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28-year-old professional photographer and videographer Hunter McEwen was fired from his latest five-figure commercial job after he lost three days\u2019 worth of shooting when his bargain-basement, counterfeit memory cards failed on set.<\/p>\n
McEwen, who stores all his archives on a scattered assortment of dinged-up SSDs he got from Temu, says he is shocked that his $23 memory card bought on eBay from a seller with no feedback failed him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent $12,000 on my camera and lenses, so I figured, why spend more than I have to on a memory card?\u201d McEwen says. \u201cI know my photos and videos are actually the thing that I\u2019m selling, but it just seems stupid to spend hundreds of dollars on a tiny piece of plastic made by a reputable company. No thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not McEwen\u2019s first rodeo with failed cards. His last cards, bought through an unofficial reseller on Amazon<\/a>, malfunctioned after the photographer swapped them between cameras without reformatting them. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty odd. The card said 512GB on the outside, but it seemed to only hold about 100GB of data. But hey, whatever, I bought six of them for $80 anyways.\u201d <\/p>\n When asked if he ever used his secondary card slot for overflow, McEwen replied, \u201cLol what?\u201d <\/p>\n McEwen mentioned he\u2019s also damaged camera gear after his $40 tripod from Wish suddenly collapsed on set. <\/p>\n \u201cWhy would I pay even $100 for something that just sits there and doesn\u2019t get me clout on social media?\u201d the photographer opined. \u201cNobody even sees it. So it\u2019s not like it matters.\u201d <\/p>\n The photographer has also suffered unfortunate power failures, but refuses to blame his knockoff batteries of dubious origin. <\/p>\n \u201cHe looked so professional and his work was really good,\u201d says the business that hired and then fired McEwen. \u201cWe didn\u2019t even consider that someone with all that fancy gear would have the workflow savvy of a toddler.\u201d<\/p>\n McEwen was not the first and certainly won\u2019t be the last photographer to be burned by impossibly cheap memory cards and poor storage practices. If only photographers thought the little item that records and preserves their photos was worth their time and consideration. Who even cares about the actual photo files? <\/p>\n Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n PetaPixel articles may include affiliate links; if you buy something through such a link, PetaPixel may earn a commission.<\/p>\n Love PetaPixel? Go Premium.<\/p>\n PetaPixel is the world\u2019s largest independent photography publication and we\u2019re only able to continue our work with your help. Become a PetaPixel Member now<\/a> and support our mission to bring you regular, high-quality reviews, features, news, and more.<\/p>\n