Which is more likely to fail on a camera, the USB port or SD card slot?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Which is more likely to fail on a camera, the USB port or SD card slot?

Posted: 9/20/2018 10:18:44 PM EDT

Assuming you don't have a newer camera with WiFi and you need to get images off the camera and onto your computer, which option is less likely to cause a failure? I have seen micro USB ports on cell phones and tablets fail after 1000 cycles or so. I've never put that much use on an SD card slot, but the click latch mechanism seems like a likely point of failure.

Posted: 9/20/2018 11:25:35 PM EDT

[#1]

sample of 1 camera, The SD cover latch failed.

Posted: 9/21/2018 2:39:39 AM EDT

[#2]

I'd expect a USB port failure before a card or slot failure. Usually because a cable gets tweaked and loosens up the internals of the port.

Posted: 9/21/2018 2:53:43 AM EDT

[#3]

+1 for what Zack said.

You are better off using a card reader than directly connecting the camera to the computer.
The card reader is faster, less error prone, needs no special device drivers, and does not drain the camera battery.

Posted: 9/21/2018 3:00:23 AM EDT

[#4]

If frequently transferring pics, I'd look into the wifi sd cards. I think they're called myfi or mifi. Something like that. No plugging/unplugging involved.

Posted: 9/21/2018 4:06:35 AM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
If frequently transferring pics, I'd look into the wifi sd cards. I think they're called myfi or mifi. Something like that. No plugging/unplugging involved.

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That has a lot of 'it depends' really. Amount of files, file size, etc. Eyefi cards were hit and miss and had a big thing about the company bricking them a few years back, before being unlocked.

+1 on the USB port failing first. On high resolution stuff, or just a ton of photos, transferring over wifi is a massive pain in the ass IMO. So much quicker and easier to copy off the card directly.

Posted: 9/21/2018 1:13:52 PM EDT

[#6]

Ok, thanks for the input. I actually have an old EyeFi card but I stopped using it when they had the issues with not supporting the older cards. There might be something better out there now. I'll just use a card reader since I have a couple on hand.

Posted: 9/21/2018 2:55:43 PM EDT

[#7]

Didn't know about the issues, but it seemed like a pretty slick solution at the time. I never made the jump to buying one.

Posted: 9/27/2018 3:04:04 PM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:
sample of 1 camera, The SD cover latch failed.

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Sorry I'm late to the party.

Slot one died on my D7100 six months after purchase. Been connecting directly to the laptop two or three times a week for the last couple years.
I used the plug because I didn't want slot two to die taking the SD card out all the time.
No issues with the USB plug or the little plug goes into the camera.

Not an issue now. I quit photography months ago.

Posted: 9/27/2018 8:18:22 PM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
I'd expect a USB port failure before a card or slot failure. Usually because a cable gets tweaked and loosens up the internals of the port.

View Quote

this right here. Sure, the card door may break off, or the latch may fail, but the card slot itself, and the ability to write to the card by the camera, is going to be a lot more durable than a USB port.

Posted: 9/29/2018 1:57:06 PM EDT

[#10]

Just as an aside for those using Instagram, I got an OTG card reader and you can upload pics directly to Instagram from your SD card this way without having to do the Dropbox workaround. I do like to do a bit of post processing so I will probably use a different card for transfers from the computer to the phone, or just connect the phone to the PC directly. They really need to give us a desktop upload option.

Posted: 9/29/2018 2:02:44 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:
+1 for what Zack said.

You are better off using a card reader than directly connecting the camera to the computer.
The card reader is faster, less error prone, needs no special device drivers, and does not drain the camera battery.

View Quote

Yea, I got an Anker card reader on amazon for like 10 bucks.

Posted: 9/29/2018 10:00:07 PM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:
Just as an aside for those using Instagram, I got an OTG card reader and you can upload pics directly to Instagram from your SD card this way without having to do the Dropbox workaround. I do like to do a bit of post processing so I will probably use a different card for transfers from the computer to the phone, or just connect the phone to the PC directly. They really need to give us a desktop upload option.

View Quote

I just email or bluetooth the pics to load them on the phone.

Seems to work ok.

Posted: 9/29/2018 10:16:28 PM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:

I just email or bluetooth the pics to load them on the phone.

Seems to work ok.

View Quote

In my case I am using a 5 year old camera that doesn't have Bluetooth or WiFi. But that does sound convenient.

Posted: 9/29/2018 10:30:06 PM EDT

[#14]

Quote History

Quoted:
In my case I am using a 5 year old camera that doesn't have Bluetooth or WiFi. But that does sound convenient.

View Quote

My camera has bluetooth, but that's not what I'm talking about.

Computer to phone, or phone to computer.

Posted: 9/29/2018 10:38:17 PM EDT

[#15]

Look up the cards and card slots. Most of them are rated for something like a million card insertions.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Which is more likely to fail on a camera, the USB port or SD card slot?

General » Photography & Photoshopping

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