# Official 2 Card slots guy



## sanj (May 3, 2018)

I used to be of the opinion 1 CF card slot is enough. Recently had a corrupt card and lost valuable data. From now on:
1. I will work only with cameras with 2 slots.
2. I will record on both cards simultaneously. 

Just thought I would share this and recommend to all this method.

Am really hoping 1dx3 will have 2 Cfast slots. If it does I will be the first to pre order.


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## privatebydesign (May 3, 2018)

I only use two slots when I want different file types, like for remote shooting where I'll set the jpeg for review but record the RAW to the other card.

I had a lot more 'failure issues' when I shot film than I have ever had with digital.

The biggest issue I have with Canon's dual card slot implementation is the fact that only the 1DX has same style and speed slots, every other dual slot camera they have made takes a performance hit for using both cards to write to RAW format and I don't want limitations, I'd rather choose to make one RAW file than slow everything else down. What they should do is make both slots the same like.

For video I am working towards an external monitor/recorder solution as it just seems a better option for DSLR's.


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## jprusa (May 3, 2018)

What was the brand?


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## LDS (May 3, 2018)

I found several reason to keep a second card always inserted, when a second slot is available, besides writing to two cards at once.


Overflow mode. If the primary card gets full, you can keep on shooting
Less dust can enter the camera, and contacts are clean when needed
Sometimes I forget to re-insert the primary card. The second usually saves the day... ;D


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## unfocused (May 3, 2018)

What were the circumstances of the failure? I'm wondering because my wife has had two bad experiences lately with two different cards, one SanDisk and one Lexar. One brand new, one well used. Both formatted in camera before use. 

Images played back fine in camera. She put the cards into the card reader and tried to download through Bridge. Program hung up and the cards were corrupted. Camera could no longer read the cards. Computer could not read the cards.

Programs were Bridge and Windows 10. We were able to recover the files, but very frustrating. Wonder if there is some conflict with a recent update of either program. Anyone else experience this?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 3, 2018)

jprusa said:


> What was the brand?



All brands fail. If you have a one time chance at a shot, the brand of the failed card does not matter.

Sometimes you have no choice, if your camera has a single card, carry spare cards, but you may lose that moment. If you are taking photos as a paying proposition and lose say images at a wedding, that could lead to lawsuits over not taking a simple available precaution.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 3, 2018)

I'm going to be traveling with my SL2 next week, leaving my 5D MK IV with my daughter for use at a event where I want dual cards. I'll have a spare card for my SL2, my backup will be a camera phone. Its a matter of the most important photos in that case. She has a crop camera as a backup.


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## Frodo (May 3, 2018)

Only ever had one card fail. Lexar 32GB physically split along the seam. Couldn't recover the files. But it was a secondary card, so not critical. A guy I know bent a CF card reader pin in his 7D, but CF cards seem physically more robust.
I too wish that both cards in my 5DsR were CF as I now bring a CF card and an SD card as backups.


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## jprusa (May 3, 2018)

Frodo said:


> Only ever had one card fail. Lexar 32GB physically split along the seam. Couldn't recover the files. But it was a secondary card, so not critical. A guy I know bent a CF card reader pin in his 7D, but CF cards seem physically more robust.
> I too wish that both cards in my 5DsR were CF as I now bring a CF card and an SD card as backups.


Me too, not a 32 but 64.


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## sanj (May 5, 2018)

Identical to this:

What were the circumstances of the failure? I'm wondering because my wife has had two bad experiences lately with two different cards, one SanDisk and one Lexar. One brand new, one well used. Both formatted in camera before use. 

Images played back fine in camera. She put the cards into the card reader and tried to download through Bridge. Program hung up and the cards were corrupted. Camera could no longer read the cards. Computer could not read the cards.

Programs were Bridge and Windows 10. We were able to recover the files, but very frustrating. Wonder if there is some conflict with a recent update of either program. Anyone else experience this?


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## sanj (May 5, 2018)

Imagine trying to find a Cfast card in Jerusalem at 4pm for a shoot the next day. I got one just one of time as a photographer was driving from Tel Aviv. It was very very bad situation.

Note to self: Carry extra cards. Duel record. Check footage DAILY.


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## Orangutan (May 5, 2018)

sanj said:


> She put the cards into the card reader and tried to download through Bridge. Program hung up and the cards were corrupted. Camera could no longer read the cards. Computer could not read the cards.



Being a computer guy, I don't trust Bridge, Lightroom, etc to do my file transfers. I prefer either manual copy/paste, or a synchronization tool (Microsoft SyncToy, rsync) to copy the files. Then I launch LR, or whatever, to work with the files. I'm sure there's something similar if you're a Mac person.

If you want to be extra paranoid, pre-check your card reader with a dummy (functional but empty) card before you put in your valuable data card.


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## unfocused (May 5, 2018)

Orangutan said:


> sanj said:
> 
> 
> > She put the cards into the card reader and tried to download through Bridge. Program hung up and the cards were corrupted. Camera could no longer read the cards. Computer could not read the cards.
> ...



