Memory Stick Life Span

What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? I
ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than
usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the
stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The
only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything
runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably
more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro.

Argo
http://greenrealm.blogspot.com (a science fantasy)

Argo wrote:
What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks?

The chips inside are supposed to be able to be 'written' no less than
100,000 times and more likely 1,000,000 times.
I
ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than
usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the
stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The
only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything
runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably
more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro.

Have you tride using contact cleaner on the pins of the stick to get
any
residual dirt and grease off the pins?

"Argo" wrote in message
ups.com...
What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? I
ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than
usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the
stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The
only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything
runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably
more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro.

Argo
http://greenrealm.blogspot.com (a science fantasy)


What sort of numbers are you actually talking about?

Argo wrote:
... Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the
stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The
only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick...

I haven't had any problems with my 4 year old CompactFlash
card or my one year old SD card.

I think there may have been a time or two that my CF card
became unreadable, but was made readable again by re-formatting.

Have you tried reformatting the cards after they became unreadable?

I will speculate on some possible causes - but my speculations
are not based on any real knowledge:

1. Used the camera until the battery got low and writing to
the card became eratic, damaging data or format on the card.

2. Writing to or erasing the card on the computer, but pulling
the card out of the reader, or the reader plug out of the computer,
before the operation was 100% complete.

Either of those causes should be fixed by a reformat.

Alan

Argo wrote:
... Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the
stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The
only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick...

I haven't had any problems with my 4 year old CompactFlash
card or my one year old SD card.

I think there may have been a time or two that my CF card
became unreadable, but was made readable again by re-formatting.

Have you tried reformatting the cards after they became unreadable?

I will speculate on some possible causes - but my speculations
are not based on any real knowledge:

1. Used the camera until the battery got low and writing to
the card became eratic, damaging data or format on the card.

2. Writing to or erasing the card on the computer, but pulling
the card out of the reader, or the reader plug out of the computer,
before the operation was 100% complete.

Either of those causes should be fixed by a reformat.

Alan

In article . com, Argo
wrote:

What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? I
ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than
usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the
stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The
only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything
runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably
more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro.

Hint: The key to your problem my lie in the brand of your camera.

"Randall Ainsworth" wrote in message
...
In article . com, Argo
wrote:

What sort of life span do people get from their camera memory sticks? I
ask because I wonder if my camera (a Sony) wears them out faster than
usual. Every few months, my camera starts to have problems reading the
stick, especially when I go to upload the photos to my computer. The
only way to solve the problem is to get a new stick - then everything
runs slick as can be. It's true that I take a lot of photos, probably
more than an average amateur, but certainly not to the level of a pro.

Hint: The key to your problem my lie in the brand of your camera.

What a totally stupid thing to say, memory sticks will last just the same as
any other.

What I don't like about the memory stick - and I deliberately
avoided using it for that reason - is its being comparatively hard to
find (compared to CF or SD cards), making costs higher. You can find
the ordinary cards at any deep-discount office-supply place.

No $4 to park! No $6 admission!
http://stores.ebay.com/INTERNET-GUN-SHOW

Pete D wrote:
"Randall Ainsworth" wrote in message
...
[]
Hint: The key to your problem my lie in the brand of your camera.

What a totally stupid thing to say, memory sticks will last just the
same as any other.

So if memory sticks should last as long as any other (with which I broadly
agree), but someone is experiencing early failure, doesn't that suggest
that the camera might be at fault? Yes, it could be the physical handling
of the sticks as well, but it wouldn't be the first camera to be faulty or
have bad firmware incompatible with some memory cards. Just this sort of
problem has hit big name manufacturers like (IIRC) Canon and Lexar in the
past ....

David

On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 09:29:12 GMT, David J Taylor wrote:

Hint: The key to your problem my lie in the brand of your camera.

What a totally stupid thing to say, memory sticks will last just the
same as any other.

So if memory sticks should last as long as any other (with which I
broadly agree), but someone is experiencing early failure, doesn't
that suggest that the camera might be at fault?

Yes, it suggests that possibility, maybe even with a particular
camera model. But it does not, as RA suggests, implicate the
*brand* of the camera.


Yes, it could be the physical handling of the sticks as well, but it
wouldn't be the first camera to be faulty or have bad firmware
incompatible with some memory cards. Just this sort of problem
has hit big name manufacturers like (IIRC) Canon and Lexar in the
past ....

If the camera or its firmware was incompatible with the memory
sticks, the problem would be evident from the beginning. The OP
says that the problems don't appear until the cards have been used
for several months. You should be familiar enough with RA by now to
realize that he sometimes leaps at the chance to unfairly and
illogically criticize people, techniques, camera types and brands.
As Sony doesn't have the "pro" reputation of some other well known
brands, to him they're fair game. To distract him from innocent
bystanders the way one might toss a slab of red meat towards a lion,
perhaps a few pseudo Preddy/Sigma trolls might be useful.