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I once lost several months of pictures due to a memory card error. I decided not to buy any more large cards, limiting myself to 8GB, in case this happened again. Earlier this year, I got the error message on my replacement card. I was able to download the card, but I stuck tape on it with a message to only use if I had no other option. This week I got the error message on my last card left. Do you think my camera (a Panasonic Lumix from about 2009) is harming the SD cards? Or am I just buying cheap cards and should spend more to get good ones? I buy Class 10. The last ones I bought are from Staples, I think, but sort of name brand. Once I got one from Sears Marketplace, called a Nikura Class 10. I never heard of the brand before, but it worked a while. Now when I put it in, it says “memory card error.” My next card is a Transcend Class 10, 90MB/s 600x, with a 1 inside a U and the Roman numeral I under that. That card went bad 2-16-16. Now this third card is identical to the Transcend that went bad in Feb. I don’t remember the brand that went bad a couple of years ago. It was 16GB. These others are all 8 GB.
I have actually cut down on the number of photos I take, or so I thought. Do I just wear out the cards? I know I wear out cameras. I tried using my iPhone as a camera, but it doesn’t give me good pictures, especially if I zoom in.
See my profile for which cameras I used and now use (Canon Powershot and now Panasonic Lumix).
Thanks for any help anyone can give me!
Do you think my camera (a Panasonic Lumix from about 2009) is harming the SD cards? Or am I just buying cheap cards and should spend more to get good ones?
I guess it is possible that your camera is corrupting your SD cards, but I’ll be prone to suspect the cheap SD cards instead. I know they are less expensive than name brand ones, but they are more risky. SanDisk and Lexar memory cards are better options, in my opinion.
Also, although name brand memory cards offer better reliability, it doesn’t mean they’ll never fail. There’s nothing like backing up your pictures on your computer regularly.
I guess it is possible that your camera is corrupting your SD cards, but I’ll be prone to suspect the cheap SD cards instead. I know they are less expensive than name brand ones, but they are more risky. SanDisk and Lexar memory cards are better options, in my opinion.
Also, although name brand memory cards offer better reliability, it doesn’t mean they’ll never fail. There’s nothing like backing up your pictures on your computer regularly.
I think I tend to agree with @Mr-Quebec. Cheapo cards are absolutely not worth the money. You can get a genuine Lexar or SanDisk for only a couple of bucks more, for more peace of mind. I don’t ever recommend buying a card from a retailer like Walmart or Staples. They’re always cheaper online, and there’s usually a better selection online too. Here’s one by SanDisk for just over $10.00: http://www.adorama.com/idssde9016.html
If you’re looking for a good brand, use the filters to narrow it down to what you want, like this: http://www.adorama.com/l/Computers/Memory-and-Data-Storage/Memory-Cards-and-USB-Drives/Lexar~SanDisk~Memory-Cards?sel=Speed-Class_Class-10-lrbr-10MB-s-Write-rrbr
That search looks for only:
- Sandisk
- Lexar
- Class 10
That rules out all of the cheapo no-name cards, as well as the slow cards. (Don’t ever buy anything less than Class 10)
What is the exact model # of your Panasonic Lumix camera? There were lots of Panasonic cameras for sale in 2009, we need a little bit more specific info on that one. 🙂
A rule of thumb: Don’t buy Micro-SD cards and use them in an adapter, you’re better of in terms of reliability with a “real” SD instead of a Micro-SD in an adapter.
Another rule of thumb: Don’t use your SD card in any other camera.
Another rule of thumb: Don’t EVER use a tablet/i/Pad/Pod/Phone to edit pictures on your SD card. Seriously, I had a friend who did that, and totally corrupted their SD card. Thankfully I was able to recover their pictures for them, but I was rather surprised that I could!
Another rule of thumb: Don’t let months worth of pictures accumulate on your card without backing them up. I have been guilty of this, and it’s a bad idea. 🙁
Have you tried recovering any of your files from the corrupted SD cards? Just because the camera throws a memory card error doesn’t mean all the pictures are lost. See here for more details: https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/formatted-sd-card-recovery/ (Oops, I just realized that’s a PRO topic, so unless you have a PRO membership you won’t be able to see it… 🙁 )
If you still have a card that might be recoverable, let me know, and I’ll give you some more details on how to go about an attempted recovery.
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