With the advent of inexpensive storage in the past few years, many cameras use external memory cards to record images, video, and in some cases, text or voice annotation. For the most part, this is a good thing. However, there can be a downside. Because memory cards are inexpensive, users may tend to be more careless with them than in the past. And, it’s one more (tiny) thing to keep track of. As a thermographer, the images captured and stored during your inspections are critical to your job, so it pays to take care of your memory.

For those who are using external memory cards with your infrared cameras (which is probably most of you), there are some steps you can take to keep your cards working efficiently. Memory cards, regardless of type, can fail or data can become corrupted, which can cost you a lot of wasted time and effort.

1. Keep your cards clean, store spare cards in the little plastic container they came in rather than loose in your camera case, drawer, or even worse, your pocket.
    
2. Never insert or remove the memory card while the camera is booting up, shutting down or during the image transfer process.
    
3. After downloading or transferring your images to your computer, if you are positive they are copied properly, you can delete them to make more room on the card.
    
4. Work with well charged batteries. Saving images while the battery is on its last bit of charge may cause corruption due to low power.
    
5. Always read the memory card manufacturers documentation on re-formatting them as they can be different from manufacturer to manufacturer, or even specific to the device used.

Before performing any type of inspection, make sure you have plenty of space on your memory card. With the current price of memory cards, there is no reason to not carry multiple spare cards with you. During your inspection, periodically use your camera’s playback function and make sure your images are recording properly. We’ve all heard stories about an individual performing an inspection twice, because for whatever reason, their images magically disappeared after the first inspection. Don’t be that person.

If you’re recording video, or using a text or voice annotation function, familiarize yourself with how much space that will eat up on your memory card. Video can take up a lot of space on your memory card very quickly, so be smart and do some dry runs with your camera prior to performing an actual inspection to get an idea of just how much space is required.

The best infrared image in the world is worth nothing if it’s not recorded. The images stored on your memory card are the most critical part of your post inspection report. Without them, it would be nearly impossible to illustrate the severity and locations of found problems to the report recipient/client. Memory cards are cheap, but the images stored on one are not. Take care of your memory and it will take care of you.

And don’t forget, many times the memory card size in the camera may not fit into your desktop or laptop. There are times you will need a card reader with a USB adaptor.