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Help! Corrupted NEF files right after shooting

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zeba5

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Hi community, this is the first time i post here, wonrderful page!

I recently bought a second hand D800 and bought a new sandisk extreme class 10 SD card. I'm still testing the camera and discovering all it's feautures but i ran into a problem yesterday. I was taking photos to my dog and everything was fine, i was able to see the preview of the pictures and everything but then 5 minutes later 90% of those NEF files were somehow corrupted. I mean, i couldn't see them in the camera and i get an "unexpected end of file" in lightroom.

I tried to search for similar problems but i didn't have luck. I have now setted the camera so it makes a backup on the CF just to check if it's a problem with the SD card or not.

Thanks!
 
SD cards are much slower than CF cards partly due to their architecture and regrettably very prone to issues, especially as so many are counterfeit copies.

i have had lots of issues with SD cards, never had one with CF card - possibly why pro cameras are fitted with CF?

--
Iain Morrison LRPS CPAGB
wimorrison.co.uk
 
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Let me weigh in on this issue. I have had two corrupted CF cards in the last two years both in my D3's. I have to think it is the card and not the camera. Years ago when I was shooting Olympus, I talked to a tech rep who said they had no reported issues with the camera corrupting cards.

Here is what I do now: first I use both drives and have the second one for redundancy. I buy new cards every year ( I am a busy wedding photographer) and I never buy cards from ebay since there are many counterfeit ones out there.

Those are my lessons learned.
 
OOPs. I have heard that some cards are not compatible with the 800. Hopefully someone will weigh in on that.
 
How did you transfer the files to the computer? The safest way seems to be, to take the card out of the camera, put it into a card reader or your computer, and then drag them to your hard drive.Then import into Lightroom. I had Nikon transfer corrupt files before.

Markus
 
You might want to format the card. Avoid the quick format the first time. Sounds like the card is failing. What happens when there is a CF card in the camera?
 
zeba5 said:
Hi community, this is the first time i post here, wonrderful page!

I recently bought a second hand D800 and bought a new sandisk extreme class 10 SD card. I'm still testing the camera and discovering all it's feautures but i ran into a problem yesterday. I was taking photos to my dog and everything was fine, i was able to see the preview of the pictures and everything but then 5 minutes later 90% of those NEF files were somehow corrupted. I mean, i couldn't see them in the camera and i get an "unexpected end of file" in lightroom.

I tried to search for similar problems but i didn't have luck. I have now setted the camera so it makes a backup on the CF just to check if it's a problem with the SD card or not.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
How old is your card reader - some old card readers are not compatible with high capacity cards and they could corrupt files. DO NOT move file from card to computer but COPY - and always set your cards to back-up - that why you have two slots. I set my CF to RAW and SD to JPG, that way I have at least some kind of back up, on one recent trip my two brand new CF cards played up but luckily I have all photos in JPG (FINE and MAX size) - not the best but better than nothing - I need JPG for quick emailing - raw have to wait when I get home.
 
WIMorrison said:
SD cards are much slower than CF cards partly due to their architecture and regrettably very prone to issues, especially as so many are counterfeit copies.

i have had lots of issues with SD cards, never had one with CF card - possibly why pro cameras are fitted with CF?
Click to expand...
 
scokill said:
WIMorrison said:
SD cards are much slower than CF cards partly due to their architecture and regrettably very prone to issues, especially as so many are counterfeit copies.

i have had lots of issues with SD cards, never had one with CF card - possibly why pro cameras are fitted with CF?

--
Iain Morrison LRPS CPAGB
wimorrison.co.uk
Click to expand...
I've never had an issue with SD card and have washed one in washing machine and it still works fine. What data do you have that shows SD is very prone to issues? They are slower than CF.
Click to expand...
I have had a couple of instances where SD cards failed me - one minute I was shooting and next minute the camera show up error - no pic no sound - and no human intervention ! I was shooting a D90 so no back up - bad luck. Pop in a new SD card and all was fine. The original card was totally corrupted, could not be read at all. After all they are mechanical things and mechanical things do go wrong. mostly at the worst possible moment - Murphy's Laws.
 
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Ok, maybe just over 95%, as I have not kept perfect stats, have been cases of a corrupted FAT on the card. Some have been cards where files have been deleted one by one in the camera, some where a camera was turned off in the middle of a write, some with absolutely no obvious cause. Both CF and SD, some mine, some others. Cameras from the Fuji S1 to Nikon D4's, different manufacturers. Incompatible cards simple don't work.

Remember these are just like disk drives, and if the FAT gets corrupted your normal software either can't find them at all, or sill miss bits and pieces.

The first thing to do if this happens is to use some type of Rescue Software, you can get this from the manufacturer or 3rd party. My personal favorite is Photo Rescue. Run this to see how many of your images can be recovered, this must be done on a computer with your card mounted in a card reader. DO NOT format the card first, and do not write other files to it.

