Photos degrade if left on memory card?

1 year 6 months ago #743753 by Owen
Can memory cards be OK for long term storage of photos?  Or will they start to degrade over time? 


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1 year 6 months ago #743755 by TCav
Flash memory fails. It can fail at anytime.

When a memory location fails, the card automatically remaps the failed location to a spare location.

The problem is that the failure is only discovered during read and write operations, so over time, locations will fail and what's on them will not be recoverable.

So, no, flash memory is NOT a good long-term storage option.


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1 year 6 months ago #743773 by Owen
Thank you.  So while on topic, how long would you keep photos on your card at most? 


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1 year 6 months ago #743804 by Razky

Owen wrote: Can memory cards be OK for long term storage of photos?  Or will they start to degrade over time? 

Of course they won't degrade over time, any more than any other storage medium. The main drawback for long term storage is the limited capacity of camera memory cards as compared with an external backup hard drive or the cloud.


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1 year 6 months ago #743809 by Owen

Razky wrote:

Owen wrote: Can memory cards be OK for long term storage of photos?  Or will they start to degrade over time? 

Of course they won't degrade over time, any more than any other storage medium. The main drawback for long term storage is the limited capacity of camera memory cards as compared with an external backup hard drive or the cloud.


Never know, which is why I asked.  Thank you


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1 year 6 months ago #743821 by TCav

Razky wrote: Of course they won't degrade over time, any more than any other storage medium.


No. They won't degrade. They'll just disappear, never to be heard from again.


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1 year 6 months ago #743868 by Joslyn
I make a point of dumping my photos from my shoot within a day or two after taking them.  That way I don't have to worry about misplacing my memory card.   


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1 year 6 months ago #743890 by Sean Lamber
I ALWAYS remove photos from card ASAP.  Don't trust leaving on card


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1 year 6 months ago #743958 by Norse Photographer
Me too!  Need to so I don't accidentally wash my memory card!


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1 year 6 months ago #744018 by Craig Stone
No idea, always remove my photos usually within a few days of taking them. 


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1 year 6 months ago #744027 by CharleyL
Copying them to a solid state hard disk will give you two copies, if you don't erase the memory card. Don't expect the copies on a spinning hard disk drive to las a long time though, 4-6 years life is usually all you can expect from a spinning magnetic hard disk drive. The files might still be good, but the mechanics of the drive is usually what fails first. CD's and DVD's formatted for file storage will last longer than spinning hard drives, but may not last as long as a solid state hard drive. Multiple copies, or a RAID type system made up of solid state hard drives will likely be the safest way to store your photos in your home. Cloud Storage will be the best off site storage method. Nothing is guaranteed to last forever.

Charley


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1 year 6 months ago #744096 by Carter Gledhill
I learned when you take photos, always, always download and make backups of your photos when you get home.  I’ve accidentally lost and washed memory cards in the past.  So I don’t mess around these day.  Just make the backup, these cards are small and can easily be lost.  


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