Major SD card problem after trip

Martin Ocando wrote:

Indeed. However the point I'm trying to make is that having full and empty cards together on a paid for shoot where there is any possibility whatsoever of human error getting them mixed up is bad. Very bad. I'm trying to give you advice here from someone who's been there and done it! I would seriously rethink your strategy.

Simply labeling them with a marker comes to mind. Do you do that?

Hmmm. No. But I probably would in different circumstances. Years ago I did put labels (inc address and tel number) on all my CF cards, but I have not done this on the SD cards for various reasons.

This is for a MUCH longer conversation, but as time is short:

No1 bad thing is trying to do stuff like transferring images to a computer during a job, then reformatting the cards for reuse. A recipe for disaster.

No2 bad thing is having small cards, needing to swap over to new ones all the time, and compounded by not having an utterly foolproof method of differentiating between full and blank ones, and also needing to store them somewhere where they can't be lost, stolen or damaged.

Hence I came to the conclusion many years ago that the best way to minimise risk, is to get large enough cards so you won't run out of space during a shoot. Test the cards thoroughly when you first get them. Stick them in the camera, and never, ever take them out. Ever. (ok, I exaggerate somewhat as sometimes with some cameras I have to in some situations, but you get the idea) I don't even take them out to transfer data. I use the USB cable into the camera wherever possible. In all seriousness, a couple of my D3 bodies probably have had the same CF cards in there for not far off a decade now and if the CF door had been welded shut, I wouldn't have noticed. Years and years of experience and observation have taught me that the vast majority of issues with data on memory cards happens when the cards aren't actually in the camera! So I make sure they are always in there!! Hence I don't usually need to number my memory cards.

Buy (big!). Test. Insert. Test some more. Forget about them.