p.1 #1 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
In late 2015, I bought some Sandisk Extreme-Pro SD cards for my Canon 5DSR camera and a few months ago, much to my surprise, I had the top of the card chip off when I was removing it. Unfortunately, the card doesn't work anymore and when I finally got a chance to call Sandisk to ask that they replace the card, because it's supposed to come with a "LIFETIME WARRANTY" as both advertised by Sandisk, both in their advertising AND on their website on a table of warranties on each and every SD card, the guy from Sandisk told me that they don't warranty the card if something breaks off of it, even if it makes the card unusable.
I was in shock both because I don't pull the cards out at an angle that could cause it to break, but more important, the card should NOT have broken when it was being removed from the camera, which happened along the metal contacts, and therefore the card no longer works. As far as I'm concerned, I pay a PREMIUM for these cards because they Do carry a life-time warranty and the card is only 4 years old, so I can't believe that they won't warranty a premium card since they charge a premium for in the first place.
A few months ago, I had TWO brand new Sandisk Extreme (gold) cards fail on me while I was in Euorpe in only a few hours of shooting photos, so it makes me wonder if Sandisk quality is failing miserably now that they have been taken over by Western Digitital? I would never buy a WD hard drive because I had several WD drives fail before, so it makes sense if Sandisk is now owned by WD that they could fall under the same poor quality management of WD. I used to get HGST hard drives because they were superior hard drives, but since WD took over them and discontinued the HGST name, I've had to consider other brands.
Any thoughts?
Bill
Front of Sandisk SD card with chip by where it came off of. I don't know why it won't work anymore, but it doesn't.
p.1 #2 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
Doesn't really matter, if you break the card it's not covered by the warranty. It's not a lifetime unlimited warranty.
The card most likely did not break when you pulled it out of the camera, the external force causing the plastic to crack was most likely applied outside of the camera. In transport etc.
Since you bought the card in late 2015, they could easily argue it was not a defect that was present when you received the card, but a fault that developed in your care.
Bottom line, it's a limited lifetime warranty, that does not cover that kind of damage.
As for WD hard drives failing, like any other mechanical drive, it's only a matter of time before they fail. The main factor playing into the life span of the hard drive is the environment it's used.
p.1 #5 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
I've had 2 or 3 cards do that including one of those 64 Gig cards. it takes some careful fiddling but I've been able to repair them using auto body filler designed for bonding plastic panels to metal or fiberglass. It's very dense compared to the regular fillers & it takes some careful work to re shape it to the exact shape the card cover was in. Now there may be another easier option because some of my cards (various brands) have split open without being broken which suggests we might be able to open up a small slow older card to re use the plastic with the memory section of a damaged (broken or missing piece) & use Super Glue to put one back together BUT sparingly & do not get glue on the terminals. I haven't tried this idea but may the next time one breaks.
p.1 #6 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
from the sandisk site:
Effective Date - January 16, 2015
SanDisk provides this limited warranty to the end user purchaser (“You”), that this product (the “Product”), excluding content and or software supplied with or on the Product, will be free from material defects in manufacture, will conform to SanDisk's published product specifications, and will be fit for normal use in accordance with published instructions during the Warranty Period specified in the table commencing on the date of purchase provided that the Product is legally placed on the market. This warranty is provided only to You and is not transferable.
This warranty does not cover use of the Product in connection with the following uses or devices (as determined by SanDisk): (i) normal wear and tear, (ii) video monitoring, security, and surveillance devices, (iii) internet protocol/network cameras, (iv) in-car recording devices/dashboard cameras/black box cameras, (v) display devices that loop video, (vi) continuous recording set top box devices, (vii) continuous data logging devices like servers, or (viii) other excessive uses that exceed normal use in accordance with published instructions. The warranty exclusions set forth in points (ii)-(vii) above do not apply to the following: SanDisk High Endurance Video Monitoring microSD Cards located here.
in short its good out of the packaging but you need to be aware how you take care of it and what you use it in. essentially the caveats create the proverbial unwarranty. sort of like a Gitzo USA warranty. this warranty as it stands was in enforcement 1 year before WD finalized their purchase of Sandisk
p.1 #8 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
sjms wrote:
yes and no. as with most technical equipment the end user truly is the primary pitfall.
Of course and this goes both ways but in terms of how many faulty memory slots in camera CF will win over SD any day of the week. Simply due it's design and people buying crap cards or simply being clumsy.
The notion that SD cards are flimsy and that would be the reasons for OP's misfortune is simply claim with no basis.
p.1 #9 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
oh I kinda doubt that it would turn out to be more overall on CF due to average considering middle market and consumer cameras along with copious other devices that use SD. remember the real performance still was carried by CF. I can only speak for myself in using them from my Nikon Coolpix thru to my Nikon D3 stopping at the Canon 1Ds 1D2 1Ds2 1D3 along the way. oh and then there the Minolta Dimage A1 the forfather to the systems on the Sony A7/A9. and mine still works. from 1999 to 2012 w/o a hitch using CF. i'll stick with the human factors and the bell curve of human failings.
p.1 #10 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
Fotografpaul wrote:
The notion that SD cards are flimsy and that would be the reasons for OP's misfortune is simply claim with no basis.
