Care for CF Cards

[kiwi]

In the 101 tips there is the following advice :



Memory cards:

Don't touch the exposed gold contacts on the card
Don't fill the card to full capacity, it may cause errors
Keep spare cards in their protective cases, not loose in pockets etc
....
NEVER EVER remove the card from a camera before turning off the camera! This is a great way to not only lose your images but to literally destroy the card
.....
Use a card reader to down load your photos to the computer, don't down load straight from your camera.
(This one is debatable, but do ensure the battery on your camera is charged if you direct connect)


Are these real or perceived issues - never heard of any problems in this regard ?

[etherial]

Most seem like common sense to me :confused013 but I've never had an issue, nor have I heard of too many from CF cards; I've heard of and had more issues with SD cards.

[JM Tran]

Most seem like common sense to me :confused013 but I've never had an issue, nor have I heard of too many from CF cards; I've heard of and had more issues with SD cards.

nah mate! XD cards are universally the most problematic, dont know why Olympus/Fuji stuck with it for so long!

I have had a few SD cards go through the washing machine in the past being left in pockets, always come out fine after.

[etherial]

Haven't had anything to do with XD (or Sony Memory stick either) so wouldn't know. Interesting though, I'll make sure I continue to steer clear of them!

[DAdeGroot]

In the 101 tips there is the following advice :


Memory cards:
Don't touch the exposed gold contacts on the card

I'm thinking this would be fairly difficult actually, given how recessed and small they are.



Don't fill the card to full capacity, it may cause errors

This sounds like a furfy to me. What's the point in having a card of a certain capacity if you can't use it all. What makes the last couple of kb/mb more fragile than the rest of the card. No, not buying this one.



Keep spare cards in their protective cases, not loose in pockets etc

Ok, that one's common sense. Pockets are full of dust, dirt and other stuff, some particles of which are probably small enough to block the holes in the card's interface end.



....
NEVER EVER remove the card from a camera before turning off the camera! This is a great way to not only lose your images but to literally destroy the card
.....

Very debatable. While some older dSLRs could corrupt the card (or at least the file being written), if removed during a write, none I have heard of have ever caused damage to the card when the camera is on (but not writing). My cards regularly get pulled while the camera is on with no ill side effects.



Use a card reader to down load your photos to the computer, don't down load straight from your camera.
(This one is debatable, but do ensure the battery on your camera is charged if you direct connect)


Are these real or perceived issues - never heard of any problems in this regard ?


The only reasons I can think of for using a card reader are speed and convenience. It's a lot easier to pull the card out and shove it in the reader than muck around with the little rubber doors over the USB interface on the camera, and most older dSLRs were absolute snails when it came to file transfers over the chord.

[TEITZY]

NEVER EVER remove the card from a camera before turning off the camera! This is a great way to not only lose your images but to literally destroy the card

I do this all the time (inadvertanly) and have never had any problems :D

Cheers
Leigh

[dmdigital]

I think the three most important things are:
1. Don't remove/insert the card unless the camera is OFF
2. Format the card in the camera
3. Don't fill the card completely

The file structure of the CF card just like a disk drive is fragmented and as it approaches 100% it has to look for open extents to write data blocks. At this point it becomes possible for data corruption to occur. This especially becomes potentially more problematic with deleted files on the card. This is something that is far better overcome with modern cards, hard drives and operating systems and so it is potentially less (or no longer) relevant.

As a rule of thumb I always change a card when I have shot approximately 90% of the capacity. This works out at about 60 shots remaining on a 16GB CF card in the D3s shooting RAW. Perhaps I could push this to 95% or better but the 10% margin is an easy one to remember (especially if you round it to the nearest 10 shots)

As for downloading off a card reader or from the camera...

I remember reading somewhere once where the opposite was the recommendation so that you never opened the camera's card door or removed the card and therefore potentially damaged things, got dirt on contacts etc. Go figure??

Frankly the only thing I see wrong is you use up camera battery life doing it.

[peterking]

I'll go with dmdigital.
The 100% fill can be a problem and can lead to errors. A basic rule of thumb I have stuck to in all my computing life is never fill storage devices above 90%.

[arthurking83]

I'm with Dave on this one.

exposed contacts? :confused013

I regularly fill my cards to capacity, especially the 8g CF card that has become the default on my D300.
Never had any issues with losing data, slow transfer rates, corruption, explosions.. nuthin!
This is an el'cheapo CF card to(A-Data).. not your supposedly top quality SanDisk brand.

maybe the issues are with the name brand cards? :p

Common sense should be adhered too tho. I always have them in their plastic cases, never touch the exposed gold contact pins on SD cards!! always try to be careful when inserting the CF card into it's recess, even though it's guided by a slot on either side of the card, pins can still bend.

