Just got a Sandisk 48MB compact flash memory card Type 1 and in the instruction it says "the card can be overwritten 300,000 times". What does that mean? Does it mean after 300,000 pictures, the card is no longer useful?

-- Leo C (leopix@webtv.net), December 12, 1999

Answers

I believe they are saying that the card can be written to and and erased 300,000 times. So, if you can fit say 20 hi-res pics on a 48mb card, then you would figure that you could get 6million pictures over the life of the card. Let's say you do 4500 pictures/month that's about 225 wipes per month and 2700 per year. Out of 300,000 total wipes, the card would last ....a very long time.

Sory about the math I used small numbers, and I don't know how many pics you can fit on the card. :)

-- David Erskine (davide@netquest.com), December 13, 1999.

It depends on several factors, such as:

* how you use the camera

* how the camera manufacturer implements the writing to the flash memory

If you take only one picture each time, then remove the card, copy the data to your computer, re-insert the card, and erase it, that will actually be TWO WRITES for each image (one to write, and one to erase the image's entry in the directory structure) and so you can take only 150,000 images before you reach the limit of the warranty.

Of course, the card might work perfectly well beyond that limit, but the card manufacturer does't guarantee it.

Regarding the way the camera records images, it could be detremental to the life of the flash memory if the camera writes to the directory structure AS A BLOCK (like is done for clustered sectors on your hard drive) rather than strictly at the byte level.

If the whole cluster is written each time a photo is taken, and if for example one cluster holds the directory info for 16 images, then the camera will write 16 times to the same bytes when 16 different images are taken, (instead of just once, if the directories were written at the byte level) and so, again, this will unexpectedly reduce the life of the media.

-bruce

-- bruce komusin (bkomusin@bigfoot.com), December 13, 1999.

by the time your CF card wears out you'll be able to buy 40 terrabyte cards in bubble gum machines for a nickel. Haven't you got something better to worry about? :)

-- benoit (foo@bar.com), December 20, 1999.

So, if you write to it, it 'uses' up the card, what about reading? Say you carry the card around and 'view' the pics many times...

-- Reo (Reo@foo.bar.com), June 26, 2003.

'don't ever let anyone tell you "there are no stupid questions."

'there's 2 things that piss me off...and both of them are cheep people.'

-- ginski (singularity1953@hotmail.com), July 07, 2003.