Leaving micro SD cards in devices bad?

F

firehawk

Veteran
I tend to leave SD and Micro SD cards in some of my gear (mainly Tascam recorders, GoPros and A7 type cameras). I was wondering over the years if this would weaken the spring type mechanism so they no longer eject out like they should?

Most of my cameras I leave the cards in dedicated cases and swap around and format in camera before use. But for those earlier mentioned devices they all have their own cards and it has seemed easier just to leave them in when in storage
 
If we're asking these kind of philosophical questions then we also have to ask if constant ejecting weakens the spring type mechanism as well? :shocked:

I'm not sure if this is answerable as who could know? You know? Stuff just breaks sometimes...or doesn't.

Although I have heard of tight card fits (actually just had one myself with Sony's Tough cards) and weak spring type mechanisms that don't pop the card out as much as some others do, I've never heard or read of anyone using their gear long enough to ultimately discover that their cards don't eject anymore.

Do you use all of those items so much that you're starting to worry? (Some of the equipment probably can be used with a cable to offload data so then maybe it wouldn't matter if the card stays inside forever.)
 
The gear isn't used a whole lot. Yeah I wondered if ejecting and inserting would be bad also. Can't win I guess. Maybe leaving it in is bad or ejecting all the time is bad.
Right, a cable could be used to offload the data so maybe better to risk having it break staying inside
Just wasn't sure if anyone knew.
 
Anecdotal - I always leave my SD cards in the camera and years later, I still have never noticed a problem with the springs on any of my bodies.

Next question: does leaving batteries in a remote or flashlight weaken the springs over time?
 
Balance it with considering that repeated insertion will wear the contacts and possibly remove any surface treatment and potentially allow oxidation and contaminant build up. You could consider any of these operations as also contributing to wear. Interesting as an experiment in philosophy I guess?
 
I did have one bad experience with a micro sd card slot that started to jam up in a camera, but I think that could be poor manufacture fault as it was weak when I first got it and got jammed about a year later when I tried to remove it. Maybe its good to remove the cards periodically from the slot like once every month, so that it may prevent a sort of memory effect or weakening of the springs from the changing environment where it is stored?
 
For what it’s worth, the Tentacle Track E’s ship with the microSD cards already installed and since the Track E’s also double as a USB C card reader and the cards are capable of recording at least 23 hours(at 32-bit float), which is more than double the battery run time, there is really never any reason to take them out, unless someone just wants to store the cards, even after the offload(or somehow they can’t offload them before they fill and need to be re-formatted). As small and fragile as microSD cards are, I’d be more concerned with losing them or actually breaking them every time I removed one from a device, as opposed to wearing out the spring/ejection device.

And... I leave all of my P2 cards in each camera(5 each) permanently, except for when offloading footage.

YEARS ago, we used to have similar debates about leaving a tape in cameras. Everyone that did news or had a news background usually did. One of my friends called it his “plane crash tape”. When cameras, especially Betacams, powered down, the tape was disengaged from around the heads, so in wasn’t it constant contact.
 
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