I only ever use a card reader, as I felt the camera was a little slower in transferring data.... approx 10Mb's cf 15Mb's via the card reader.

I both format the card in the PC and via the camera(whichever method I can be bothered to remember to do)... either way it makes no difference to the card itself, but a card formatted via the PC will not have the folder/directory structure that the camera uses.. makes no difference as the camera will automagically create the directories it needs anyhow!

I've never lost any of my 4 or 5 cards due to removal whilst files were being written to by the camera.... or PC!

Removal of the card during a write sequence was a recommended procedure by some enthusiasts in Astro-capture circles when using certain Nikon bodies of yesteryear. The camera would process long exposure files regardless of whether the operator wanted them to be or not, and the processing involved some noise reduction. When stacking images, apparently you want the actual raw capture prior to the addition of noise reduction, when doing image stacking procedures. Removing the card immediately after the shutter closed was recommended so as to avoid the NR processing.. go figure!

Of course there's nothing to say that a card of any kind won't fail, and the sheer volume of the amount of the devices out there is user land, basically dictate that one is going to fail...

I have approximately 10(or more cards of various types, mainly SD and CF, one MMC, and some old 256M and 8Mb CF cards from just before the last Ice Age, or something(it still works too.. on something... useless on the D300 where the minimum file size is 20Mb or so!

Only card I've ever known to fail(in my circle of family/friends) is one of my brothers Sandisk SD cards.
I have more generic no-name brand cards than name brand cards(Sandisk/Toshiba).. more for their capacity value. My brothers card started to fail, he retrieved the data off it via a Linux based EEEPC, reformatted it, and it worked again for a few more writes and then died totally.
Never had any of my cards fail, and my kids don't give them the 'white glove' treatment either!

[Speedway]

I'm always filling my cards to capacity with no ill effects. Keeping in case is common sense. I'm always removing the card without turning off but both my 400D and 7D disconnect the power when you open the card door anyway. I always use the card reader and it is set to delete images from card after downloading. I almost always forget to format the card and have never had any problems with either my brand name cards or the generic ones.

[jev]

1. Don't remove/insert the card unless the camera is OFF
Compact Flash is designed to be hot-pluggable. Same for SD. There is no need to switch the camera off, provided it has finished writing. If there's data left unwritten, it could result in data corruption, but the card should not physically be damaged.


3. Don't fill the card completely
A full card can result in a file that doesn't fit, but the filesystem should not get corrupted due to a full card.


The file structure of the CF card just like a disk drive is fragmented and as it approaches 100% it has to look for open extents to write data blocks. At this point it becomes possible for data corruption to occur.
It is possible to corrupt data only for the file being written. If the filesystem becomes corrupt due to this fact, you found a huge bug in the filesystem implementation. But rest assured this usually is tested thoroughly, it is one of the best tested parts of the software.

[kiwi]

I think CF cards are bullet-proof, certainly the Sandisk Extreme range

I take zero care of them, even carry them around in my mouth at times if im busy swapping

[campo]

I've never had an issue with CF cards. I don't follow all the recommendations but I do try and take care of them when possible. I always reformat the card before a shoot (and after i've got at least another 2 copies of the images) and I generally don't pop the cards out when the camera is on.

I had a Lexar Pro SD die on me and lost 200 images (thank god they were holiday snaps). Lexar replaced it with a SD card that didn't have the "pro" label and within a few weeks the replacement had died. Considering the expense I'd gone through to ship overseas with insurance (was a valuable card at the time) in the hope i may recover some of the images (no luck unfortunately) I just decided to throw the card away and go back to my 100% reliable record with Sandisk.

[dmdigital]

I have a 2GB SanDisk Extreme III, a 2GB Extreme IV CF card and two 1GB Extreme III CF's that are all dead.

All of them where fine until at different times I went to stick them in the camera and they failed to be recognised. After that, nothing else would recognise them either. In one case I'd just read the photo's off one of them, returned it to the camera to format and found it was stuffed.

They aren't worth replacing as I'm now shooting a minimum 4GB card.

[lanegd01]

I think the only golden rule is to format in the camera.
I also tend to format rather than just bulk deleting files, deleting just removes the file name and space allocation which leaves data on the disk and can lead to corruption.

[andrask]

I've been using a 2GB SanDisk Extreme III, 3x 4 GB Transcend 133x, 1x 8GB Transcend 200x and a 8GB Silicon Power 200x for well on three years without any issues, filling up the CF to the full and sometimes flouting some of the 101s listed.

