Single or dual SD card slots?

T

Tdes

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Tony
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Morning all,

Have any of you ever had a SD card failure before with unrecoverable pics?

Just wondering why all cameras don't have dual card slots, are SD cards a lot more robust and reliable now?

Would any of you commercial photographers risk a single card in your camera at a wedding or event?

T
 
Never had any issues with any SD cards. Single slot, double slot, doesn't bother me.
 
Tdes said:
Morning all,

Have any of you ever had a SD card failure before with unrecoverable pics?

Just wondering why all cameras don't have dual card slots, are SD cards a lot more robust and reliable now?

Would any of you commercial photographers risk a single card in your camera at a wedding or event?

T
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The only reason I can see why manufacturers use single slots is due to 1/ less space taken up so easier to design layout of internals 2/ cheaper to manufacture 3/ creates separation between model specs 4/ creates a path where users may choose a high spec camera ie more expensive 5/ gives the manufacturer an easy upgrade for the next version of the same model.

Nikon’s and canon’s mirrorless are good examples of this. It’s their first try at mirrorless so like Sony they took the single card slot route. Next model will likely have two slots and will be an ‘amazing’ upgrade. Sony are into version 3 of their A7R and I think they have only included dual slots.

Cards may not fail often but eventually they will (just like hard drives do). if dual slots are available why wouldn’t you use them? I have had one SD card failure on me previously (one in 7 years isn’t bad). the problem I’ve encountered the most is going out having forgotten to put the card back in the camera! With a second card in the camera at least it’s not a wasted trip!

I have wondered if the future is single card slots and a second copy sent wirelessly to a separate storage device. Large storage capacities on smart phones are coming down in price so they may be utilised in the future. This would have the benefit of being a true backup. If you drop your camera in a lake or down a cliff you still lose all the images whether you have two cards slots or only one.
 
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The last 4 cameras I've owned only had the one slot, I switch cards often, I don't shoot a bazillion images to any one card, and I back up to the laptop on the go asap. I've never had one fail - I think it's more likely the slot itself will fail than the card tbh. When I did have dual slots one housed a CF card for it's life-span, never physically used, I just left it in there when I sold it on too.
 
Throughout my Pro use of 10-years so far I've never had one fail, but the 'risk' of using just one on a paid for once-in-a-lifetime shoot means I wouldn't dream of just using a single-slot camera now I have the option not to

Like Cagey75 I have one that never comes out - a 128gb one - in slot 2; and like LojikDub I have spares for slot 1 just-in-case I ever forgot it (which hasn't happened) - and also in case BOTH cards fails too (virtually impossible unless the camera is also buggered)

For my hobby photography I still like the idea of 2 cards for the added peace of mind it affords, but I'd not panic if using a camera with just one slot - especially as my first 4 Pro cameras only had one slot anyway

I suspect we may well have a future where the camera backs-up to a separate device that also backs-up to the cloud at the same time, that SHOULD stop all paranoia (but probably won't lol)

Dave
 
I have had a card fail. At the time I was shooting RAW to one card, JPG to the other, and the RAW failed. I now shoot RAW to both and wouldn't spend in excess of £1k on a body without 2 slots. Canon have a habit of using 2 different types of media for their slots, why I don't know. My Fuji's take 2 similar cards and that means I don't have to have different types of media with me.

Also, using 2 cards, both on RAW means I can copy one to one back up system and one to the other to speed up the process. So for me, 2 slots is what I would want.
 
Besides the card failure reasons I expect the cost of implementing such feature being minimal these days, especially for anything over £1500, I see no reason not to implement one out of trying to upsell a model.

The Fujis can put dual cards in their bodies so I don't see how a larger Nikon Z6 or Canon R can't have one for size reasons or cost reasons as they both cost more.

Having 2 card slots won't hinder those that will ever use 1, it doesn't hurt them.
 
I have had two SD cards fail recently. Both purchased at the same time and failed within one week of each other - thankfully replaced under warranty.

In both cases I was shooting RAW+JPEG so didn't lose any images but it does make you nervous :)
 
Stop buying the SD cards from market stalls lads :LOL:

I swear I saw someone recently say they had both card slots fail, obviously a dud copy of the camera [can't remember what make or model] But it can happen, no weirder than an SD card fail so badly to me, as I've yet to have it happen in over 10 years. I did have one get rejected from a camera, but that was before it would allow me take a shot. Binned that one, it was actually a Samsung 16GB if my memory serves, I remember it happen with a crappy Kingston one way back too, pretty sure that was in a cheap compact. I think you have to be really unlucky to have it happen after taking a good number of shots, and again, I'd be switching them long before it ever became devastating - worst that could happen to me though, is I'd lose a few nice family pics or some casual artsy walkabout shots. If I was shooting for food, I'd have dual slots, dual bodies, maybe quadruple everything! So I do see the peace of mind to it
 
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Jelster said:
Only ever use Sandisk, only ever from a trusted source. No back of a lorry cards here :D
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Same here, they're the only ones I have never had any hint of an issue with. I've also been using the same card reader for the PC for about 7 years now, the Lexar USB 3.0 reader, and again, never had any hic-ups
 
Never had an SD card fail but have had a CF one do so. Managed to get the unreshootable pix of it at a cost then switched to using SanDisk from trusted sources only, since when, zero problems.
Main cameras now have dual slots but have no real worries about using the other bodies with just the single slots.
 
My cameras have a CF / SD card slot and CF / Cfast slots.
I run cards in both. Occasionally one being a backup of the other, but also raw / JPG or large JPG / small JPG so I've got small managable files for quickly working with and larger versions for working with back at base.

My own cards - I've had an SD card die and I shoot for an event company and some of their cards have had corruption problems. Hence a backup.
 
GreenNinja67 said:
Do what I do.

Keep 5 cards with you and take the same shot 5 times, changing cards between each shot.
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Thats just stupid, taking the cards in and out each time will cause a problem... 5 cameras is the answer!!
 
If you taking photos for a living then yes two card slots, other wise I think it is a nice to have. I never had a camera with two slots not saying I won't get one but don't think it would be a major deciding factor when buying. I have had a problem with a CF card once right at the start of the shoot so did not lose any photo's and have used it since and been OK and just keep it as a real emergency back up. I tend to use smaller size cards (8 and 16 GB) that way if I ever did have problems hopefully only lose a small bit. As others have said good quality cards and you lessen the risk.
 
Why would I want to risk even a quick sub-£100 job and all the hassle that would come with it? I've once had a tripod failure and that was bad enough. Duct tape saved the day. And yes, I had SD card corruption by card reader. I was glad there was a backup card, and this time using a USB cable to the camera.
 
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