# How Long Does Your CF Cards Last...



## canon23 (Jul 30, 2013)

Just a curious question. I currently use both SanDisk Extreme Pro & Lexar Pro CP cards and have no issues with either. I was just curious how long do you use your CP cards before you swap them for new ones (even if the old ones doesn't have any problems or breaks) as a cautious measure?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 30, 2013)

There are a ton of 8mb cards still around and working fine. I've never had a CF card die since I started using them 13 years ago in my Nikon CP-990, which is also still working great.

Cards are more likely to fail from other causes than wearing out. For the most part, users do not come near to wearing them out, but certainly some users will wear them out.

I would not worry about the life, you will want a larger or a faster card long before yours dies. I upgraded to a 85mb card in 2000 at a cost of $200. It was only a couple of years before I started buying 2GB cards, then 4, 8, 16, 32, and now I buy 64 GB cards. I usually sell the old ones with a camera, so I think most of mine are 16GB or larger. I do keep a few smaller ones because some of my old cameras like my CP 990 max out at 2GB.


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## neuroanatomist (Jul 30, 2013)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I usually sell the old ones with a camera



I thought about that, but buyers don't really see the value in such add-ons, IMO. I use a set of three 32 GB 90 MB/s cards in my 1D X (dual slots with RAW written to both, card in slot 1 gets swapped out, card in slot 2 stays in as a backup). I have a pair of 16 GB 60 MB/s cards as backups for those. I also have a set of three 8 GB 60 MB/s cards that I don't use for images - I thought about selling them, but I'm glad I didn't - I use a tiny fraction of their capacity to store my various settings files for the camera (people, birds, sports, AFMA), and that way I can have a card in each of several bags so I can apply a settings file as needed.


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## RLPhoto (Jul 30, 2013)

Until they are broken, lost, or corrupted permanently. I mirror my cards in my 5D3s incase one card fails but I have 6x 16GB CF cards and 2x 64GB SD cards for backup.


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## kaihp (Jul 30, 2013)

I stop using my old CF cards when they are obsoleted for capacity or speed reasons. 

For my 10D I had 1GB cards. For the 50D, I got a couple of 8/16GB cards.
Last year I bought 4 32GB 1000x cards when they were on offer from BH. Now the "old" 8/16GB cards languish.


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## alexanderferdinand (Jul 30, 2013)

Unless your a pro sportsshooter with 12fps and an event every day, I wouldnt worry.
They are simply replaced by bigger/faster cards.
My first 256mb card is in rent, healthy.


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## TAF (Jul 30, 2013)

At work we have an industrial system that uses CF cards (the OS, main program, and collected data are all stored on the card). It was old when I started using it in 1999, and we're still using the cards we had back then. So I would say there is really nothing about a CF card that suggests limited longevity.

In cameras I've bought new larger cards when I've upgraded (Xt to 50D to 5D3). The old ones are in the drawer "just in case"...and will likely remain there forever.


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## JPAZ (Jul 30, 2013)

I've got a whole stack of CF cards ranging from 1 through 16 GB and use them all. Some date back 10+ years. Even though the RAW files from the 5diii fill the 1 GB card quickly, I always feel if one should ever fail, I'll only lose a relatively small number of shots. That's just me justifying things, I guess. Now that the SD slot in the camera does an internal JPEG "backup" for me, I'll gradually replace the 1, 2, and 4 GB cards if they ever get iffy. 

I even have some old 500 mb cards on which I keep JPEGS for an electronic frame on my desk.


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## tpatana (Jul 30, 2013)

Yep, same comments as above.

My camera path: XTi - 7D - 5D3

I still have the first 4GB card I bought for XTi, but in addition I have 4x 16GB, 1x 8GB and another 4GB. I've considered upgrading for bigger cards, but no good reason really so I haven't. Also all my cards are cheap brands, and slow too.


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## daltech (Jul 30, 2013)

I've owned two 4GB CF, Lexar Professional UDMA (300x) cards purchased with my 40D in March 2009, and I took about 50,000 pictures with them, and I have never got any issues.


