ERR Message on D90.....

[drwritelight]

I am still considering getting a D 90, but having read all this about error messages, I called Nikon. They still claim not to have heard about this. They say they have tested Panasonic, Toshiba and Lexar cards. They supposedly work fine.
--
Drwritelight

 

[Hawkintx]

I still love my D90 and don't want to scare anyone off. The reason I started this thread was to try and gather more information and find out what others have done for resolution.

I truly believe my ERR situation is due to a card issue. I shot for a little less than a month using a 2GB PNY card and had zero issues. On Black Friday I got a 4GB Sandisk card from Walmart for $10. Within one week I got my first ERR message and it required pulling the battery to reset the camera. After that I had a couple more ERR messages and then began researching the ERR issue online. I found two schools of thought, some think it's a lens/contact issue and some think memory card. I called Nikon and the rep told me it was a system error similar to what you get on a PC and to reset the camera by holding down the two buttons with green dots next to them on top of the camera, which I did. After resetting I still received an ERR so I decided to try going back to my old card. It has been close to a month now since switching back to my PNY 2GB card and I've not received any more ERR messages.

Out of curiosity and trying to create an ERR message I've tried twisting and jiggling the lens slightly while on the camera and have not been able to produce an ERR message. For me it really seems like it was a bad card.

Hope this helps, I really appreciate all the information others have posted here. Please keep sharing your experiences. I hope Nikon eventually releases some information on this situation.

JB

This is all scaring me being a new D90 owner.

So do you all think it is the card or the camera?
--
Eia
http://www.eikon.smugmug.com



The word amateur has been redefined throughout the years and has lost
the gleam of its original meaning. The English word comes from the
Latin word amore, which means 'to love.' An amateur is someone who
does something simply for the love of it .

--
JB

 

[Cope]

I truly believe my ERR situation is due to a card issue. I shot for
a little less than a month using a 2GB PNY card and had zero issues.
On Black Friday I got a 4GB Sandisk card from Walmart for $10.
Within one week I got my first ERR message and it required pulling
the battery to reset the camera. After resetting I still received an ERR
so I decided to try going back to my old card. It has been close to
a month now since switching back to my PNY 2GB card and I've not
received any more ERR messages.

Out of curiosity and trying to create an ERR message I've tried
twisting and jiggling the lens slightly while on the camera and have
not been able to produce an ERR message. For me it really seems like
it was a bad card.

Hope this helps, I really appreciate all the information others have
posted here. Please keep sharing your experiences. I hope Nikon
eventually releases some information on this situation.

JB

The word amateur has been redefined throughout the years and has lost
the gleam of its original meaning. The English word comes from the
Latin word amore, which means 'to love.' An amateur is someone who
does something simply for the love of it .

--
JB

Please send the card to Sandisk and let us know what they tell you. Thanks.
--

'A man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on.'
Winston Churchill

 

[Kluso]

I don't know exactly what is going on with Sandisk, you can search the net for SD and CF card problems and Sandisk seems to have a very hgh representation when it comes to failure.

As you have just proved beyond doubt there is nothing wrong with your camera you just need to put that Sandisk card in the rubbish bin.

I have a lot of cards both CF and SD some very old and used a lot, the cards other than Sandisk have had no problems AT ALL, none of them.

Alll my Sandisk cards 100% have died outright or have major problems CHA etc, last one to do so a not exactly cheap Sandisk Extreme III SDHC 8GB that started playing up first week and died completely 2 months later. I am not even bothering to send it back to Sandisk because I cannot trust what they would send me back to replace it. No more Sandisk for me.

I have have had not a single problem with very cheap cards that have no brand, Kodak, Lexar, Fuji etc.

--
Inspector Kluso

 

[Patco]

I don't know exactly what is going on with Sandisk, you can search
the net for SD and CF card problems and Sandisk seems to have a very
hgh representation when it comes to failure.

