Although memory cards are a lot less fragile than film was things can still go wrong sometimes. Here’s my top tips for avoiding memory card related disasters.

  1. I suggest getting a few smaller memory cards over a single large one. If that large one fails, you’ve lost the lot. It’ll probably save you a bit of money too and the cards are so small nowadays that carrying around a few isn’t an issue.
  2. Don’t keep all your memory cards in one place - spread them around. Leave one in your suitcase at the hotel. Keep one in your wallet/purse. The insurance may pay for your gear if it gets lost or stolen but that won’t bring back your photos.
  3. Swap cards regularly when on extended trips to avoid losing whole chunks of the trip. Don’t just swap cards when one gets full - I try to swap cards over at least once a day so if one card dies I still have some photos from everywhere I’ve been.
  4. Don’t be tight when buying your memory cards. It’s rare for them to fail but it’s worth paying a bit more to minimise the risk. If you like to do a lot of burst shooting you might also want to pay a bit more for the higher speed cards.
  5. Always take photos in the highest resolution your camera allows (or RAW if it has it). Memory is cheap and you’ll regret it later if your best shot isn’t big enough to blow up to poster size. If you’re running out of memory buy some more or cull some duff images from your other cards rather than shooting at lower resolution to eek it out.

If your memory card does develop a problem, don’t give up on it straight away. Try some recovery software such as the imaginatively named Recover Files or if the photos are really precious there are professional image recovery experts out there who may be able to rescue your photos (at a price).