life of a P2 card

New_Zealand

New_Zealand

Veteran
What is the average life of a P2 card? I haven't used the camera as much as other may have. Are there any warning signs when a P2 card starts going bad? Has anyone had their P2 card go bad on them?
 
Allegedly forever (well, lifetime) for series-R, 1800+ uses (5 years) for series-E. Not sure about series-A or what happens when they go bad. I would assume (yeah, knowing would be more useful) similar to flash memory that it works perfectly until the day it doesn't work at all. And Murphy says that will happen on the day when the fate of your world is depending on it! ;P
 
The original, "R", and "A" series are pretty much forever, yes. The "E" series use the cheaper/faster/shorter lifespan MLC memory. They can in fact get "used up.". Format the card on your computer using the P2 Format Station software and it will tell you what the remaining lifespan is on your card.
 
I've recorded on two 32GB E-Series cards since 2009. They have been completely overwritten probably 250 times and the life meter on the format station is still at 100%. This either means there are several thousand uses per card or the life meter will start dropping very fast at some point. Anyone know how accurate that meter is?
 
I remember that the E-Series cards would last five years if you completely filled up the card every single day, so that amounts to a lot of usage over time.
 
Gary Huff said:
I remember that the E-Series cards would last five years if you completely filled up the card every single day, so that amounts to a lot of usage over time.
Click to expand...

So approximately 1825 times. Still at 250 overwrites I'd still expect to see some movement on that meter.
 
Probably a conservative estimate too. Plus, that includes filling up the card to capacity, not simply shooting something on it every day.
 
in 2010, I worked at a news station that adopted P2 workflow in late 2005. They were still using their original 4GB cards EVERY SINGLE DAY up until changing camera systems this year. Nobody there knows of any failures for non-mechanical reasons.
 
You shouldn't have to worry for at least 10 years. That should buy you some time. P2 cards, A, R and E series are very robust and built to last. Only human error can can cause problems. Just for kicks (not on an assignment), pull one out or shut your camera down during recording. See what happens. Repair the clip and the most you will lose is 2 seconds no matter how long the clip is.
 
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