Bad card?

I’m only on the third week of my trip and I already have problems with my equipment. One memory card seems to be broken, or at least I think it’s the card. The other day I was shooting and suddenly my camera stopped working. It appeared to be a card problem. My camera prompted me to recover the database, which I did and after that all was well again, no images lost. After transferring the images to my laptop I formatted the card in camera as I always do. I should have stopped using that card right there, but I didn’t, because I thought the problem was solved. However, yesterday the same problem repeated itself and then I realized there must be something wrong the card.

Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur. This image was on the faulty card and I’m happy I could save it.

In my experience, memory cards are very reliable. During my 18 years with digital cameras I’ve only had three card failures, which I consider pretty good. It’s a bit worrying, though, that the last two failures have happened during the last year. Are the cards less reliable today than they were 10 years ago?

Last year one of my Lexar cards broke. I tried it with several cameras and they all reported a card error. That was a very clear case of a faulty card. This latest card problem is with a SanDisk card and I really hope it’s the card. I’ve had my Sony for about two years and so far it has been a very solid performer. Right now wouldn’t exactly be the best timing for any camera trouble.

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