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Camera card disasters, corrupted files etc.

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kilmer2

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Still having too much fun!

Since October of '08 I have had problems with camera cards. I used both SanDisk and Lexar and a variety of cameras and computers. My day job is all

Canon and Mac and my personal work is Fuji, Nikon and PC. This started with files not showing up on my Canon shoots. They were recovered by a recovery program. Part of the job went into a folder and midway through they started scattering on the card, not viewable when called up on the computer. Then I went on a shoot and had four cards that would not format in my S5.They said to format, then the camera warning to change cards. I have formatted on the computer, quit allowing them to cross between camera systems, bought new cards and a new Nikon D300. I had a problem again today with a brand new

card and the Nikon. The camera shot fine, reviewed fine but aftering being the the computer on an unsuccesful download it tells me there are no images.

I am at a loss. Nobody else at work is having any problems at all with the same cameras that I use. Last week two shoots had to be recovered. I hesitate to mention this next informtion, but what the heck. Every time that a card is rejected by a camera, or I can't view the images on a card, I remove it, blow on the contacts and put it back in the camera to view or format without a problem.

Trust me there are no mind altering drugs being used, but if I can't fix this soon

I may be tempted. Does anyone have a similar experience? Anyone have uggestions?

Thanks, Don
 
This is from all of Thom Hogan's camera manuals. To paraphrase what he says is the formating programs in the camera are pretty basic while the formatting programs in the computers are much more thorough and will map out corrupted segments or whatever they are formating and lock them out in the device control chip. This includes memory cards. So do a reformat with the computer in a card reader and don't use the "quick" format command. While the computer is formating the card it will note any damaged or corrupted segments and tag them on the card so they cannot be used in the future. The capacity of the card will be the same since there are extra segments in the card which are not used when the card is at 'full' capacity. Once that is done put the card into the camera and format it there. I believe you can use the FAT file format for lower capacity cards but the cards larger than 1G will need to be formated in FAT32.

It is probably best if you do not switch camera brands with the cards in the future. Once it has been in a Canon it should probably stay with the Canon until you sell the body at which time you can probably do the computer reformat and then reformat in a Nikon body where it should work.

--
Alan, in Montana
Photos are cached here,

http://radphotos.net/index.php?option=com_copperminevis&Itemid=33&place=gallery&cat=10069
 
If blowing or breathing on the contacts makes them work why not clean the contacts. Sounds like they are dirty.
--
M. Haner
Bellingham,WA.

My photography problems begin 6 inches behind viewfinder!
 
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Still having too much fun!

Cards are all top names, fast cards, and have all been purchased from a reliable local camera store. The SanDisk are Extreme III's and the Lexars are 133X or better. I have used the same cards for years but buy new cards every year.
This year three Lexars and two SanDiscs are part of my problem.
We have formatted them on the computer and I always format in the camera
before use. Recently I had one of the Canons record my 11 am shoot perfectly

and then drop my 1 pm shoot. The card was never out of the camera, the batteries were fine, and the last shoot never made it into the directory.
Thank goodness they were recovered. This uncertainty is making me not
want to shoot anything at all. I thought the new camera or the new cards or the
new card reader would take care of the problem.
As for cleaning the card contacts, how do you go about this? They seem like
they are down inside the tiny holes on the cards. Am I missing something?

Thanks for your input though.

Don
 
don

double check the sandiscs serial numbers. i bought an extreme 3 last year sealed in a pack with all leaflets and recovery disc from a very reputable uk dealer who is now going bust. three months later got another one and spotted after 2 months that the serial number was the same. i smelt a rat but when you enter the serial onto the sandisc website it says its legit. been told there are millions of counterfit cards in circulation that physically look A1.
 
If your older cards are fine, and it's just this year's "crop" of cards, then the conclusion is obvious--there's something different about the new cards.

The odds of both Sandisk and Lexar cards being bad are astronomical, unless your reliable store has gotten cards from an unreliable source. And that can happen.

I suggest contacting Sandisk and Lexar to determine the validity/genuiness of your cards.

Anthony

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check out my blog at http://anthonyonphotography.blogspot.com
 
I have been having a problem with the Lexar 2 & 4 GB 300x cards. All have been purchased within the last few months. Only the 300x, however. As of now all of the 300x Lexar cards have failed the same way. They work fine in the cameera, camera turned off, card removed, loaded in computer and nothing. Computer will not recognize the card and when put back in the camera, the card is not recognized. I can't re-format because both show no card. The 2GB cards worked for about a month. Two failed in the same hour. We purchased 4GB cards and they went down within 2 weeks. I sent an email to Lexar and got a form letter back. I guess they are not interested. Just return under guarntee.

I am back to using the SanDisk Extreme IV 2GB and the older Lexar 133x cards, with no problems.
--
GaryK
 
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