Card Configuration Question - Redundancy

JohnBradbury

JohnBradbury

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From a backup and redundancy perspective which configuration would you use:

1x 128GB SDXC II (Slot1)
1x 128GB SDXC (Slot2)

Or

4x 32GB SDXC II (Slot1)
1x 128GB SDXC (Slot2)

I guess the thinking around number one is the redundancy is in the two cards. You’re unlikely to lose the camera, certainly less likely than losing individual SD cards if you swap frequently.

Whereas the second clearly allows for diversity of storage, so you lose your camera you at least have some cards. Slot 2 providing overall redundancy for a card failure.
 
The first. I have loads of cards and always get them mixed up and confused. Would much rather have two large cards
 
Option 2 for me. Card failure/corruption is pretty rare, but it does happen. I use a smaller card in slot 2 and record jpegs there for backup... actually, a lot of time I use the jpegs and not the raw files.
 
I have an absolute horror of very large flash memory on the basis that if it goes it generally goes completely. I stick with 8GB and copy them on to a minimum of 2 and preferably 3 other devices before re-formatting them. Even in my 2 slot body I don't use bigger cards. Of course I'm a pure amateur and don't take enough shots on any one body to fill 8GB. The mileage for others will of course vary.
 
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I wonder whether the choice, because you say backup & redundancy, would depend on what you are using the camera for?

If studio work the choice 1 as the risk of physical loss of the camera and/card is or should be zero.

If for more general usage such as holiday (e.g. city break, safari, cruise........etc) then there is a risk though small of loss of the camera and/or memory card(s). Then choice 2 gives to opportunity (as I have done) put the full cards in the hotel room safe.

PS as mentioned by other replies above, there is of course the risk of data corruption and/or card failure.............and use of the two cards in camera does not address the backup requirement as described by @AndrewFlannigan
 
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I would go for option 2, less eggs in one basket.

However, as a challenge, how often to do take more than 32gb before returning to your computer? How often have you lost a camera and/or a memory card?
 
First option sounds more convenient and there are less tiny cards to lose. But if you have the other combo well that should be OK. I can't imagine what a small chance it is to get double failure.
 
Ploddles said:
Unfortunately my camera went for a swim in the sea last year, never to be seen again, along with all the photos on the cards.
Click to expand...

How unfortunate, I trust you were insured. So option 2 for you?

Although it must have been very annoying, were the lost images that important? (I say this as a challenge, it is not meant to be derogatory)

I dropped a camera a few years ago whilst trying to change lenses quickly. The camera needed a major repair and the memory card was damaged so I only recovered a few images, but it didn't matter to me. If was shots from a once in a lifetime trip, I would have been very upset.
 
•

I experienced that quite a few times I shot up to 800 takes in a single day
with any single camera… but hardly more.

Of the three sensors I use (12, 24 and 45 MS), I multiply the average size
of a single file by 800 and that gives me the capacity of the card to use. I
will put in two cards of the same said capacity and will set them to write to
slot #1 and copy to slot #2 for backup … always RAW files.

At this point, I was lucky enough to never have had a faulty card… even
when working with only one card on board as the second was forgotten by
pure distraction.
 
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•


I forgot this point…

I will take the card of slot #1 to transfer the files to the computer
knowing that if anything should go wrong I still have card #2 in
the camera. As so far nothing went wrong, I will reformat card
#2 "in camera" as I reinsert card #1.
 
If you use four small cards instead of one big, you've also multiplied the chance of failure x4, plus the added risk of damage/dirt/poor contact every time you change over. Also bear in mind that total card failure is very rare and in the majority of cases it's actually easy to recover the images with zero loss, eg Recuva https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/204044104-How-do-I-download-Recuva-

If you're worried about loss or theft, then maybe you should also spread the risk there and get four cameras? It's easy to get paranoid about this, if you see what I mean :eek:
 
HoppyUK said:
If you use four small cards instead of one big, you've also multiplied the chance of failure x4, plus the added risk of damage/dirt/poor contact every time you change over. Also bear in mind that total card failure is very rare and in the majority of cases it's actually easy to recover the images with zero loss, eg Recuva https://support.piriform.com/hc/en-us/articles/204044104-How-do-I-download-Recuva-

If you're worried about loss or theft, then maybe you should also spread the risk there and get four cameras? It's easy to get paranoid about this, if you see what I mean :eek:
Click to expand...
I used to be paranoid, but now I know they're out to get me! :) Joking (just about) aside, I think it's the age old mantra of 'as much as necessary but as little as possible'. I think if you've got two cards in a camera you should be protected fairly well against single card failure, unless a camera fault wipes both of them out... then it wouldn't matter if you had 4 cards in there, they'd still have been toast!

If I needed backup but wanted to travel light, then I think I'd probably go for 4x64mb cards of the same make and speed (as far as is possible with SD and CF card mixes). However, do remember, memory cards don't have an infinite life, they can only be written to so many times. This is brought home if using a dashcam on a car, where new files are constantly being written over the oldest ones. A heavy-duty memory card is needed to cope with this, as standard ones tend to pack up after a few months use - this is quite well documented on dashcam forums.

So perhaps work out how many times you're likely to re-write the data on a card and make sure you replace the card well before the maximum re-write limit is reached. I imagine this will apply more to those who shoot several hundred images per day and/or use their cameras for video purposes.
 
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I went with option one. Just ordered:

4x Sandisk 128GB SDXC II 300/MB
4x Sandisk 128GB SDXC I 95/MB

For the two cameras.

Thanks all.
 
Chucking my hat into the ring, this is what I use for 2 x D500's. It will normally suffice for gigs of up to 12 days.

3 x 32GB XQD cards, 1 per camera backed up and formatted each night plus a spare.

14 x 32GB Sandisk SD cards, changed when full. Formatted SD cards in one Peli Card Case and full ones in a second Peli Case.

2 x Samsung T5 1TB SSD, XQD cards backed up to these daily. One SSD stays with me, the second stays at base or in checked baggage.

The old survivalist mindset of 3 is 2, 2 is 1 etc.

GC
 
Why the different specs for the cards? You will be slowed down to the lowest spec card.

I was insured when my camera went for its swim and had everything replaced within 4 days by the insurance company. No images on my cards that couldn't be taken again if wanted, so I was fortunate that way as well.
 
Mr Badger said:
I used to be paranoid, but now I know they're out to get me! :) Joking (just about) aside, I think it's the age old mantra of 'as much as necessary but as little as possible'. I think if you've got two cards in a camera you should be protected fairly well against single card failure, unless a camera fault wipes both of them out... then it wouldn't matter if you had 4 cards in there, they'd still have been toast!

If I needed backup but wanted to travel light, then I think I'd probably go for 4x64mb cards of the same make and speed (as far as is possible with SD and CF card mixes). However, do remember, memory cards don't have an infinite life, they can only be written to so many times. This is brought home if using a dashcam on a car, where new files are constantly being written over the oldest ones. A heavy-duty memory card is needed to cope with this, as standard ones tend to pack up after a few months use - this is quite well documented on dashcam forums.

So perhaps work out how many times you're likely to re-write the data on a card and make sure you replace the card well before the maximum re-write limit is reached. I imagine this will apply more to those who shoot several hundred images per day and/or use their cameras for video purposes.
Click to expand...

Yes, memory cards do have a limited life but this is not a problem with modern cards that are commonly quoted as capable of 100,000 write/rewrite cycles. The contacts will wear out long before the memory function dies and it's way down the list of potential problems, just as physical issues are way out on top with faulty contacts, bent pins, being trodden on, loss etc.
 
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