Generic SD Card Surprise

Camera gear tends to be expensive, so it's not surprising that we tend to look for the most for our money. But occasionally we cross that fine line between a "bargain" and just "throwing good money at crap".

Memory card prices have dropped steadily over the years. And many modern cameras will only work at their peak specs with some fairly specialized cards. But for an older back-up camera or a point-and-shooter it seems smarter to just go with a cheapest, generic, whiz-bang card you can find and feel good about your ability to sniff out a bargain.

Until it's maybe not such a bargain.

On the CanonCommunity web site, member Ray-uk had just such a generic card. But he found a bit of a surprise inside, like in a box of Cracker Jack.

Quoting Ray-uk . . .

"Over the years I have accumulated a lot of old SD cards, today I decided to have a sort out of the ones I was never going to use. I was running them through a card speedtest program when I found one that wouldn't even show up on the PC and seemed to be completely dead. Before I put it in the bin I decided to take it apart (I tend to do things like that !) and was very surprised at what I found.

Canon EOS 7D Mark II • Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM @100mm • 1/125 • f/11 • ISO 100

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"This was a normal looking cheapie full sized SD card."

And thanks to you for posting.

This is why I always, without exception, stick with a known brand name such as sandisk - disregarding the price.

There are some things in this world you can cheap-out on, like a toothbrush.

But there are other things where you should not - such as the memory card that holds your precious, irreplaceable, valuable pictures.

Quality counts, and in the long term, is a better investment.

had a brand name, SD card that wouldnt read in any computer as well...

same thing. Micro SD inside the larger case. like yours, not an adapter...

i dont recall the brand but it was a legit brand, or a DAMNED GOOD knock off...

Thanks for posting the guts. The one off brand I have is from Micro Center, I wonder if what is inside looks like that. It is REALLLLLY slow for a Class 10 "Extreme Speed".

Buying 'reputable brands' doesn't guarantee quality, because there are millions of fake cards out there.

Your best protection is to buy reputable brands from reputable sellers.

Picture North Carolina wrote in post #19029479
There are some things in this world you can cheap-out on, like a toothbrush.

LOL! You obviously don't have my dental bills!