[tibbitts]

I've now had three SD cards fail in the past week, in two different bodies (K200, K5), all due to the card case fracturing in the corner near the write-protect slider. One card was Kingston, two were Sandisk (Ultra and Extreme.) I don't recall reading a lot about this problem on the forum, but I'm wondering if the problem has to do with the Pentax card slot mechanisms. I always remove my cards for reading, and these cards had maybe 100 or 150 remove/replace cycles, but that hardly seems like a huge number of cycles. Anyone else have a similar experience? These cards were all different generations or manufacturers, so it's not like one bad batch of plastic. Does anyone have a suggestion for a particularly physically robust card?

[jcdoss]

One of my Eye-Fi cards fell apart like that, but I'd used it in a Sony NEX-6. It's not likely a Pentax problem.

[jatrax]

I've never had a card fail like that, seems odd especially with different brands. What about those metal case ones? Hoodman 32GB SDHC Memory Card RAW STEEL Class 10 RAWSDHC32GBU1

[Steve.Ledger]

Wow, I have never had a card fail like that. I still have my very first Kingmax 64Mb SD card from 2007 (yes, 64Mb!)
My cards are in and out of my cameras all the time.

[Adam]

My extreme/extreme pro Sandisk cards are built extremely well (and they have warranties, so I'd recommend taking advantage of that) and I've never had any issues.

I've had cheaper cards from Transcend and Kingston fall apart entirely, and suffer from broken teeth, however. One tip is to never use your fingernail to push cards into the camera, as this could potentially separate the two halves after a while. Also, try to avoid inserting cards at an angle and always hold them by the lower half.

[Kerrowdown]

Now that is unusual, I've used SanDisk Extreme cards for years and never had any issues at all.

Having said that I do renew cards on a regular basis... as I treat them as consumables, like film used to be in the old days, so they have hit the trash bin long before they become technically "old" whatever that may be.

[csa]

I also have never had this problem, even when I was using cheaper cards. My cards are removed often, then inserted into a stand alone card reader! Perhaps Adam hit on it, as to how you are inserting the cards?

[tibbitts]

I have multiple readers but none use a spring mechanism like all my pentax bodies have. With the readers you have to pull the card; it doesn't "bounce" after pressing in like the pentax, which is why I was thinking that might be stressing the cards. But like I said I'm talking a couple of hundred cycles max on any of my remaining cards, and I never would have considered a couple of hundred cycles a lot. I'm talking insert/remove cycles, not r/w cycles. Generally I don't erase until a card gets somewhat full, then I format it. So when I'm taking pictures on a trip, for example, I take the card out at least once a day to copy the photos to a hard drive, then reuse the remaining capacity from that point, so I have at least two copies - the original on the card and the copy on the hard drive.

With the K200 the fragments got stuck in the camera and it took me quite a while working with a toothpick to get them out. It wasn't possible to use the camera until they were removed, because a new card couldn't be inserted. With the K5 I'm a little concerned because I never found the fragments from one card (fragments from the other card did fall out), but I can't see fragments inside, and other cards do work.

---------- Post added 03-15-2015 at 09:36 AM ----------

I also have never had this problem, even when I was using cheaper cards. My cards are removed often, then inserted into a stand alone card reader! Perhaps Adam hit on it, as to how you are inserting the cards?

I just push on the card gently with my thumb, just to where it clicks in place.

---------- Post added 03-15-2015 at 09:38 AM ----------

My extreme/extreme pro Sandisk cards are built extremely well (and they have warranties, so I'd recommend taking advantage of that) and I've never had any issues.

I've had cheaper cards from Transcend and Kingston fall apart entirely, and suffer from broken teeth, however. One tip is to never use your fingernail to push cards into the camera, as this could potentially separate the two halves after a while. Also, try to avoid inserting cards at an angle and always hold them by the lower half.

I emailed Sandisk and will see what they have to say. Since it's cheap to mail cards I'll probably send them back in hopes of getting new cards, since they're still $15-$25 cards.

---------- Post added 03-15-2015 at 09:44 AM ----------

I've never had a card fail like that, seems odd especially with different brands. What about those metal case ones? Hoodman 32GB SDHC Memory Card RAW STEEL Class 10 RAWSDHC32GBU1

Thanks, I didn't know about that product. I'll consider that. Expensive, but having the card break in the camera and maybe not being able to remove the fragments could be too.

[arkav]

I've now had three SD cards fail in the past week, in two different bodies (K200, K5), all due to the card case fracturing in the corner near the write-protect slider. One card was Kingston, two were Sandisk (Ultra and Extreme.) I don't recall reading a lot about this problem on the forum, but I'm wondering if the problem has to do with the Pentax card slot mechanisms. I always remove my cards for reading, and these cards had maybe 100 or 150 remove/replace cycles, but that hardly seems like a huge number of cycles. Anyone else have a similar experience? These cards were all different generations or manufacturers, so it's not like one bad batch of plastic. Does anyone have a suggestion for a particularly physically robust card?

I had one of my Sandisk Extreme cards separate at the corner near the write protect slider recently. I have not yet sent it back.

[CWard44]

Yesterday I inserted an SD card in my K-1 MarkII reader slot and it wasn’t read by the camera. So I tried to put another card in but it wouldn’t go in. I looked at the card and it seemed fine. Then I looked at the original card and notice the top plastic part of the card had broken off. I’m assuming it broke in the card reader slot since I can’t put any other cards in the reader. Luckily I have two card reader slots but only one works now. I’ve only had the camera 2 months. Any suggestions on how to get the broken part out of the camera? I looked on line and it seems that’s its mostly the corner piece that breaks off, not the whole top if the card. I also contacted Adorama where I purchased the camera. Thanks!

[rogerstg]

Yesterday I inserted an SD card in my K-1 MarkII reader slot and it wasn’t read by the camera. So I tried to put another card in but it wouldn’t go in. I looked at the card and it seemed fine. Then I looked at the original card and notice the top plastic part of the card had broken off. I’m assuming it broke in the card reader slot since I can’t put any other cards in the reader. Luckily I have two card reader slots but only one works now. I’ve only had the camera 2 months. Any suggestions on how to get the broken part out of the camera? I looked on line and it seems that’s its mostly the corner piece that breaks off, not the whole top if the card. I also contacted Adorama where I purchased the camera. Thanks!

Maybe you can use another card, upside down, to push in the broken card to release it. Maybe it can then be coaxed out with gravity, a needle or bent wire. Good luck.

[tibbitts]

I have had this problem with several cards including Sandisk. It's possible that my old card reader, which practically requires a sledge hammer to drive the card in far enough to lock (and then release), might influence the card durability. The spring force is far beyond what the Pentax slots require.

The problem is that when the cards shatter in the camera, tiny fragments are left over, and can be extremely difficult to remove. You'd think gravity would solve the problem but it doesn't.

[Not a Number]

Shine a light and peek into the slot and see if anything looks amiss in there.

[SSGGeezer]

I had a micro SD card crumble from the heat of a Kindle Fire tablet so I suspect that heat is probably the major culprit in breakage inside the cameras. With the Sony it is almost a given. (jk Sony fans!)

[CWard44]

Maybe you can use another card, upside down, to push in the broken card to release it. Maybe it can then be coaxed out with gravity, a needle or bent wire. Good luck.

Tried it but it didn’t work. The good news is, the camera is still under warranty so I’ll be sending it in.

---------- Post added 07-11-19 at 07:43 PM ----------

Shine a light and peek into the slot and see if anything looks amiss in there.

I tried it but it’s too difficult to see in there. Thanks