SanDisk provides a useful zip pouch for their CF which I've used to hold the spare CFs and that stays in the Lowepro backpack in my photo outings. And the only other procedure I adopt (as with others here) is to always format the card in camera.

[Speedway]

I think the only golden rule is to format in the camera.
I also tend to format rather than just bulk deleting files, deleting just removes the file name and space allocation which leaves data on the disk and can lead to corruption.

Formatting also leaves data on card as you can still recover images from a formatted card the only thing that removes data is overwriting it with new images or using a program to overwrite the data making it impossible to recover.

[Blueywa]

I have always used a reader, and touch wood I havent had any problems.
When using XD cards in my C8080, I just followed the same simple methods.
The main problem I find; manufacturers keep chngeing the type of card, and good readers are not inexpensive.

The attached picture is my first succesfull attempt at posting on this site, even though it wasn't meant to happen on this thread.
Sorry.

:confused013

[CapnBloodbeard]

I would suggest one very important thing is to format whenever you clear the card, instead of just pressing 'delete all'.

I used to work in a Kodak store, and we'd often get people coming into the store with cards of all type displaying errors. More often than not a reformat would get the card going again - usually the customer hasn't even heard of 'format'. Without doing this, the card can develop errors in the file structure over time.

[Yournotdoingitright]

I used to use a card reader until one day one of the pins from inside the camera broke off and stuck in the card $400 in out of warranty repairs later i just use the usb cable.
I just dont trust the pins now

[ving]

do not bend your card do not try to take your card apart do not stir your coffee with your card do not let your child, puppy or kitten chew your card do not use your card as a toothpick do not dry your card in a conventional oven (or a microwave for that matter) do not let friends borrow your card (you know you wont get it back)

[Bax]

do not stir your coffee with your card


What else am I meant to use?

[lanegd01]

What else am I meant to use?

I only use mine to stir my tea and as a beer coaster :food04:

[Omytion]

There was a story not so long ago about someone finding a camera that had fallen down a cliff and was smashed beyond repair, or maybe even recognition and had been left behind. But the card was intact and the photos were accessible.

I did a quick google but couldn't find it.

[reaction]

do not try to take your card apart




yeh I should stop doing that ;)

[PindanRose]

Never had a problem with memory cards but believe they shouldn't be stored anywhere near your mobile phone

[lanegd01]

Not sure why not. they go through airport xray with no problem

[joeyvaldezjr]

Hahaha! The toothpick tip made my day. CF card as a toothpick?!?

[ricktas]

Never had a problem with memory cards but believe they shouldn't be stored anywhere near your mobile phone

Like all storage (hard disks etc) memory cards can be influenced/affected by magnetic fields. And magnetic fields are produced by a lot of things these days.

[annainoz]

With my non DSLR cameras in the past, the when downloading onto the pc from the camera, the cord became unstable, the connection a little dodgy too .. so from then on it's a card reader for me and now it's built into the lappy so I have to remember to remove the darned thing and put it back in the camera.

[darkmerlin]

As CF cards can get very expensive is there any to tell if you've been supplied a genuine one as opposed to a fake when purchasing from the likes of ebay or computer fairs/markets?

[campo]

As CF cards can get very expensive is there any to tell if you've been supplied a genuine one as opposed to a fake when purchasing from the likes of ebay or computer fairs/markets?

The best way to be sure is to only buy from genuine retailers such as the likes of businesses that sponsor AP etc.

[Elogosha]

With the advent of video modes in digital SLRs, which one is faster or reliable to use - Compact Flash or SD cards given the same speed transmission? :confused013

[tcdev]

Like all storage (hard disks etc) memory cards can be influenced/affected by magnetic fields. And magnetic fields are produced by a lot of things these days.

Actually that's not quite true Rick, at least not to the extent that I suspect you believe. Memory cards are not magnetic media, but rather flash-based memory (electrical) devices. Like any electrical device, a strong enough field can be destructive but they're nowhere near as susceptible as magnetic media like hard disks. In everyday use, you'd be hard-pressed to come across a field strong enough to affect a memory card.

Apologies if I my assumptions about your understanding are incorrect.

[tcdev]

The file structure of the CF card just like a disk drive is fragmented and as it approaches 100% it has to look for open extents to write data blocks. At this point it becomes possible for data corruption to occur. This especially becomes potentially more problematic with deleted files on the card. This is something that is far better overcome with modern cards, hard drives and operating systems and so it is potentially less (or no longer) relevant.