As you have just proved beyond doubt there is nothing wrong with your
camera you just need to put that Sandisk card in the rubbish bin.

I have a lot of cards both CF and SD some very old and used a lot,
the cards other than Sandisk have had no problems AT ALL, none of
them.

Alll my Sandisk cards 100% have died outright or have major problems
CHA etc, last one to do so a not exactly cheap Sandisk Extreme III
SDHC 8GB that started playing up first week and died completely 2
months later. I am not even bothering to send it back to Sandisk
because I cannot trust what they would send me back to replace it. No
more Sandisk for me.

I have have had not a single problem with very cheap cards that have
no brand, Kodak, Lexar, Fuji etc.

This is certainly not the first time I've read this about Sandisk cards, but
I've used Sandisk for years without a failure, or even a corrupt picture.
Due to its popularity, there seems to be a good deal of counterfeiting of
Sandisk cards. A lot of fakes have reportedly been sold on Ebay (surprise).
Maybe it's the fake cards that are causing at least some of the problems?
Here is a search that has some links on how to identify fakes:

http://www.google.ca/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=counterfeit+sandisk&meta=&btnG=Google+Search

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

 

[Patco]

My apologies if you already know this...
Pressing the two buttons to format the card does not start the actual
formatting process - you must press the two buttons again before the
"For" stops blinking for the formatting to begin.
If you do not press the two buttons a second time, the "For" will stop
blinking after six seconds. If one didn't know about the second required
button press, it might appear that the formatting took six seconds.
Of course, if there were any pictures on the card, you would have seen
if the formatwas not done, and all of the above is irrelevant

Another thing is that the initialization process it self seems to
take differt time when used though the menu-interface or when the
two-buttons-system is used .. through the menu it runs alot faster..
so there must be differences in how the formating is done. Because I
don't know the process I imagine that the two-button format process
is done more thoroughly and menu-formating may only clean the iterms
in TOC (table of contents) or so (quick cleaning/deleting all) -
don't really know, but there is a remarable time difference .. So, to
be sure of what and how thoroughly and propely this formating is done
you should use the longer method that may do alot more than just
clean/delete all existing material. This is just a quess. Can anyone
explain why one formating takes remarable longer than the other? I
mean ... if this difference is explained in some manual or so and I
just haven't seen it - yet?
--
Quiquid latine dictum sit altum viditur.

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

 

[Kluso]

I don't know exactly what is going on with Sandisk, you can search
the net for SD and CF card problems and Sandisk seems to have a very
hgh representation when it comes to failure.

As you have just proved beyond doubt there is nothing wrong with your
camera you just need to put that Sandisk card in the rubbish bin.

I have a lot of cards both CF and SD some very old and used a lot,
the cards other than Sandisk have had no problems AT ALL, none of
them.

Alll my Sandisk cards 100% have died outright or have major problems
CHA etc, last one to do so a not exactly cheap Sandisk Extreme III
SDHC 8GB that started playing up first week and died completely 2
months later. I am not even bothering to send it back to Sandisk
because I cannot trust what they would send me back to replace it. No
more Sandisk for me.

I have have had not a single problem with very cheap cards that have
no brand, Kodak, Lexar, Fuji etc.

This is certainly not the first time I've read this about Sandisk
cards, but
I've used Sandisk for years without a failure, or even a corrupt
picture.
Due to its popularity, there seems to be a good deal of
counterfeiting of
Sandisk cards. A lot of fakes have reportedly been sold on Ebay
(surprise).
Maybe it's the fake cards that are causing at least some of the
problems?
Here is a search that has some links on how to identify fakes:

http://www.google.ca/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=counterfeit+sandisk&meta=&btnG=Google+Search

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

Thanks Patco,

Unfortunately all my sandisk cards are not fake, all purchased from real brick and mortar stores in Australia - proof they are not fakes - Sandisk replaced them.

I had a CF Sandisk Ultra II that Sandisk replaced twice!! in 6 months.

