Which Memory Card?

[Poohbear5]

I'm very new to digital (got D60 in Feb, and Panasonic Lumix TZ5 last week) and not at all a techie.
I'm leaving for a 10 day trip to Disney in two weeks!!

I currently have four 2GB cards, Ritz brand, I believe.
I picked up a Lexar 4GB Premium card (still in pkg) for $12.99 at Target.
Best Buy has Sanddisk Extreme III cards on sale for $29.99. How many times over can you use the same card? Do they get weaker or perform less adequately as the card ages?

My questions:
Is the Sanddisk worth the extra money over the Lexar?
My card reader is about 2 years old. Is that new enough to read these speedy cards?

The guy at BB says card failure is usually due to withdrawing the card before the camera power has been turned off. Any comments on that? I have an awful fear of losing all my photos at the end of the week!

 

[MICKEY88]

card readers can make a difference when transferring photos, as can the age of your pc, older pcs were usb1, where new ones are usb2 and much faster.

removing or inserting cards while camera is turned on can corrupt the card,

I've also read that it is bad to delete pics on the card, it's best to upload all pics to your pc, then format the card in camera...supposedly deleting pics on card while stlil using it leads to possible fragmenting and corruption


cards generally do have a certain life expectancy based on a number of write /erase cycles..usually around 50-100K

 

[Poohbear5]

Ohh, deleting photos from the card while it is still in the camera can corrupt it??

 

[ukcatfan]

Ohh, deleting photos from the card while it is still in the camera can corrupt it??

With the price of cards now, I would not even worry about deleting while on your card. I would worry more about the battery life you are using up doing that anyway!

As for brand, Lexar is one of the best. I personally use Kingston because they are less expensive and still top of the line in quality with a lifetime warranty. Check out Buy.com and Newegg.com for some deals.

 

[Poohbear5]

I guess I have a ton to learn yet!
Didn't know that about the battery either.
Thanks for the info.
Tried googling about this and only got info that was very techie!

 

[MICKEY88]

Ohh, deleting photos from the card while it is still in the camera can corrupt it??

that is what I've heard from several sources.

as ukcatfan stated, with the low price of memory cards why risk it..

I have found great deals at ecost.com,, and mydigitaldiscount.com

I bought 3 16 gig cards for under 100 dollars back in february

 

[Donold_Fan]

Deleted

 

[Angrypenguin]

The disparity in prices of cards usually has less to do with reliability than pure speed. The Sandisk Extreme IIIs are very fast, with very quick write capabilities, allowing for (DSLR users especially!) to shoot quick continuous RAW shots. (e.g. 6.5 shots/sec or whatever that I can get on my Canon 50d)

Using your camera to delete photos is no big deal; it shouldn't matter what device you're using to delete photos. On the off chance fragmenting does occur, you should be able to just format the card and you'll be off and running again. However, taking out the card while transferring or writing is a big no-no; that's a sure fire way to render some errors!

 

[MICKEY88]

this is just one of many articles online that clearly state deleting pics in camera can indeed cause a corrupt card,

I've also seen this advice given on several pro boards I frequent..

I used to delete clearly bad images in camera to free up space for more pics until I had 2 cards go bad and read this online..since I've stopped doing it I have had no card failures.. and I often shoot 1000+ pics a day..possibly pure coincidence, but I've read this advice often enough that I choose to follow it, figuring I'd rather err on the side of caution..


this is the key paragraph

When I give advice about memory card use, I suggest three major rules. Never delete a photo from a memory card. Always format a memory card only in your camera, never in your computer. After copying (never use move) your photos to your computer, format the memory card in your camera before you use it again. Following these rules and your common sense, you will likely prevent most memory card corruption problems.

http://www.tripso.com/beenthere/when-your-camera%E2%80%99s-memory-card-fails-can-it-be-saved/

 

[ukcatfan]

That is how I do it anyway

 

[Poohbear5]

Thanks yall!
I put all this info into my notebook to study on the train!