xD Card Lifespan

[segbert]

Thanks NHL for the spec.

He is right, I had forgotten about the fat tables. They will get an erase/write cycle every time you take a picture. Not every picture will hit the same fat table block, and reformatting should recover the card when one goes bad, but this means the durability of the card is approximately porportional to the total number of pictures taken, rather than the number of times you have erased the card, as I had originally thought.

Consequently, always using the biggest honking card you can get may not be the best idea. If a large and small card will both wear out after about the same number of total pictures, a card that has enough capacity to hold what you normally take between downloads, but not a huge amount more, should prove the least expensive way to go.

I have a 512mb xD, and will probably get another one when prices come down some more. However, I will be saving these for when I need that many pictures between downloads,such as vacations. I'll also get a couple of much cheaper 128mb cards for everyday use, when I download daily.

[D Parker]

Thanks for the info/link - I knew someone had to know or hav a rough idea.

Fuji hasn't asnwered me back yet on the question.

Think a couple 128 mb cards will be fine for me.

[EnglishBob]

I used an XD format Fuji daily at work for 2 years with no problems., taking 10-15 pictures a day.

[D Parker]

For what it's worth, here's what Fuji said when I asked them for the average lifespan of an xD card:

"Fuji xD picture cards are warrantied for 1 year. If not damaged by misuse, the memory cards should be good for the entire life of the camera."

Dallas