I have had Sandisk cards fail in my cell phone, MP3 player, PDA, GPS, D70 and D80, as I said earlier no other brands have failed not even the cheap no brand ones.

So far I am leaning toward Lexar when I need faster cards.

Luckily I have not lost any data or images probably due to my being ultra cautious, now I don't even return the last few that failed, certainly not ever buying another Sandisk anything.

My thoery is that Sandisk perform NO QUALITY CONTROL because it is cheaper to just replace them when the lab rat -customer - finds a faulty one, also a lot of customers think they must be doing something wrong or that their equipment is faulty so they don't return them saving Sandisk more money..

--
Inspector Kluso

 

[Patco]

I don't know exactly what is going on with Sandisk, you can search
the net for SD and CF card problems and Sandisk seems to have a very
hgh representation when it comes to failure.

As you have just proved beyond doubt there is nothing wrong with your
camera you just need to put that Sandisk card in the rubbish bin.

I have a lot of cards both CF and SD some very old and used a lot,
the cards other than Sandisk have had no problems AT ALL, none of
them.

Alll my Sandisk cards 100% have died outright or have major problems
CHA etc, last one to do so a not exactly cheap Sandisk Extreme III
SDHC 8GB that started playing up first week and died completely 2
months later. I am not even bothering to send it back to Sandisk
because I cannot trust what they would send me back to replace it. No
more Sandisk for me.

I have have had not a single problem with very cheap cards that have
no brand, Kodak, Lexar, Fuji etc.

This is certainly not the first time I've read this about Sandisk
cards, but
I've used Sandisk for years without a failure, or even a corrupt
picture.
Due to its popularity, there seems to be a good deal of
counterfeiting of
Sandisk cards. A lot of fakes have reportedly been sold on Ebay
(surprise).
Maybe it's the fake cards that are causing at least some of the
problems?
Here is a search that has some links on how to identify fakes:

http://www.google.ca/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=counterfeit+sandisk&meta=&btnG=Google+Search

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

Thanks Patco,

Unfortunately all my sandisk cards are not fake, all purchased from
real brick and mortar stores in Australia - proof they are not fakes

• Sandisk replaced them.

I had a CF Sandisk Ultra II that Sandisk replaced twice!! in 6 months.

I have had Sandisk cards fail in my cell phone, MP3 player, PDA, GPS,
D70 and D80, as I said earlier no other brands have failed not even
the cheap no brand ones.

So far I am leaning toward Lexar when I need faster cards.

Luckily I have not lost any data or images probably due to my being
ultra cautious, now I don't even return the last few that failed,
certainly not ever buying another Sandisk anything.

My thoery is that Sandisk perform NO QUALITY CONTROL because it is
cheaper to just replace them when the lab rat -customer - finds a
faulty one, also a lot of customers think they must be doing
something wrong or that their equipment is faulty so they don't
return them saving Sandisk more money..

Thanks, I have (so far) had no issues, but I'll certainly keep yours & others
Sandisk problems in mind the next time I buy cards!
I've seen many swear by Transcend - do you have any opinion on them?

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

 

[Kluso]

I don't know exactly what is going on with Sandisk, you can search
the net for SD and CF card problems and Sandisk seems to have a very
hgh representation when it comes to failure.

As you have just proved beyond doubt there is nothing wrong with your
camera you just need to put that Sandisk card in the rubbish bin.

I have a lot of cards both CF and SD some very old and used a lot,
the cards other than Sandisk have had no problems AT ALL, none of
them.

Alll my Sandisk cards 100% have died outright or have major problems
CHA etc, last one to do so a not exactly cheap Sandisk Extreme III
SDHC 8GB that started playing up first week and died completely 2
months later. I am not even bothering to send it back to Sandisk
because I cannot trust what they would send me back to replace it. No
more Sandisk for me.

I have have had not a single problem with very cheap cards that have
no brand, Kodak, Lexar, Fuji etc.

