the Nikon D70, 6mp, memory cards were one of my big expenses & I could only afford a couple of the small capacity ones. My husband swiped one of mine out of my camera bag once & I almost came unglued until he confessed & handed it over. 
Amazing how much they’ve come down in cost.

[Regis]

12 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I can’t say I remember those figures exactly, but I remember when I bought my first digital camera, the Nikon D70, 6mp, memory cards were one of my big expenses 

 

My first "good" digital camera was a Nikon D100...

With a couple of 128MB cards.

The 1GB cards, were only in the hands of agencies photographers, and poor freelance me could not afford them at the time.

 

Many years before I worked in a studio that had a Nikon DCS200. It didn't had a card in it, and needed to be connected to a computer by a cable while you took the photographs...

And we still felt on top of the world while using it.

🙂