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## tron (Jul 30, 2013)

My first SANDISK cards (2 8GB Extreme III cards ) were in the bag that was stolen. Now I have 3 32GB cards. I have no problem with them and I do not intend to stop using them as long as they are OK...


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## crasher8 (Jul 30, 2013)

A whole lot longer than SD cards did, snapping, cracking, dying. Flimsy POS's.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 30, 2013)

crasher8 said:


> A whole lot longer than SD cards did, snapping, cracking, dying. Flimsy POS's.


 
I've never had a SD card or any other card fail, but they are flimsy. The real losers were the Smart Media cards that were used in my first Digital Camera (1.3 mp Fujifilm MX700) in 1998. Great camera, really poor memory card, you would get fingerprints on the contacts and have to clean the card to get it working again. There were 3 and 5 volt versions, so you had to get the right one. I recall that that my MX 700 came with a 2mb card. I still have a Smart Media card or two as well as some XD cards. I also have one of the old CF type II with a micro hard drive in them. I used them in my Kodak DCS 460. They are antiques.


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## RGF (Jul 31, 2013)

Finally had a SanDisk Extreme 32GB (2-3 years old) card fail. Only card in about 30 I have owned over the years (sell older cards to camera club friends).


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## Jim K (Jul 31, 2013)

I keep some of my old 4 GB and smaller cards in the car. I have read about folks leaving the card in the card reader by the computer and going out without one. Decided that was not going to happen to me. 
Was on a workshop when the pro ran out of space on his card. Loaned him one of mine.


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## luciolepri (Jul 31, 2013)

kaihp said:


> I stop using my old CF cards when they are obsoleted for capacity or speed reasons.



+1

In my whole life I think I saw just one SD stop working. It was inside a GoPro that fell from the roof of a Ferrari racing at around 200 Km/h...


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## TexasBadger (Jul 31, 2013)

Since they rely on NAND memory, they do have a finite number of read/write cycles.


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## tpatana (Jul 31, 2013)

TexasBadger said:


> Since they rely on NAND memory, they do have a finite number of read/write cycles.



True, although if they have "only" 10k cycles let's say 32GB card can take ~1k RAW files and average you shoot 500 per card per shoot, 10k * 500 = 5 million photos before the card might fail.


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## luciolepri (Aug 4, 2013)

luciolepri said:


> kaihp said:
> 
> 
> > I stop using my old CF cards when they are obsoleted for capacity or speed reasons.
> ...



Famous last words: my 6 months old Lexar SDXC 64GB 600x just started causing problems. When I use it, my MKIII buffer fills in a few seconds. I still have to run some tests to understand if the SD is the real cause, but I guess it is...


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## Dylan777 (Aug 4, 2013)

I have 2 Lexar 32GB Pro 1000x CF. One on each 5D III. Since photography is just my hobby, therefore, no backup for me. It almost 2yrs, no problem so far. No plan to update these at all. 

I also have 2 32GB SD from sandisk. One on my RX1 and other will be used on RX100 II. They are 2-3yrs old. No problem so far.


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## rpt (Aug 4, 2013)

Dylan777 said:


> I have 2 Lexar 32GB Pro 1000x CF. One on each 5D III. Since photography is just my hobby, therefore, no backup for me. It almost 2yrs, no problem so far. No plan to update these at all.
> 
> I also have 2 32GB SD from sandisk. One on my RX1 and other will be used on RX100 II. They are 2-3yrs old. No problem so far.


The one I use on the 300D are 8 years and 5 years old and going strong. the older one is a SanDisk 1 GB and the other is a Kingston 2GB. The cards I bought with my 5D3 are just a year and a half old...


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## SDFilmFan (Aug 4, 2013)

The 128MB card I paid about $100 for in 2002 for my first digital camera (a Canon S45) is still going strong in a digital picture frame I use as a night light. I expect that you're more likely to damage a CF card by removing/reinserting it than actually wearing it out.


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## gferdinandsen (Aug 4, 2013)

Never had one "Wear Out", what I have had is where the capacity becomes too restricted for my current camera. My 3GB cards are sitting somewhere in a box, physically perfect to use, but lacking in capacity.


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