This is certainly not the first time I've read this about Sandisk
cards, but
I've used Sandisk for years without a failure, or even a corrupt
picture.
Due to its popularity, there seems to be a good deal of
counterfeiting of
Sandisk cards. A lot of fakes have reportedly been sold on Ebay
(surprise).
Maybe it's the fake cards that are causing at least some of the
problems?
Here is a search that has some links on how to identify fakes:

http://www.google.ca/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=counterfeit+sandisk&meta=&btnG=Google+Search

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

Thanks Patco,

Unfortunately all my sandisk cards are not fake, all purchased from
real brick and mortar stores in Australia - proof they are not fakes

• Sandisk replaced them.

I had a CF Sandisk Ultra II that Sandisk replaced twice!! in 6 months.

I have had Sandisk cards fail in my cell phone, MP3 player, PDA, GPS,
D70 and D80, as I said earlier no other brands have failed not even
the cheap no brand ones.

So far I am leaning toward Lexar when I need faster cards.

Luckily I have not lost any data or images probably due to my being
ultra cautious, now I don't even return the last few that failed,
certainly not ever buying another Sandisk anything.

My thoery is that Sandisk perform NO QUALITY CONTROL because it is
cheaper to just replace them when the lab rat -customer - finds a
faulty one, also a lot of customers think they must be doing
something wrong or that their equipment is faulty so they don't
return them saving Sandisk more money..

Thanks, I have (so far) had no issues, but I'll certainly keep yours
& others
Sandisk problems in mind the next time I buy cards!
I've seen many swear by Transcend - do you have any opinion on them?

I do have a couple of Transcend cards, had them for quite a while and no problems.

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

--
Inspector Kluso

 

[Cope]

With KM and my D200, I always used Lexar, and read how Sandisk was better, Lexar was garbage, etc, but with my D90 I went with the Sandisk rebate from Ritz. Seems like Lexar is not nearly as big in SD as CF, and I have had no problems so far.
--

'A man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on.'
Winston Churchill

 

[Rich_Mo]

--

I have intermittently got the 'err' message on my D90. I has only happened about 5 or 6 times over the last two months. Mine seems to be related to the lens (my guess) as it has happened with two separate memory cards, and when the 'err' message shows up, I have to shut off the camera, and re-seat the lens for it to go away.

 

[justinfong]

You say that you have not encountered that ERR message since changing memory cards but you HAVE tried recreating the message by twisting the lens and whatnot. Can you insert that same "faulty" Sandisk SD card and see if the problems appears once more? That way we can be sure that in your case, it would most likely point to the memory card as the problem.

I'm just skeptical of the whole issue being the memory card; I ordered my D90 last week and I'm expecting it soon. Although I use Kingston SD cards (16GB for $20, Futureshop Boxing Day!) and I'm sure they will be fine, I'm still curious because I always though Sandisk was a reputable brand.

 

[Hawkintx]

I've read several posts claiming the ERR was related to the lens being bumped or somehow not in good contact, so I was trying to eliminate that as the cause of my particular case. I cleaned the contact areas of my lens and camera just to be sure but still recieved the ERR message with what I've determined to be a faulty card.

Just curious, why were you twisting the lens?
--
Drwritelight

--
JB

 

[Hawkintx]

I just went back to the 2GB PNY card I was using before I started getting the ERR. It is nothing special, just a card I had been using.

What type of card did you switch to?
--
Drwritelight

--
JB

 

[Hawkintx]

Thanks Cope, I never thought about sending the card to Sandisk, but I will give that a shot. I previously used a 1GB Sandisk in my D50 and never had a problem so I'm guessing it's just a bad card. I'll let y'all know how that turns out.

Thank you,

JB

JB, I would send the card to Sandisk with proof of purchase. Even
Wal-Mart can be duped with bad cards, but more likely it is just a
defective one. I have three 4GB Sandisk SDHC cards, and no problems.

