Life Span of Memory Cards

I have the SanDisk Extreme III 2.0 GB memory card in my Nikon D80. A lot of images have went through that card. I have deleted and formated many times and now I learned that formating, not deleting is preferable to preserving the life of the card.

Should I format the card even if there is only a few images on it? In other words, should I format all the time? I know deleting is OK when reviewing the image during the shoot; I am talking about starting the card afresh.

I can re-use the card again and again. Surely there is a life span to the card. Is there a way to anticipate its "final moments "? Of course a back-up card is always handy.

And while on the subject of Memory cards, is one brand the same as another? Or is it the case of "you get what you pay for"?

Thank you for your replies.

Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

CF cards will, for practical purposes, last forever if reasonably well taken care of (don't let them go through the laundry). Reformating the card is the best way to delete images. Just "delete" does the same thing as in Windows - lots of little fragments are left sitting around on the card and never completely cleaned up. Eventually, you'll fill the card with the fragments, rendering the cards useless until you reformat.

My Sandisk 16GB Extreme III went through the laundry (Both washer and dryer). Still works fine

I sent two Lexar Professional cards through the laundry last year, too, and they took the licking and kept on ticking. NOT that I recommend it!

I don't reformat a memory card until the images are all backed up on my supplemental hard drive and again on CD/DVD. But once that's done, I always reformat rather than delete, and for the reason Dan mentioned.

I don't know how long a memory card will last, practically speaking. I've only been doing this digital thing about four years. I've worn out two camera bodies (10D and 20D) but have yet to wear out one of my four CF cards.

Solid state devices have a finite lifetime. The problem is diffusion of the doping material through the silicon. The good news is that the process takes decades. The bad news is that as the device become smaller which gives us larger capacity, the process takes less time since the distance as also smaller. The result is a reduced life on the order of a decade. The biggest culprit is heat.

Thanks, Will, for posting-- and to those who have replied. I've been wondering the same thing.

Thank you all for your replies. Reformating is the best to preserve the life of the card.

Heat and sending the card through the laundry (including the dryer) is to be avoided.

Catherine, you are welcome. Glad to be of help.

Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada