In a recent post some poor guy could have lost a wedding shoot , we presume from faulty SD card .
Have members got any opinions on how to look after SD cards , ie minimal removal , cleaning etc
Also would it good practice to load shots onto PC direct from camera using cable , less chance of damaging the card through wear and tear
Generally speaking, SD cards are pretty tough. When they fail, typically it's not a physical defect it's a logical defect. SD relies on a file system to create folders and directories on the card that your camera installs during the in-camera "format" operation (which really isn't a formatting at all; it's a folder-structure initialization, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish I don't want to go into here). Suffice it to say the SD card's filesystem sits "under" the folders on the card your camera creates to store image files. An SD card functions just like the hard drive on your computer; it's built a little different but it does the exact same job; it's just smaller, more portable. Oh, and an SD card has no moving parts, which is a good thing.
So, your SD card being, for all intents and purposes a tiny hard drive, is subject to file corruption and all the other pitfalls of any other hard drive. Unfortunately there's really nothing you can do to prevent logical errors except formatting the SD card in your computer from time to time. I've debated this a few times here and I'll explain it again here.
Formatting an SD card in your camera does not, technically speaking, format the card. What an in-camera formatting does is re-write the FOLDER STRUCTURE your camera uses: the DCIM folder and so forth.
Formatting an SD card in your computer allows you to re-write the underlying FILE SYSTEM, known as FAT32. This is exactly the same as "wiping the hard drive"; if you hang around computer geeks much you've heard that phrase. Reformatting, to those who work with technology at that level, means the wiping the existing data (by over-writing it with 1's and 0's for instance) which creates a clean foundation for the File System (FAT32). If there were no File System on the card, you would not be able to do an in-camera "format" because the in-camera "format" anticipates the file system being in place. Consumers typically don't have to deal with doing actual (File System) formatting because SD cards come from the factory pre-formatted with FAT32. You can see this for yourself by putting a blank SD card in your computer and clicking on "Properties" for the card. Windows will show the file system as FAT32 on every SD card ever made by the hands of man because FAT32 is perfect for this technology (I won't go into why). If you wanted, you could format your SD card using the older FAT16 or the newer and much improved NTFS, but SD is a global standard and part of that standard is FAT32. FAT32 is why you could pull an SD card out of your camera, put that same card in your laptop, eReader or cell phone and get right on with life without any hassle. FAT32 makes an SD card work in your camera while the Folder Structure your Nikon makes, is what allows your Nikon to work with SD. Both must exist: the FAT32 file system AND the camera generated folder structure.
Now... All that being said what will keep your SD card from going south on you, or at least the one single thing you can do that will *actually* help prevent catastrophic failure is this: Reformatting the card in your computer using the "Format" option (as opposed to the "Quick Format" option (and I'm speaking Windows terminology here, I don't use Macs)). Doing a in-computer format overwrites the existing FAT32 file system and totally rebuilds it from the ground up. In so doing, lots of little things get cleaned up and corrected; it's much like doing a deep cleaning in your house or apartment. Doing a true file system reformat on your computer will take some time; doing a 32GB card on my home computer takes probably a half hour or so. I mention this as opposed to the in-camera format which takes about one second to complete. That alone should tell you there's something else going on when you reformat in your computer as I'm describing. One operation is instantaneous and does little, one is time consuming because it does a lot.
I "re-format" my SD cards in-camera every time I want to start a fresh shooting session. I reformat all my SD cards in my computer every few months, which is probably overkill. Bear in mind also that SD cards do have a limited life span. It's a long life span but if your cards are years old and you have the fabled "Once in a Lifetime Trip" coming up... Replacing them might not be such a bad idea. Your SD cards are a critical part of the whole digital photography team.
If you would like to reformat your SD cards in your computer, as I have described, the procedure is as follows. I don't think it needs to be said, but...
This process will totally overwrite (erase) any and all files on the card. And I do mean everything.
Mount the SD card in your computer.
Open Windows Explorer, find the card in the directory listing and RIGHT-click on it.
From the menu that opens, click on "Format".
Clear the checkbox that reads "Quick Format"; we don't want this.
Leave all the other options alone, they're fine as is.
Click "Start".
Go find something to do because the operation will take a while.
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