--
'A man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time
he will pick himself up and continue on.'
Winston Churchill

--
JB

 

[Hawkintx]

Interesting information, thanks for sharing. My intention is not to give Sandisk a bad name, but in my particular situation the ERR issue seems to be directly related to that card. I'm sending it back to Sandisk to see what they have to say.

Thanks!

JB

This is certainly not the first time I've read this about Sandisk
cards, but
I've used Sandisk for years without a failure, or even a corrupt
picture.
Due to its popularity, there seems to be a good deal of
counterfeiting of
Sandisk cards. A lot of fakes have reportedly been sold on Ebay
(surprise).
Maybe it's the fake cards that are causing at least some of the
problems?
Here is a search that has some links on how to identify fakes:

http://www.google.ca/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=counterfeit+sandisk&meta=&btnG=Google+Search

--
Patco
A photograph is more than a bunch of pixels

--
JB

 

[Hawkintx]

Thanks Rich_Mo for the information. Personally I would be more concerned if I thought mine was a lens/contact issue that was causing the ERR message and would have probably returned my camera by now.

JB

--
I have intermittently got the 'err' message on my D90. I has only
happened about 5 or 6 times over the last two months. Mine seems to
be related to the lens (my guess) as it has happened with two
separate memory cards, and when the 'err' message shows up, I have to
shut off the camera, and re-seat the lens for it to go away.

--
JB

 

[Hawkintx]

Hey Justinfong,

I'm a little leary of putting what I suspect to be a bad card back into my D90. Electronics can be very fragile and if in fact the card is bad I don't want to risk any potential damage to my camera. I'm planning to send the card back to Sandisk, and if they replace it I will consider trying the new card in my D90.

I appreciate your idea of trying to isolate the cause of the ERR, but right now with everything pointing to the card I'm going to keep it away from my camera.

With regards to me trying to create an ERR by lightly twisting the lens (as I'd read in some posts), if that had created an ERR I would have sent the camera back to Nikon for service or replacement.

I too always believed Sandisk to be a quality company, and never had reason to question them. It does seem that there is a LOT of information out there (internet) that points to Sandisk as not being too solid in the area of Quality Control.

Thanks again!

JB

You say that you have not encountered that ERR message since changing
memory cards but you HAVE tried recreating the message by twisting
the lens and whatnot. Can you insert that same "faulty" Sandisk SD
card and see if the problems appears once more? That way we can be
sure that in your case, it would most likely point to the memory
card as the problem.

I'm just skeptical of the whole issue being the memory card; I
ordered my D90 last week and I'm expecting it soon. Although I use
Kingston SD cards (16GB for $20, Futureshop Boxing Day!) and I'm
sure they will be fine, I'm still curious because I always though
Sandisk was a reputable brand.

 

[justinfong]

Ha! Sounds like a plan to me. All signs are pointing to the card anyhow, I was just curious and wanted to be a little more sure but that is okay. I fully understand not wanting to take the risk. I believe I would do the same thing. Good luck!

 

[X-Ray]

I too have Sandisk cards (3 of them) and the CHA message appeared for the first time just yesterday. Twice. I removed the card for uploading the pictures onto my computer (I usually connect the camera directly to the computer). When I reinserted the card, camera was turned off, got the CHA message. Reinserted the card twice and the second time it worked, I was able to shoot about 30 pictures, no more trouble.

The card in the camera was a Sandisk Extreme II 8GB. I got two 16GB Sandisk Extreme II for x-mas, so I decided to use one of them from now on.

Also, I am pretty certain in my case this has absolutely nothing to do with lenses / contacts. I switch lenses about 4 to 5 times a week (18-105mm, 60mm Micro, 10-20mm) since I got my camera (over two months ago) and I've never had any ERR message before. And yesterday, I had switched lenses in the morning a few times. This only occurred when I removed the memory card, which I rarely do.