Memory card

<p>How long can you use the same memory card ? do they wear out in someway ?<br>

and are there "better" quality ones than others?<br>

Thanx <br>

Shooting w/ 5d mark ll</p>

<p>Flash memory (the basis for all solid -state CF, SD and USB Memory products) does have a finite life time, defined by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#Memory_wear">how the memory "wears"</a>. In practice, though, it will likely outlive your camera, your computer, and, probably, you! Quite likely you'd have graduated to a completely different type or size (at least) of storage long before you'll wear one out!</p>

<p>The Wikipedia article mentions 100,000 read/erase cycles. If you used one card every day, and erased that same card every night, you're into over 270 years of use...</p>

<p>There are some "better" makers than others. Lexar (the brand I use) and Sandisk are usually mentioned up at the top of the list for giving their users fewest problems. I'm sure others will mention their preferred brands, too. You can probably get by, at least for a while, with cheaper, off-brand stuff, but you probably wouldn't want to go into an important shoot like that! If you were using film, would you go for the drugstore brand, or the known quality of a Fuji or Kodak?</p>

<p>what larry said , Plus they do wear out in the physical sense; moisture, corrosion, magnetic field damage, shock , heat , freeze.<br /> Better quality brands are more immune to these type of failure, but its still happens. Also they are more compatible and less likely to get errors.</p>

<p>Can you wear it out be using it too much? not likely , they will become obsolete before that happens.</p>

<p>I still use the cards I bought in 2005, from time to time. The problem for me is that they are now rather slow and low capacity, having gone from an 8 Mp 20D to a 5D Mk2 or 7D. Kept at room temperature in a dry draw, they seem to be holding up quite well.</p>

<p>Careless handling is the biggest threat. I don't know how many computer-to-camera swaps the contacts can stand. One of mine has a hinky contact from jamming it a bit crooked into the computer.</p>

<p>Alan has it right, I think. I'm much harder on the card outside the camera than I should be, I suppose, and the inside-the-camera use is not what's going to wreck them for me. However, I always justify that on how many rolls of developed film it would take to pay for one card and so far the economics of the card have always paid off.</p>