Photographers and videographers who use flash memory devices like SD cards to capture and store their images need to be careful. Flash memory does not last forever.
I learned this the hard way; I was at an event shooting photos of several celebrity artists and just like that, my $200 high-class SD card reached the point of no return. All the files were suddenly lost and the card became unreadable. I tried everything from different software to sending it into professional data recovery labs, but there was no luck. From this experience, losing some of the best photos I’ve ever taken, I learned a huge lesson; Do not trust flash memory, and no SD card will last forever.
However, after some research and testing out many different cards over the past few years, I was able to compile a list of SD cards that work efficiently. But you should still keep in mind that you should always replace these devices almost every year or two if you’re an avid shooter.
Of course, there are several factors to take into account when choosing an SD card, such as the data transfer speed, the capacity and the price so I’ve listed several different options that can suit almost every type of photographer.
SD CARD GUIDE:
- ProGrade Digital SDXC UHS-II V90 128GB
- SanDisk Extreme Pro 32GB
- Sony Tough High Performance
- Lexar Professional 1000x 32GB
- PNY Elite Performance 32GB
- SanDisk Ultra 32GB
- Transcend SDXC UHS-II U3
Along with a good, and somewhat reliable, SD card, it is also wise to get an external hard drive or two and constantly back-up your media. Trust me, you really do not want to take file storage for granted. A little extra money invested in good gear is always worth it.
