And then I chipped my memory card.

I am not sure to call it fate or luck, or lucky fate, because I had been going without a personal laptop for three whole months, happily keeping only a single copy of all my photos in 16 GB SDHC card that stays in my camera all the time. I was never afraid I would somehow delete it.

Amazing deal I got at the June IT Fair in 2011 because my camera was only $500+ for a high-end compact and came with this 16 GB SDHC card Level 10, a mini tripod, a Sony digital photo frame and the camera pouch.

Then I got my laptop, transferred all the photos over by removing the SDHC card from my camera and slotting it straight into my laptop, and out and in, and out and in, until one day, I pulled it out, and it chipped. T_____T So was I lucky that this chipped, but I got my lappy and transferred all the photos?

Chipped at the top corner, and it can't be used! So sad.

I learned my lesson. For heavy users like me, who transfer photos all the time, don't keep pulling out the SDHC card and slotting in, and out and in.

Now, I use my USB wire, so I can keep the SDHC sitting in the camera all the time.

Anyhow, through this episode, I learned that the Sony Level 10 one they gave me is the highest quality SDHC you can get at this moment. And I had such a hard time looking for a replacement because not many people buy Level 10, and there was no stock at all at every Challenger I went to.

Until by fate, I saw the Challenger at Bedok Point, looking new, and big, and in I went. Tadaa! Found the replacement. Before this, I made do with an 8GB SDHC Level 10 by Toshiba, and the performance is just not as good as Sony.

From this episode, I also learned that for good cameras that can take full HD movies, you need to use Level 10, because it will allow pictures to be processed and saved faster. With the Sony, my photos only took 2 second to get saved, and I could take the next picture. With Toshiba, I need to wait 3-5 seconds and by the time the camera is ready to take the next picture, so much time has gone by. Bad thing if you're shooting at sports events or any moving objects.

I am not sure if the poorer performance is due to the 8 GB space only, compared to the 16 GB of Sony, but I know Toshiba one just isn't as good in terms of processing speed.

I am not sure how this SanDisk one will compare, but it only costs $33. A Sony one will be more than $50. And I really trust SanDisk so much more than Toshiba when it comes to memory storage.

The reason why I am so insistent on getting a 16 GB to replace the chipped card, is because 8 GB does not lasts me more than a day of continuous shooting.

I brought just my 16 GB to Phuket last year, and it lasted me the full 7 days with memory to spare even though I took long, long underwater shots while snorkeling. I was at a sports event last weekend, and my 8 GB ran out on the second day, and I ended up having to upload my stuff to the laptop and clear all the memory.

I am really grateful that Sony gave the 16 GB Level 10 SDHC to complement the stats of the camera, and not make the user feel irritated. But it chipped. Really not sure to blame the chip for being poorly made, blame my Macbook pro for have a faulty card slot or blame myself for such frequent usage. LOL. By a stroke of luck though, I already had backup of all my pictures. =)

Do you have a camera that works better on these Level 10 cards? Have you had similar experience with your microSD, SDHC, or thumb drive, hard disk, etc? Or have your memory devices all work beautifully so far?