Maybe because it is such a large photo, but the card in the OP looks to have seen some meaningful mechanical forces. e.g. lower right corner of second image in the OP.
The only card to ever fail on me is a Lexar 32GB Professional 800x CF. Failure was in electronics, not mechanics, within a year or so of purchase (from Adorama, so presumably not fake). Never bothered asking for a replacement. Paid what I thought was a healthy amount for it ($90 in 2012) - that was before XQD desensitized me to memory card prices. About a dozen CF and SD cards were in flawless operation for a decade+.
Speaking of which, of the three designs (CF, SD, and XQD) the XQD ***feels*** by far the flimsiest in terms of mechanics. Every time I grab one of these cards it feels as if you squeeze a bit the housing will and crack - there is a definite transverse yield with minor effort. For the first time ever I am keeping my cards inside the original plastic cases inside a TT Pixel Rocket. Makes for a rather bulky storage, and a tight fit that is not very glove friendly to boot.
Comment that "XQD is inherently more robust" from a participant in this thread that shall remain unnamed until they out themselves coming in 3.... 2.... 1....
p.1 #11 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
yeah, and? Sir I have been using XQD since the D4 came out in 2012. you do come across again as feeding the neurotic side buy trying to create what is seemingly just not there. but like you I also use the PPP but unlike you for years I used the "belt without the suspenders" method aka commando style (buck naked and much svelter too). all of them going strong. and I love to live dangerously i guess. what you need to do is stop talking and start demonstrating.
p.1 #15 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
EB-1 wrote:
SD is a flimsy design.
EBH
Fotografpaul wrote:
Yet it's used daily by professionals.. so the flimsy design seems to be good enough.
The pins of CF design have been a bigger pitfall than the plastic frame of the SD cards over the years.
SD cards are inherently flimsy due to the space constraints (chips as part of the structure) and engineering back in the day. Initially SD was a consumer grade product for consumer devices.
The fragility of SD cards had nothing to do with the CF cards or any issues that form factor has.
If SD and CF cards are tested on an Instron I can bet which will handle the higher flex force.
I'm not a photographer, but I would not rely on one SD card for very important data. I assume the photographers use two cards in parallel or two photographers each with a camera for important subjects.
p.1 #17 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
The irony is that the inventor and main purveyor of supposedly superior technology, aka XQD, uses SD in their top-of the-line professional cameras (link). Wondering if Nikon talked themselves into using XQD or Sony had something to do with it.
p.1 #18 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
really, you can't work this out? the history is there. just follow it back and look where its going.
since you won't squeeze your cards I did mine using my thumb and forefinger with a fair bit of force well in excess for normal usage. (sorry I didn't have my force meter available) and nothing as I suspected happened. as these are not designed to be stepped on I didn't feel it necessary to try that. since these are business tools I tend not to treat them like they were garbage.
yes I can apply enough force by hand to rupture the housing on SD, XQD, and with some effort CF and CFast with both the last 2 being the most resistant. but no I am not determined to do so. but then none of this are supposed to be designed to hold a ridiculous deflective load. there are heavy duty versions available in the.
SD cards lowest resistance to deflection easy to create flex in the housing
XQD next high and by a fair bit. no case flex under the same approx. load by hand. would definitely require effort near that of a CF card
CF/CFast the highest.
LUMIX S1R is another turn to camera for XQD/CFexp
I think someone here who's "feels" need to be reevaluated. cause there is a considerable differences in housing build and strength and its not in SD's favor by any means.
p.1 #19 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
Re: CF card/reader/pin failures... Since 2001 I've had one instance of this, and it was because the client for which I was shooting was using a cheap-a$$ CF card reader in which a couple pins eventually bent, damaging a couple of my cards, which in turn bent a couple pins in my camera. That was a year ago. IMO not bad for ~18 years. That said, I do like the pin-less aspect of SD, XQD and CFast.
Somehow over the years my SO has managed to fry a few SD cards in digital P&S cameras, though I'm not exactly sure how.
All of these boiled down to user error. The CF pin failure was due to inexperienced computer operators and a card reader with a very short 'track' on which the card was guided to the pins, allowing for easier misalignment between card and pins.
p.1 #20 · Sandisk Extreme PRO SD card breaks & Sandisk states they won't replace!
Fotografpaul wrote:
You have to define flimsy, and of course, there is gonna be a comparison to other alternative media used...and their potential issues.
Regardless, as already been stated, professional use SD cards daily in professional grade cameras despite your misgivings of the format.
the term flimsy in the case of SD is that the card itself is flexible*. the flex in said design can have an affect on the circuitry that is encased in the card.
*flexible being defined at this point by the housing being relatively easily bent using finger pressure. the answer here is simply don't be stupid. thus the warranty caveats (physical damage is generally not covered) this can be defined as normal wear.