Not sure where you read this, but I can assure you that it is simply not correct. In fact, any company trying to sell media with the problem you describe would have gone out of business a long, long time ago. It is untenable...

For starters, most CF cards in cameras would most likely NOT be fragmented. That is because they're generally wiped regularly and - relatively speaking - few files are deleted while they're being used. And even then, it's generally the last (few) photos. A FAT-based file system like those used in cameras will fill a device from start to finish, and most files under these conditions will occupy contiguous sectors on the device (wear-levelling ignored).

Secondly, deleted files can increase fragmentation but have no bearing on the reliability of subsequent file operations.

Thirdly, fragmentation on a FAT file system does NOT significantly complicate the process of writing a file to disk. At worst it adds a few extra sector accesses whilst searching for free blocks, and perhaps a couple when writing cluster allocation bits. Since this is a mechanism that is done whether a device is empty, half full, or completely full, it cannot affect the ability of the device to write files when "almost full".

Lastly, "modern operating systems" would only make this situation FAR, FAR worse, as any complex OS will constantly and sporadically read/write information to many parts of a storage device. Add file system caching and swap files, and your MTBF rates really need to be good.

[tcdev]

As CF cards can get very expensive is there any to tell if you've been supplied a genuine one as opposed to a fake when purchasing from the likes of ebay or computer fairs/markets?

eBay has (or at least had) information pages devoted specifically to the identification of real/fake memory cards. They at least had a Sony Memory Stick page a while back. So you could check that out?!?

But yeah, buying from a reputable dealer is *usually* safest. I say usually, because sometimes *they* get scammed. Even if they do, there's a chance you'll get your money back, as was the case when Deals Direct inadvertently sold fake Corsair USB drives (my colleague bought 3, and was then refunded without having to return them. No use, they didn't work at all!)

Rule of thumb - if the price seems too good to be true, then that's because it is (too good to be true).

[tcdev]

Formatting also leaves data on card as you can still recover images from a formatted card the only thing that removes data is overwriting it with new images or using a program to overwrite the data making it impossible to recover.

Depends on the camera, actually. I had a Canon P&S that did a low-level format (by default) when you formatted your card. Found out the hard way when I inadvertently formatted a card on holidays without transferring the day's photo to my USB drive. After swapping cards and not using that again until I got home, the unfortunate fact was revealed to me when I looked at the contents. My wife was very unimpressed - a day's hiking in Yosemite. Luckily she also had her camera that day...

[tcdev]

I would suggest one very important thing is to format whenever you clear the card, instead of just pressing 'delete all'.

I used to work in a Kodak store, and we'd often get people coming into the store with cards of all type displaying errors. More often than not a reformat would get the card going again - usually the customer hasn't even heard of 'format'. Without doing this, the card can develop errors in the file structure over time.

This behaviour is indicative of either (1) bugs in the camera FAT file system implementation, (2) someone removed the card whilst writing, or (3) formatting merely temporarily masked faulty media.

[Analog6]

I have never had a card go bad or lost an image in 5 years of using CF, and 2 years or so of xD, and a few years of memory sticks before that.

I always store them in their cases, and handle with care
I always use a card reader
I only reformat every so often, about once every 10 or so deletes I guess
I have often taken them out with the camera on, but only when it is not actively writing, of course

I think if normal common sense is used in their handling they are as durable as any other recording medium. You had to be careful storing and (to a lesser degree) handling film too. And at least the 'developed' images can't get scratched!

[LJG]

I've never actually filled a card.

I have 2 Extreme cards, an 8 gig SD in the 450D & a 16 gig CF in the 50D.

I've never had a card issue, now, I may be completely wrong on this but one thing I don't do is take the cards out of the cameras. I use the USB cable to download straight into my computer, then delete the images on the card through EOS Utility.

I was told once that constantly taking the cards out to download images is one of the reasons they fail. So far it has worked for me.

[rascey]

I remember reading somewhere in the instructions, for my first Digital camera that used a CF card, to use the usb cable to download rather than taking the card in and out. The chances of bending or damaging a pin was higher the more the card was removed. We have a Canon 1000D at work that has just needed a service after the pins were bent and it wasnt a cheap invoice.

[ZedEx]

But the 1000D writes to SD, and the only real way one can bend the pins in this case would be forcefully inserting the card the wrong way round.



I remember reading somewhere in the instructions, for my first Digital camera that used a CF card, to use the usb cable to download rather than taking the card in and out. The chances of bending or damaging a pin was higher the more the card was removed. We have a Canon 1000D at work that has just needed a service after the pins were bent and it wasnt a cheap invoice.