P2 Cards left in camera?

mdslammer

mdslammer

Well-known member
Hi guys,

Sorry for the "newbie" question. I have a couple of 16Gb P2 cards for my
HPX-170. Is it alright if they are left in the P2 slots or should they be removed
once filming is finished?

Thanks.

Mark Dalzell

P.S. This camera is beautiful. I love it...
 
I think it's a good idea to store the cards separately just to keep everything straight and sorted out. You don't want to be wondering if the cards in the camera have been downloaded yet or contain footage that's still being shot, etc. But as far as technical wear and tear issues- none that I'm aware of.

Noah
 
Noah,

Thanks for replying and the suggestions. I have been removing them (which
I will continue to do) and placing them back in the case after each use. I just
wanted to know whether or not it was good for the card/camera if left in for any duration.

Thanks.

Mark
 
After I verify my offloaded footage I put my 2 cards back in the camera so I won't forget them when I shoot next.

They're very rugged, so I doubt very much leaving them in the camera poses any threat.
 
I am actually the opposite on this issue - it will probably never ever be reached - but the cards have an insert/pull out limit, so you put wear on them every time. If you are just toying around and not doing serious work, leave the cards in and it will extend the life of the camera and the cards. Of course when you are doing serious work take them out label and store them.
 
I've always wondered about this too. One of my OCDs is that I have to remove the battery and P2 card and put the clear plastic case every time I finish using it.. I'm not sure why, or if I read/heard you should, but I always do haha.
 
I leave mine in the camera.. that way I don't forget it for the shoot and am screwed.. I do pull them out when I travel, check my camera case.. and i carry it on the plane with me...
 
I'm not endorsing discarding the plastic P2 cases, I'm only saying that I haven't seen mine in a couple of years. :) Those cards are bulletproof.
 
Opinions will vary just like leaving a computer on or turning it off at night, Ford vs. Chevy, Mac vs. PC etc. :)
But for us, if we pull them to offload and are done, they stay out of the camera and in the plastic holder. If we last had them in and offloaded from camera, we leave them in.
Either way, the plastic cases are always in the camera case.

But it's always fun to hear what others do....and why.
 
Camera is always ready and loaded....

I always leave the last shoot on the cards also but they are left write-protected ...

Format prior to shooting.... as I tend to go through the set-ups anyhow prior to a shoot...

PS.. my first shoot I called the first offload D1... second D2 and so on... I'm up to D642...

Someday I'll figure out a good way to Database my material...

Cheers

PS.. having said that I've got 3 x 8 Gig cards.. so one remains in the plastic case inside the camera bag...

I'm not even sure where the other 2 cases are...
 
Last edited:
Barry_Green said:
They're warranted for 30,000 insertions, so you proably won't run into the limit any time soon. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Like I said... you'll probably never reach it - but some P2 cards do fail, and it's usually on an insert.. meaning, they don't usually fail while sitting in the camera.. it's 'the next time' they are put in, so who knows, maybe the contacts can be thrashed.
 
Never heard of a thrashed contact or a bent pin yet. The mechanism is designed to prevent that.

Anyway, if you don't need to take it out, don't take it out, there's no harm done by leaving it in, and if you always have 'em in your camera there's that much less chance that you'll show up to the shoot with no cards... heh.
 
I always leave my cards in camera, formatted and ready to go. When it's not -10 degrees outside I leave my camera in my backpack in my trunk ready to shoot within 20 seconds.
 
ChipG said:
I always leave my cards in camera, formatted and ready to go. When it's not -10 degrees outside I leave my camera in my backpack in my trunk ready to shoot within 20 seconds.
Click to expand...

What's your address and what kind of car do you have? j/k :D
 
Nexis said:
What's your address and what kind of car do you have? j/k :D
Click to expand...

My camera is cursed, you can come get it. It's filmed several people who didn't make it.

I pulled up to a car that just crashed one night that was on fire, got my camera out of the trunk and filmed it. The next morning I got a phone call, there were 2 girls in the car, both died. I found out both were friends of mine. I destroyed the footage (in all cases), I couldn't even bring myself to watch it. It's not the first time I have shot stuff like that on accident. So much for having a camera laying around to shoot spur of the moment stuff...heh..

The reason why I leave my camera in the trunk is because I shoot storm stuff, storms whip up here in the midwest sometimes in 15 minutes. Gotta have a camera at all times.
 
What about batteries? Do the batteries still get drained if you leave them in the camera, and the camera is off?
 
Can't say for sure that the batteries would drain from sitting in a camera in the off position, but I doubt it.

The main reason we don't leave our batteries in the camera is becuase of wear and tear on the battery tabs when putting the cameras in and out and bouncing around in the case.
We have compartments in our Pelican and Thermodyne cases for batteries so they are never far apart.
 
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