memory cards

[sureshot]

tonight I went out to check my trail camera and there was some grass that did not get cut down that set the camera off,there was 1600 pictures in 3 days, as I was going through on the camera to see if there was any deer pics, it kind of sciezed,would not go anywere, i shut the camera off and started it again and it said there was no pics, I tried a different camera and the card was empty, what I wanted to know is it possable for a card to go bad, or possably the camera,there has been quite a few pics on the card, prob used 100 times or so in the past year,do they go bad??

thanks

[wtnhunt]

They can go bad Bret, they can also have glitches, have seen what you are describing happen before. Possible the contacts can get dirty too, especially if you carry the cards in your pocket not in a card holder of some sort.

If you are not concerned with the pics that were on the card, think I would probably reformat the card and try it again, in a regular camera if at all possible.

[buckee]

Why don't you get yourself a card reader and an extra card. It sure makes things easier. Just switch em out in the field, and bring the card home, stick it in the reader, plug in the reader, and you're good to go.

[Flintlock1776]

I saw that Wal Mart has Moultrie Card readers with built in card viewer you can take afield $25

[sureshot]

I have 2 cards and I use a camera to look at them in the field,but if I run into one I may think of it!! thanks!!btw, I stuck that one out there friday again and today had 57 pics, all were good and it worked,

[Rhino]

Like William said some just get glitches in them from time to time. I had one show a formating problem last week. I seem to have more glitch problems with Lexar cards than Sandisk cards but when you think about it, getting 100 runs out of one card is a lot for the $.

When they do get a glitch, I try reformating them and then see if they work properly before I put then in the field again. If they don't, they get trashed.

BTW, I have at least 2 cards for every camera so I can switch them out in the field and keep my cameras running. Also I always keep mine in the plastic case and then keep all of them together in a zip loc bag. The zip loc storage is just for making it easier for me to keep up with running multiple cameras. Keeping them in the case is for protecting them from dirt, etc. like William said.

[hoosierhunter]

I just take my hand camera and slide my card in that to check it in the field...but I don't have any experience with one going bad. I can say that my card has had about 1500 pics ran on it so far..Hopefully I'm not getting to the end of the line on that one b/c I got some good bucks that aren't on the computer yet on it:eek:

[Leo]

I find you're always better off to use the camera you will be using the card in to format it.

Cards that have been formatted using windows sometimes have problems.

Some cameras as part of their formatting also initialize the cards. Windows doesn't know how to do that for your particular camera. Sometimes it's an issue sometimes it's not.

Formatting with the camera is the safest bet