Most reliable memory card for M8

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eleskin

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I am just wondering what brand and model of memory card is best for the M8. I want bulletproof reliability if possible . I just had an episode with a memory card that is kind of scary. Now I have taken over 30,000 exposures with my M8, so I am quite familiar with the beast and the cards I have been using. I mostly go to Costco, BJ's or Sams Club for my cards, and never had any issues until tonight. The card in question is the PNY Optima SDHC 4GB. My M8 sees the photos (I can take new photos, everything is normal), but both my Powerbook G4 and my new 24" IMAC will not pick the card up at all. I tried two different card readers with the same result. I would love to save the photos on the card, but there is no way my PC's can download the info. So I am suspecting a corruption in the card of some kind. Could the brand (PNY) be not that reliable?

I feel like starting over with new cards after this for piece of mind. So what do all of you use for best reliability and value?
 
Vic,

I believe you are right here. Yes, I have a few SanDisk Ultras that are fine, and come to think of it, they never failed, so your logic is sound here.
 
Hoodman cards

Hoodman cards

Well, maybe these are worth it. Hoodman claims ZERO failures in 2 years since they came out. Sounds rock solid to me!
 
I use SanDisk cards in my dSLR and Lexar in my mobile phones. Both have been very reliable. I've bought Trancend for my kids Canon digicams and they have been excellent too. Transcend benchmark very well if you are performance oriented.

Given my perception of Leica electronics, I would (a) find out what Leica recommend to use with the M8, and (b) visit the Leica User Forum where I know most use SanDisk, but I think some have had issues with the different models. I would stick with the name brands and I tend to disbelieve manufacturers claims. Also visit the geek sites/forums and you'll learn a lot.
 
Now here is a question:

Can I save the photos on my card? They are not too important, and can be re shot, but is it worth my effort to try an alternate way to get the files from the card.

It is weird that My M8 sees the photos, and when new shots are taken, and seen on my M8, my computers still will not see the card. This is like it exists, but only in a parallel universe (Star Trek)!
 
Well, I have an old Pentium 2 PC in my basement that I have not used for a few years. Maybe Ill try to download. Funny how I blew $1400 on a new MAC and i need to use my old PC (Made by Digital Equipment , not junk at all, just outdated).
 
I'm being superstitious. If you were reading previous cards from the Mac then of course you should be able to read this one. I don't know what Leica recommends for formatting the cards (in cam or computer) but most camera makers recommend in cam I think. I've always ignored that and formatted using FAT 32 on a PC. Has worked for me so far.
 
This is possible to solve

This is possible to solve

If your M8 is able to read the files, they should be easy to salvage.

Your mac is a very powerful machine with unix under the hood, and it has lots of tools for this kind of job. Mostly it depends on how much energy you want to put into it, but it might be worthwhile if you plan on using a mac in the long run.

Try to have a look at the card with the disk utility in mac, it will probably show up. There are diagnostic and repair functions here, and do some googling on restoring cards with a mac before you try any repairs. (There are also very basic commands like dd in the terminal that will back up a perfect copy before you try out anything. If these are really important files you could PM me and I will find the appropriate commands)

Another easy solution is to use software like rescuepro (?) that comes for free with some cards. The downside is that your files will not be in order, and that you will also be getting out older, deleted, files.

When it comes to reliability of the cards, there is one simple trick that seems to work for me at least. Once in a while, and preferably every time a card has been emptied, you should format it with the camera you are using. After I started following this rule I have never had a corrupt card actually!

Good luck!
 
can your card readers read other sdhc cards?

can your card readers read other sdhc cards?

you may need to get an inexpensive sdhc capable sd card reader to usb device, local office supply or best buy should have them.

eleskin said:
Now here is a question:

Can I save the photos on my card? They are not too important, and can be re shot, but is it worth my effort to try an alternate way to get the files from the card.

It is weird that My M8 sees the photos, and when new shots are taken, and seen on my M8, my computers still will not see the card. This is like it exists, but only in a parallel universe (Star Trek)!
Click to expand...
 
I second what ampguys said...

Anything card over 2GB will require a SDHC capable card reader.

Also, that P2 based PC in your basement, don't bother. Just find a friend with a PC if you do indeed already have SDHC readers.

As for brands, I stick with Lexar cards for money shots. The second tier card makers, although they use the same flash chips, do not use the same controller technology. That and cost reductions measures, like lower levels of QC in manufacturing, result in more failures.

John
 
It may sound silly (and I don't have an M8 to know about this) but can't you download from the camera, where the photos are visible, using a usb cable ? It might take a long time, but at least you'd have the pics on a hard-disk. Possibly there is no usb socket on an M8 of course ?
 
Problem solved!

Problem solved!

I re-shot the photos (these photos are better) on a Sandisk card which I already had, and everything was fine.

Conclusion: Bad card. Shame on PNY and BJ's for selling them!

Conclusion 2: Trash the funny named cards, and stick with Sandisk Extreme 2's (Sam's Club, Costco). I will put the bad one with photos on it away for future recovery, and trash it.
 
Not all PNY stuff is bad, you may have just got a bad sample. One thing I do use PNY memory for is USB flash sticks. Have used them for years with absolutely no problems.

Glad you're fixed though! 🙂
 
Your first conclusion is a bit extreme. It could have been any card that went bad. Actually I would consider PNY, right below Lexar and Sandisk, among Kingston. Fact of the matter is that it could of happened to any card and will most likely happen again in future. It's just the nature of flash memory. It's not as reliable and long lasting as a lot of people believe. Each memory bit has a limited number of reads, write and erases. Each die has extra bits included and the controller manages all those bits, remapping bad bits, etc. As capacity increases, the life span decreases, SLC vs MLC NAND. Sorry you had a issue, but that doesn't make PNY a bad company. Actually, I bet PNY has a lifetime warranty on the card, have them replace it and you recover the images.

John
 
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