Flash card failure rate?

A couple of threads ago, someone asked about the size of memory cards people
carry, and a few posters mentioned that they carry several smaller cards to
prevent losing their entire take due to the loss of one card. My questions:
how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone have any reilability data? Have
any of you experience card failure?

From: "TAFKAB" er

My questions: how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone
have any reilability data?

Major companies like Lexar and SanDisk offer "lifetime" replacement warranties
on their better models.

The reliability data I saw indicated 1,000,000 hours MTBF, 10,000
"insertions", data reliability of 1 non-recoverable errors in 10**14 bits
read, and data retention for 10 years minimum.

Have any of you experience card failure?

I haven't had a problem yet.

From: "TAFKAB" er

My questions: how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone
have any reilability data?

Major companies like Lexar and SanDisk offer "lifetime" replacement warranties
on their better models.

The reliability data I saw indicated 1,000,000 hours MTBF, 10,000
"insertions", data reliability of 1 non-recoverable errors in 10**14 bits
read, and data retention for 10 years minimum.

Have any of you experience card failure?

I haven't had a problem yet.

I am a working pro. I have one CF in the camera and two in my
pocket...subject to lint and, when it rains, dampness. Never had a failure.
Still using all that I have ever bought. They are of various manufacture.

"TAFKAB" wrote in message
news:Yp7td.723130$8_6.229624@attbi_s04...
A couple of threads ago, someone asked about the size of memory cards
people
carry, and a few posters mentioned that they carry several smaller cards
to
prevent losing their entire take due to the loss of one card. My
questions:
how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone have any reilability data? Have
any of you experience card failure?

I am a working pro. I have one CF in the camera and two in my
pocket...subject to lint and, when it rains, dampness. Never had a failure.
Still using all that I have ever bought. They are of various manufacture.

"TAFKAB" wrote in message
news:Yp7td.723130$8_6.229624@attbi_s04...
A couple of threads ago, someone asked about the size of memory cards
people
carry, and a few posters mentioned that they carry several smaller cards
to
prevent losing their entire take due to the loss of one card. My
questions:
how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone have any reilability data? Have
any of you experience card failure?

On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 01:10:16 GMT, "TAFKAB"
wrote:

A couple of threads ago, someone asked about the size of memory cards people
carry, and a few posters mentioned that they carry several smaller cards to
prevent losing their entire take due to the loss of one card. My questions:
how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone have any reilability data? Have
any of you experience card failure?

I have a number of different memory cards (smartmedia, CF, SD, etc).
Okay, I counted them all up and I have 14 cards total.

Starting from roughly 1997 to today I have had exactly 3 failures.
One CF that was Dead on Arrival (replaced same day by Penn Camera)
One SD that was Dead on Arrival (replaced same day by Staples)
One CF card that fell out of a pocket into a spinning automobile
radiator fan (my fault of course).

That's it, the sum total of the issues I've had and these cards have
gone through some accidental abuse too (washed, washed and dried,
dropped from horseback into sand, 110+ F, -20 F, and drops onto every
hard surface you can imagine (my wife helps with that one grin).


Drifter
"I've been here, I've been there..."

On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 01:10:16 GMT, "TAFKAB"
wrote:

A couple of threads ago, someone asked about the size of memory cards people
carry, and a few posters mentioned that they carry several smaller cards to
prevent losing their entire take due to the loss of one card. My questions:
how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone have any reilability data? Have
any of you experience card failure?

I have a number of different memory cards (smartmedia, CF, SD, etc).
Okay, I counted them all up and I have 14 cards total.

Starting from roughly 1997 to today I have had exactly 3 failures.
One CF that was Dead on Arrival (replaced same day by Penn Camera)
One SD that was Dead on Arrival (replaced same day by Staples)
One CF card that fell out of a pocket into a spinning automobile
radiator fan (my fault of course).

That's it, the sum total of the issues I've had and these cards have
gone through some accidental abuse too (washed, washed and dried,
dropped from horseback into sand, 110+ F, -20 F, and drops onto every
hard surface you can imagine (my wife helps with that one grin).


Drifter
"I've been here, I've been there..."

Drifter wrote:
On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 01:10:16 GMT, "TAFKAB"
wrote:


A couple of threads ago, someone asked about the size of memory cards people
carry, and a few posters mentioned that they carry several smaller cards to
prevent losing their entire take due to the loss of one card. My questions:
how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone have any reilability data? Have
any of you experience card failure?


I have a number of different memory cards (smartmedia, CF, SD, etc).
Okay, I counted them all up and I have 14 cards total.

Starting from roughly 1997 to today I have had exactly 3 failures.
One CF that was Dead on Arrival (replaced same day by Penn Camera)
One SD that was Dead on Arrival (replaced same day by Staples)
One CF card that fell out of a pocket into a spinning automobile
radiator fan (my fault of course).

That's it, the sum total of the issues I've had and these cards have
gone through some accidental abuse too (washed, washed and dried,
dropped from horseback into sand, 110+ F, -20 F, and drops onto every
hard surface you can imagine (my wife helps with that one grin).

There was a study - probably really a newspaper article- in which a CF
card was put through a lot of abuse. The only one they did that stopped
it was nailing to a tree. iirc.

--
John McWilliams

Drifter wrote:
On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 01:10:16 GMT, "TAFKAB"
wrote:


A couple of threads ago, someone asked about the size of memory cards people
carry, and a few posters mentioned that they carry several smaller cards to
prevent losing their entire take due to the loss of one card. My questions:
how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone have any reilability data? Have
any of you experience card failure?


I have a number of different memory cards (smartmedia, CF, SD, etc).
Okay, I counted them all up and I have 14 cards total.

Starting from roughly 1997 to today I have had exactly 3 failures.
One CF that was Dead on Arrival (replaced same day by Penn Camera)
One SD that was Dead on Arrival (replaced same day by Staples)
One CF card that fell out of a pocket into a spinning automobile
radiator fan (my fault of course).

That's it, the sum total of the issues I've had and these cards have
gone through some accidental abuse too (washed, washed and dried,
dropped from horseback into sand, 110+ F, -20 F, and drops onto every
hard surface you can imagine (my wife helps with that one grin).

There was a study - probably really a newspaper article- in which a CF
card was put through a lot of abuse. The only one they did that stopped
it was nailing to a tree. iirc.

--
John McWilliams

"TAFKAB" writes:

A couple of threads ago, someone asked about the size of memory cards people
carry, and a few posters mentioned that they carry several smaller cards to
prevent losing their entire take due to the loss of one card. My questions:
how reliable are flash cards? Does anyone have any reilability data? Have
any of you experience card failure?

I have have several failures on smartmedia. Often times I can be able to reuse
the card by reformating them using SMPREP on my Windows box, but there seems to
be a problem with SMPREP and Windows XP service pack 2.

--
Michael Meissner
email:
http://www.the-meissners.org