How often do you change/swap out SD cards?

[vindibona1]

Obviously SD cards have limited space. Drones can fly awy or crash in irretrievable areas. Protecting your file data is important and in some cases critical. So the question that we're all dying to know is how often you change SD cards and when?

 

[dirkclod]

Well I take mine out after every outing and dump them in my Imac
look at them ,keep what I want in a file then reformat. Only time I change cards is when it’s deteriorating.
Course I only fly recreationally so if I loose it no biggie.

 

[vindibona1]

Well I take mine out after every outing and dump them in my Imac
look at them ,keep what I want in a file then reformat. Only time I change cards is when it’s deteriorating.
Course I only fly recreationally so if I loose it no biggie.

I too back up after every outing, but I don't swap cards on every battery change, unless it's a critical commercial job.

If I can reminisce, back in the early days of digital, before laptops were even viable to take on gigs and cards had small capacities and big prices (512mb card/microdrive/$300+) I brought along a device to back up my cards on the scene and had two pouches that I had on my belt; one for clean cards and one for used cards. In those days one didn't dare "delete" files, but after the backups were confirmed only then would we format the cards, usually low level formats to make sure the cards would write without errors. It's astonishing how far digital has come in 20 years.

 

[old man mavic]

i download any data to my hard drive ,after a days flying ,then format the card in the drone ,on first start up ,the next time i fly, as i dont video in 4K ,then i find a 64g card is big enough for me

 

[GFields]

Everyone does things differently and depends upon what one is doing with their drone. Some recreational pilots only remove the SD card when it's full. While others who do professional work remove the SD card after each shoot.

** Edited to remove sarcasm **

 

[retiredNH]

Not sure why the OP cares what I do? If the OP is concerned about card reliability, then the OP should buy quality cards to begin with. If the OP has some other concern, then tell us what?

The OP might note that there's a difference between/among removing a card to offload files, putting in a new card (as in a rotating pool) and no longer using a particular card.

Personally, I've never had a problem with a card, but I have quite a few that I don't use anymore because they're too small , too slow, or full size SD instead of micro SD.

 

[vindibona1]

Not sure why the OP cares what I do? If the OP is concerned about card reliability, then the OP should buy quality cards to begin with. If the OP has some other concern, then tell us what?

The OP might note that there's a difference between/among removing a card to offload files, putting in a new card (as in a rotating pool) and no longer using a particular card.

Personally, I've never had a problem with a card, but I have quite a few that I don't use anymore because they're too small , too slow, or full size SD instead of micro SD.

It's just out of curiosity. There is banter about when folks should swap out cards. I am mostly curious to see how many of us swap cards between every battery change. Did you vote on the poll? So far there are more comments than votes, so I suspect not. Its amazing how people want to criticize but don't want to take part.

I've seen this negativity on one or two other threads lately. What's going on here? One of the mods signatures encourage us to be kind and courteous. I suggest all of us start doing just that.

 

[mobilehomer]

I download to my RC Pro after every flight. So anything of any importance is not left. It is backed up. When that storage gets close to full, I move that to a SSD. I format the drone card when it gets close to full. I have 128 gig cards in both.

 

[maggior]

I only change out my card when it shows a problem. My MA2 started showing issues in recorded files (and in the video feed) so I replaced it.

However, like others, I pull the files off the card onto my PC after each outing. I then clear the files (pix and vid) from the card and put it back in the drone.

I didn't answer the poll because there wasn't an option for this.

 

[FLDave]

Replaced SD card only when it shows signs of impending or suspected failure. Can't think of any other reason to replace the card. It's unfortunate that wasn't an option for answer. Good pols need to be well thought out; apparently this one was not.

 

[Dale D]

Obviously SD cards have limited space. Drones can fly awy or crash in irretrievable areas. Protecting your file data is important and in some cases critical. So the question that we're all dying to know is how often you change SD cards and when?

I reformat every time using same card
There was no option to tick off for reformatting
Dale

 

[Talldiver]

I reformat every time using same card
There was no option to tick off for reformatting
Dale

Like most responses, I download the data to my computer, reformat the SD card and all is ready for the next flight. I always carry a spare SD card whenever/wherever I fly.

 

[Cymru]

Before each flight i put in a different SD card and fully format it.
If doing multiple flights per day then its a new card for each and every flight.

The reason being is if the drone goes missing i don't lose anything except that specific flights media.

Ive got 3 batteries and 3 cards for each of my drones.

 

[millbah]

i download any data to my hard drive ,after a days flying ,then format the card in the drone ,on first start up ,the next time i fly, as i dont video in 4K ,then i find a 64g card is big enough for me

Same with me. Works good. I think swamping out cards can only eventually lead to a failure

 

[millbah]

What about 'none of the above option'?

 

[chiangmaicharlies]

Never changed a card yet. I download after every day's flying. Why would I reformat?

 

[Vic Moss]

If I'm flying for work, I almost always change cards when I change batteries. And it's rare I don't also put them on a computer before I leave the site.

I also carry with my 8-10 cards in each drone case. That way I don't have to reformat the card until the next project and I know the data is secured.

 

[Vic Moss]

Same with me. Works good. I think swamping out cards can only eventually lead to a failure

Nope.

I've reformatted multiple cards 10s of 1000s of time over the years. I've never had a failure during formatting. I also replace my cards every three years or if they show signs of aging. So that may be part of the reason as well.

If someone doesn't shoot as much as I do, their cards would likely last 10 years or more. Reformatting actually cleans the card, and makes it better and safer for the next time it's written to. Start with a fresh architecture each time. Safer that way.

 

[dirkclod]

Same with me. Works good. I think swamping out cards can only eventually lead to a failure

It does but only the back with me from my fingernail where I push it.

Never changed a card yet. I download after every day's flying. Why would I reformat?

Just downloading your pictures/video’s does not remove them
from your card. Only reformating does unless I’m bad mistaken.
And have been alot lately I’m afraid
Even using the cord to remove your stuff from the drone to your laptop or PC i’ve seen many mess up where you plug into the drone
and it’s not real easy to fix,most have to send them to a repair shop.

 

[vindibona1]

millbah said:
Same with me. Works good. I think swamping out cards can only eventually lead to a failure

It does but only the back with me from my fingernail where I push it.

Just downloading your pictures/video’s does not remove them
from your card. Only reformating does unless I’m bad mistaken.
And have been alot lately I’m afraid
Even using the cord to remove your stuff from the drone to your laptop or PC i’ve seen many mess up where you plug into the drone
and it’s not real easy to fix,most have to send them to a repair shop.

It is important to understand that deleting individual images is not the recommended way to make more card space, though it is more reliable than back at digital imaging's infancy. When you delete images you run the risk of damaging the directory on the card. Back in the day deleting files was a given no-no. Cards today are much more stable, but formatting is the best way to make sure that your drone writes smoothly to the card. If it has to hunt and peck to find space and link data together all over the card it seems reasonable that it could cause problems in playback.

It is also important to know that there are two types of formatting; Standard formatting where there is latent data left on the card and low level formatting where every sector is erased to be written over. I believe that formatting in the drone is standard formatting and low level formatting needs to be done on the computer (though I could be mistaken).