11 Tips to Keeping Your Memory Card Healthy & Extend Its Life

In the good old days of photography, the images you captured with your camera was stored on film. Though films were of various types, the ground rules of handling film was quite simple; keep it cool, keep it dry, keep it in the dark. But the era of digital photography has totally eliminated film rolls and replaced them with tiny, flat electronic devices called memory cards. It brought with it immediate advantages over film in terms of storage capacity and ease of handling. But still, memory cards are electronic devices, and so have a definite lifespan and list of do’s and don’ts. You really wouldn’t want your card to give incomprehensible error messages just when you need to take a shot of your child's first hockey game, would you? Though memory cards are designed to last long, they do come with an expiry date. Typical memory cards last for 10,000 write/erase cycles, with some professional grade cards lasting for 100,000 cycles. But they don’t last forever. By taking a few simple precautions, you can keep your memory card in perfect health and extend its usable life, ensuring it won’t fail you in your time of need.

Here are 11 helpful tips on how to extend the life and care for your digital camera's memory card:

Now, this sounds pretty basic, but it's very common to forget to switch the camera off while changing cards. If the camera happens to be accessing the card when you pull it out, it’ll surely cause read/write errors and potentially damage your card. Another common error is when people run out of patience while formatting the card and pull it out midway. This is a sure shot way of damaging your card. Always remember never to take the card out while it's being accessed, which is usually indicated by a blinking red or green light on your camera.

Your card is a precision electronic equipment, and treating it like a piece of rubber won’t do it any good. Always insert the card straight into the slot, and don’t slant or bend it. The card should go in smoothly, if it doesn't, there’s a reason for it - perhaps you're trying to insert it into your camera the wrong way. Never force a card into your camera if it offers resistance, you could irreparably damage the card or your digital camera.

Again, don’t handle the card roughly or throw it around. Try to ensure it doesn’t drop from a height. Though memory cards can withstand some amount of mechanical shock, it's useful to keep in mind that it doesn’t have iron armour!

Always store the memory card in the protective case it came in, never let it lie loose in your drawer or camera case. Dirt and dust accumulation is detrimental to its life. If your card is dusty, wipe it clean with a soft cloth prior to inserting it in your camera. Never use water or solvents to clean your card. Also remember, like lenses, never change memory cards in a dusty environment, as any dust or sand entering your camera may cause havoc.

Keep your memory card away from water of any form; rain, snow, splashes from your cup of morning coffee. Another thing to be careful about is condensation. Atmospheric humidity tends to condense as water droplets on any surface which is colder than its surroundings. So when you walk with your memory card from the chilly outdoors into your warm living room, water droplets can condense on your card and seriously damage it. To help protect it, always store your memory card in a plastic casing before you expose it to a warm and humid environment.

Please continue on to page 2, where you will learn 7 more helpful tips on how to protect your digital camera`s memory card and help extend its life.