WARNING! Don't Mail Your Memory Cards Using the U.S. Post Office!

Recently a photographer friend called me and told me a sad story.  I want to relay it to all of my readers as he lost a memory card full of images and this may help you avoid the same fate.

A couple of months ago, a group of us were out at a wildlife refuge photographing.  One of the group used another's member's camera for a couple of minutes in order to capture some specific images with a lens that he didn't own and wasn't compatible with his system.  At the end of the trip, the photographer who lent the lens told the borrowing photographer to just take his memory card home with him, upload his images to his computer, then send the card back.  He did.

When the other photographer received his card, which was sent through the U.S. Postal Service, there was nothing on the card.  I mean nothing.  No card manufacturer's software of any kind an no images.  That is when he called me.  I knew that sending memory cards through airport security scanners with your carry-on luggage didn't harm the cards nor corrupt the images.  I had done that many, many times and never suffered a problem.  However, I didn't know anything about the U.S.P.S.'s system of checking for explosives, etc.

My response to my photographer friend was to send the card to the manufacturer with an explanation and see if, a) they can retrieve any images, b) they can reformat the card and c) if not, they will probably send you a new card if the card is defective.

Later on in the week, coincidentally, I received my daily email (January 14, 2014) from "Ask Tim Grey" (Tim Grey Website) and he had been asked a question by a reader about this very topic.  He agreed that sending a card through the airport security scanners won't hurt a card, but the last paragraph of his answer is below, which opened my eyes!

"One security mechanism that does have the potential to damage flash-based media is the radiation scanning performed by the US Postal Service. Those radiation scans can harm a variety of electronic components, including flash-based storage cards. Thus, it is probably wise not to use the US Postal Service to send media cards, but in terms of travel with those cards I don't consider there to be any significant risks other than loss of or physical damage to the cards."

                                                                                                              ©2014 Tim Grey

I had never heard this but I'm glad Tim put it out.  Normally, I wouldn't hesitate to send a memory card in a padded envelope through the United States Postal Service.  Now, I will think twice.

I don't have definitive proof that the U.S.P.S.'s scanning ruined my friend's memory card, but there is a strong possibility, considering there was absolutely nothing on the card coupled with Tim Grey's answer.

I wanted to provide my readers with this information and you now decide what you do with it and how you send your memory cards.

Finally, if you are not a subscriber to Tim Grey's "Ask Tim Grey" daily emails, you should be.  For over a dozen years he has been answering questions about Photoshop, Lightroom, digital photography and photography in general. The questions and his answers come daily by email.  Tim is a professional photographer, author, teacher and extremely generous to, at no charge, provide a forum to help other to better understand and be better photographers.  He also has a companion podcast that can be found on his site or on iTunes.  Highly Recommended.

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy!

Dennis Mook

Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com.  Please pay it a visit.  I add new images regularly.  Thank you.


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