1DX Raw format switch over in the middle of a shoot... :-( !!!!

So I just shot 1,000 pix at a wedding and dumped them into my Aperture library and while reviewing them I noticed that somehow the format of my photos changed from RAW (CR2) to JPEG after about 19 photos. I went back and checked the setting in the camera and it said RAW+L (which wasn't intentional) which I'm guessing means RAW + JPEG. But I got neither the additional JPEG photos for the ones in RAW nor the RAW files for the 900+ latter ones that only came in in JPEG. Of course I've already erased the memory card (sigh...). I've checked Aperture and they do have the codec for the 1DX (and I am running Aperture 3.0 or later).

Any idea of what could have happened? Were the photos there and Aperture not load them? Is there something to having the RAW format set and then also having the JPEG format set to L that creates something other than the RAW + JPEG saving format I'm assuming (I've now set the JPEG format to null or dash).

PS While I did change lenses later on on, the format switched way before then.

Sorry to hear that, but you've already reformatted the card. If you have two cards, try to look into the other card to see if the RAW files are there. Otherwise, try to recover the formatted card with a software utility and see if there are anything on them. I like the old style of press and set interface personally, but I'm probably in the minority.

Lloyd Eric Cotsen wrote:
Yikes! What button is that? Is there any way to disable it?

Fennario wrote:

There is a button on the back of the camera that enables the switching of the card recorded to as well as the JPEG/RAW setting via the control dials. If accidentally pressed then you can end up changing the recording quality/card unintentionally... not my favorite feature as I only shoot RAW and have no need to quickly change such settings.

Same thing just happened to me doh!

I also didn't notice until I downloaded the pics to the computer! Im quite surprised about how much tweaking the jpgs can take in lightroom/photoshop as I've never tried it before. But I wish they were cr2's....

There is no way to turn off the button. But you can try this

C.Fn4:Disp/Operation Rec card, image size setting
change this from default "Rear LCD panel" to "LCD monitor"

At least this way when you hit the button, a panel will display on the big panel making it obvious that you are changing settings to RAW/JPEG recording sizes.

Lloyd Eric Cotsen wrote:
Yikes! What button is that? Is there any way to disable it?

Fennario wrote:

There is a button on the back of the camera that enables the switching of the card recorded to as well as the JPEG/RAW setting via the control dials. If accidentally pressed then you can end up changing the recording quality/card unintentionally... not my favorite feature as I only shoot RAW and have no need to quickly change such settings.

Lloyd Eric Cotsen wrote:

Didn't matter for that particular shoot. But it keeps happening to me. Finally set the display for format to LCD screen so hopefully I notice. Can't believe I can't disable it. I've done it multiple times now. Not even sure which button I'm hitting. And when I did check the format, it still said I was shooting RAW (not RAW+JPEG) despite more than half my photos coming out in JPEG.

If anyone discovers a better work around for this I'd love to know it.
E

The button you are hitting is on the lower left on the back, next to the rear LCD that displays the formats you are shooting to each card.  With the LCD screen chosen, hit it once and the LCD will display the format you are shooting, hit it a second time and it will show other write options like dual card write.

I wonder who requested this feature?  Thank goodness there isn't a similar button on the 5D3.  In fact, I'm a little miffed that it shows up as a choice on the Q screen.  I want that buried deep in the menus somewhere.

I had it set to write RAW to both cards simultaneously, 10 shots in on a 350 shot shoot I must have thumbed this button and hit a 1 notch turn on the rear dial which took me from CR2 to jpeg small, in one click, 4.5 megapixels, great. There's a first and last time for everything...

Luckily you can turn that button off now.

- Colin

this happened to me too, went to Europe for holiday with my canon 30D, as always camera settings- full raw + full jpeg , after cf card was filed up I copied all files to DVD disk.

quick check looks ok, formatted the cf card and ready to rock& roll. when I returned home 1/3 of my files where jpeg x 2 and no raw files whatsoever! uhhhhh, it was only holiday not a wedding. but it never reoccurred to me again and I have no idea why/what had happened

John G.

Thanks Ultradan for the advice but this was just plain miss handling on my behalf. When I checked the camera today it was set to jpeg small for simultanious write to both cards and when I checked to see how this could happen it became obvious that I could do this with the push of 1 button and 1 click of the rear dial.

I have just changed custom function 4 - Rec card, img size setting - to - LCD monitor - as advised by rbarta in this thread.

For the record I have the first few shot in raw then jpeg small on both cards as viewed in camera and on the computer in a few different programs.

If anyone else can loose focus on the job as easily as me, be warned on this one.

I see that a few people have had rare issues with software not copying the right files. On this advice I will double check when I need to record both raw and jpeg.

Lloyd Eric Cotsen wrote:

So I just shot 1,000 pix at a wedding and dumped them into my Aperture library and while reviewing them I noticed that somehow the format of my photos changed from RAW (CR2) to JPEG after about 19 photos. I went back and checked the setting in the camera and it said RAW+L (which wasn't intentional) which I'm guessing means RAW + JPEG. But I got neither the additional JPEG photos for the ones in RAW nor the RAW files for the 900+ latter ones that only came in in JPEG. Of course I've already erased the memory card (sigh...). I've checked Aperture and they do have the codec for the 1DX (and I am running Aperture 3.0 or later).

Any idea of what could have happened? Were the photos there and Aperture not load them? Is there something to having the RAW format set and then also having the JPEG format set to L that creates something other than the RAW + JPEG saving format I'm assuming (I've now set the JPEG format to null or dash).

PS While I did change lenses later on on, the format switched way before then.

One thing I always do with cards is to load them using the OS, not proprietary software. In other words, I insert card into reader, Windows Explorer pops up, and I copy files to drive.

I don't trust importing software to do a basic file transfer process. The OS is designed for file transfer at it's most basic level, and IMHO is safer for this purpose.

Just my 2c.

I had something similar happen when I first got my 5D2 some years back. I was on a trip, and not very familiar with the controls yet, since I just bought the camera a week before.

I was shooting RAW and Av mode. For some reason I decided to put it into full auto "green box" mode just to see what it would do. What I didn't realize was this switched the camera to taking JPEG. When I switched back to Av a few shots later, it continued shooting JPEG, so all of my shots that day of Bryce Canyon were JPEGs.
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- Bill