Once you have recovered the photos, then you need to do a Full Format and Error check of the card. Again you must do this on your computer, the camera only does the equivalent of a Quick format, erasing the information in the FAT. The reason to also do the Error Check on the computer is to allow the software to fix any sector linkage corruption as well.

Rarely have I seen a card fail, and I have seen multiple thousands of these since 1999, but that does happen. Before you throw your cards away, give the Full Format a try, or if you want to throw them away feel free to send them to me, I'll be happy to dispose of them for you, and won't even charge you for the service.
 
Sandisk cards are fine in my Nikon bodies. Any card can fail, though. I'd rescue what files I could, reformat in the camera, and do some test shots. If the card failed again, I'd work from there. The SD hardware in the camera might be broken, for example, although I agree that the card likely is the problem.

I have transferred lots of files using both a D810 and a card reader, and never had a problem. I don't think the method of transfer is likely to be an issue unless some piece of hardware is broken. That's possible, though, and I'm sure it's happened to a lot of people.
 
Photo Thoughts said:
Sandisk cards are fine in my Nikon bodies. Any card can fail, though. I'd rescue what files I could, reformat in the camera, and do some test shots. If the card failed again, I'd work from there. The SD hardware in the camera might be broken, for example, although I agree that the card likely is the problem.
Click to expand...
Photo Thoughts said:
I have transferred lots of files using both a D810 and a card reader, and never had a problem. I don't think the method of transfer is likely to be an issue unless some piece of hardware is broken. That's possible, though, and I'm sure it's happened to a lot of people.
Click to expand...
I have files corrupted transferred via Card reader - luckily I still have the files on the CF card so I pop it back to camera and transferred via the USB3 connection - all files were recovered intact - problem is this card reader iwas reading all the files but some how corrupted them - now the same card reader has no problem with other older cards - so I put it down to the case of card vs reader incompatibility - needless to say I haven't touched those two new Sandisk 32 GB CF cards. Too scare to use them - beside I have a lots of other cards to select from.
 
There can be various reasons for SD card Corruption. It could be let's say for example due to an abrupt shutdown or improper ejection of SD card, using camera in low battery or when the card is full etc. Also it is advisable to format a new SD card before use.The problem you explained might be due to Card-Compatibility issue also. Check with any camera manufacturer and seek the advice about the memory card which is best compatible with the model you mentioned.

Another solution, you can try a photo recovery software. Connect your SD card with the PC and install the software. If the SD card is detected as a drive then you can recover back your files.
 
although reportedly stupid questions don't exist I'll ask one... : did you format the new SD card? That's what I forgot to do when I bought my D750 a few weeks ago and the Raw's were not recorded as Lossless compressed 14 bit but as 12 bit.

Jan
 
Hi Bill, every Nikon I have used will continue to access the memory card after the power switch has been turned off. I'd have to pull the battery from any of my Dx series bodies to interrupt a write. Same for the D800. I have had a few Lexar readers that went bad.
 
Bill Fagan said:
Hi Bill, every Nikon I have used will continue to access the memory card after the power switch has been turned off. I'd have to pull the battery from any of my Dx series bodies to interrupt a write. Same for the D800. I have had a few Lexar readers that went bad.
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Yup, all the new ones do for sure, but remember my comment and experience goes all the way back to the good old days of 1999, when that was not the case. You can, of course, also yank the card out in the middle of a write, but that is tougher to get the timing right.

Point being, there are some things that can cause the FAT to become corrupted, physical damage is far less likely.
 
Jan De Smet said:
although reportedly stupid questions don't exist I'll ask one... : did you format the new SD card? That's what I forgot to do when I bought my D750 a few weeks ago and the Raw's were not recorded as Lossless compressed 14 bit but as 12 bit.

Jan
Click to expand...
 
Formatting using the camera allegedly is the best approach, and is what I've always done. Sorry, I didn't understand that the pictures were bad in the camera. I'd try another SD card. If that fails, I would suspect a problem with the camera, personally. Does the card work properly in the computer? You might try reformatting it on the computer and testing it there for a bit.
 
Photo Thoughts said:
Formatting using the camera allegedly is the best approach, and is what I've always done. Sorry, I didn't understand that the pictures were bad in the camera. I'd try another SD card. If that fails, I would suspect a problem with the camera, personally. Does the card work properly in the computer? You might try reformatting it on the computer and testing it there for a bit.
Click to expand...
This is the standard line from the camera manufacturer, but remember that this is simply the equivalent of a Quick Format on the PC, it only clears the FAT it won't actually fix any sector corruption. Every 3-4 months I take all of my CF and SD cards and do a Full Format and Error Check on my PC, then do a Format in the camera after that. The reason to do the in-camera format is so that the camera can create the folder structure it is looking for.

If the camera manufacturer asks if you formatted in the camera, you can then always answer "Yes, of course I did".
 
--I have had problems with a card reader also. It is always the cheapest one I bought on eBay on a whim. No brand. If you have a 2K camera and a $5 card reader, what are the chances it is the reader? Pretty good.


Tom Kolenich

www.niceweddingphotos.com
 
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