Actually, Sanj was quoting my experience and confirming his was the same.

I'd bet money that there is some conflict with either a recent Bridge update or a recent Windows 10 update, rather than a card issue. 

Anyway, I used the from Rescue Pro software that SanDisk provides with some cards (apparently only their better cards) and it was miraculous. Not only recovered all her files on both cards (although it took quite some time) but even found files on one of the cards from last fall even though the card had been formatted multiple times since. (Which makes me wonder if we are formatting the cards properly -- using the format menu item on the camera's menus.)

Interesting that Sanj's problem was apparently with a CFast card, while ours was with SD cards. Again, another reason to suspect it's not card failure.

I actually am thinking about doing more manual copying from card to folders, as I do have some real problems with Bridge failure to recognize card readers or cards. The problem is that I don't like having the multiple folders that come with a simple manual copy from card to computer. Plus, I like being able to rename files as I download them.

But, if that's the tradeoff for avoiding corrupted cards, I may take it.


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## tron (May 5, 2018)

I always copy the card contents via file explorer's copy/paste. No issues. I use Compact Flash and SD cards. All but one are Sandisk Extreme Pro. I also do not trust transfers made via applications so I have never tried it. I use Windows 7 Pro. Before that I used Windows XP. Also since I copy during vacation my cards to one (or two) external portable storage device(s) when I come back I copy the photos from these devices to other external disks (min 2). In the less extreme scenarios where photos remain at my cards I use one additional external device.
And when I take some shots a few kilometers from home I just copy the photos to my 2 storage devices when I come back. In these cases I just use a card reader (I am at the 3rd iteration of one) to copy from CF card but I use my laptop's SD card slot to copy from this card type. I do not have 1 series so no CFAST (of which I am terrified a little for both cost and reliability issues - see other related post, I am not referring to the 1Dx2's Sandisk case which has been fixed.


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## expatinasia (May 6, 2018)

Sorry to hear about your loss, sanj.

I always have a card in both slots but only ever really use both if I am at an all day event and one card fills up.

After reading this post I will start shooting to both cards, as there's little reason not to and one very good reason to do so - backup.


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## sanj (May 6, 2018)

expatinasia said:


> Sorry to hear about your loss, sanj.
> 
> I always have a card in both slots but only ever really use both if I am at an all day event and one card fills up.
> 
> After reading this post I will start shooting to both cards, as there's little reason not to and one very good reason to do so - backup.



Yes sir BOTH cards is the way to go. Cards do corrupt. This is a safeguard against this fact. Besides this I will back up data to 2 hard drives. 

I shoot video at times and so will need lots of cards now. :-(


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## sanj (May 6, 2018)

Orangutan said:


> sanj said:
> 
> 
> > She put the cards into the card reader and tried to download through Bridge. Program hung up and the cards were corrupted. Camera could no longer read the cards. Computer could not read the cards.
> ...



I do not use Bridge or such. I connect the card and transfer to HD.


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## Sporgon (May 6, 2018)

Never used the SD slot on my 5DS yet........


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## Jim Saunders (May 6, 2018)

In a perfect world the rumoured FF mirrorless will have either a CFexpress slot or simply an internal SSD, an SD card slot, and the intelligence to write everything realtime to the SSD and then to the SD card as time permits. It's 2018, that shouldn't be difficult.

In the meantime for most of what I do I'm happy with a CF card in one slot of my 1Dx and an SD card in an adapter in the other, writing in parallel to both; unless I need to shoot quickly that's a convenient way of stretching out the inventory of CF cards I have.

Jim


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## Andrew Davies Photography (Jan 1, 2019)

Two slot and simultaneous for definite for me too, I replaced all my cameras with two slot capable as soon as they came along. Only ever had sd cards fail never a CF but then I replace my CF cards every 1-2 years on average just for the safety of newer cards for weddings its not a great expense in the big scheme of things. The hardest part is finding reliable places to get sandisk etc cards and avoiding copies of which there are thousands ! Sandisk have a section on their site which lists their official online suppliers well worth checking first.


Wedding Photographer North East & Yorkshire Northumberland & Wedding Photographer Cumbria


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## hne (Jan 1, 2019)

I've only had cards fail on me in a non recoverable way after a sudden power loss in non-canon equipment during larger writes (such as while moving files off the card). Twice with SD cards where certain blocks became unreadable (one in a zoom recorder, one in a raspberry pi) and twice with CF cards in card readers (one card reader was glitchy, one time the whole computer list power while deleting files). The last example was the only card that was a total loss where the camera couldn't format it afterwards and the card reader didn't even detect a card was inserted.

Never have I experienced a card failure in a camera. Neither in any of my 5 DSLRs, kids 2 MILCs, GoPro nor any powershot. Roughly two terabytes have passed through the cards flawlessly.

I've used Kingston, SanDisk, Samsung and a few brands I can't remember.

I can't see why people are so afraid of not having dual cards. I'd rather have several smaller, in case one gets totalled while copying to a computer.


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