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Message: <blockquote data-quote="yauman" data-source="post: 362179" data-attributes="member: 15418">SD Cards are VERY VERY VERY Tough - much tougher than CF - what with all the little holes and pins in the CF Cards.  They don't get damage from handling - you should remove them OFTEN from the camera - it will keep the contacts clean as every time you insert it, it will wipe the contact and re-establish good electrical contact.  IF formatted often - in fact every time you get ready for a shoot, format the card - it will last forever. (Now, I work for a camera store and I shouldn't tell you this so you buy more cards from us!!)  We provide data recovery service for people with read error (2 hours and US$60) - who come in usually crying.  When asked, it almost always because they have had the card for years and don't know that they are suppose to format their cards - don't even know there's such thing as formatting!!! SD (and CF Cards) are NOT damages by magnetic field (yes, run them thru an MRI machine and they'll survive) nor with X-ray. They can take a lot of heat and cold.  The problem with heat is that the card may get warped - do not insert a warped card into your camera - it will be jammed!  If you accidentally left your SD card in your pocket and ran it through a washing machine, don't panic - let it air dry and I guarantee your data will still be good in there. Most new laptops sold since 2012 have SD card reader built-in - use it.  If you don't have the slot, invest in a card reader - you will be happy you do.  As much as possible AVOID using the cable to download from your camera - it is slow - very slow and it use up your camera's battery (remember, you have only so many recharge cycles with your battery so why use it up when you don't need to.)  The most important reason is as stated above, you need to remove the SD Card and re-insert to help maintain a good clean electrical contact.  Look at the construction of the card's electrical contacts - it's metal strips and the other side (camera side) is a little curl "ice-skate blade" like thing - the design is to wipe the contact every time you insert and remove the card - they expect you to do it and do it often.  If you leave the card in and never take it out, the "springiness" of the blade thingy will be lost and as oxidation builds up (unless you buy the really really expensive cards, the contacts are not gold plated; just tin plated) and you will get erratic electrical contacts. Look at the contact on your SD cards closely, you should see straight scratch marks on them - that's from the camera side rubbing into the card to make good contact - it's a good thing, a sign that it is making good electrical contact - it's designed to do that and it NOT design for the cards to stay put.</blockquote>

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