Retirement for SD cards
Just like every other piece of equipment, SD cards get worn out and need replacement. Don’t make the mistake of overusing your cards—it can be a costly one!
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Believe it or not…
The photo above is straight out of camera, no tricks or photoshop.
It was shot on an SD card that is ready to be retired.
How it happens
When your SD card begins to wear out, it begins to lose its ability to record files correctly. At first you’ll likely notice a set of files (usually a sequence of between 2 and 3 images shot in a row) That look something like this:
set of corrupt files from SD card
They may be tinted pink like the ones above, or simply be composite images of each other.
When I was first figuring out what happens to your SD card when you see this, I decided to experiment a bit. I marked my cards when they had corrupt images like this, and then shot them again to see what would happen.
*I also wanted to test to be sure it wasn’t an issue with my camera, since it was a minor possibility that the SD reader in my camera malfunctioning was the cause of the corrupted files* (luckily it was just the cards, and not my camera)
the test
The first shoot with the corrupted images, had no other issues with any other files. The corruption was limited to that small set of photos that were ruined and all the other images were perfectly fine.
The second shoot on the same card was a different story. A set of isolated images also became corrupt as had happened previously, but this time, about 80 images (the last 80 images shot) from the end of the shoot were missing.
in conclusion
What I learned from testing the corrupt card was:
The problem was in fact the card and not my camera’s sd reader
The first time I filled the card and ended up with an isolated set of corrupted images was basically a warning since not more than 2 files were lost, and now I was able to be aware the card was having an issue.
If the card is used again, once it has produced corrupted files previously, there will be more data lost.
you’ve been warned
So basically, if you see the corrupted files once, consider yourself warned. Eliminate that unusable card from your equipment permanently, or risk serious consequences with future shoots on that card.
PRO TIP: Review your images periodically as you shoot, and if you see some that look like this STOP SHOOTING IMMEDIATELY, and switch out your SD card (even if it’s the first time you’ve seen the corruption, and you’ll likely be fine for the remainder of that shoot—why risk it?). You can save yourself from unnecessary stress if you do not continue shooting on the corrupted card.
PRO TIP: Another defense against corrupt files is to keep a record of the number of re-writes each of your cards has had, this will help you know beforehand if your cards may be getting old. I also write the year I buy each of my memory cards so I have a rough estimate of their age quickly and easily!