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Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 09, 2010, 02:47:55 PM
Just before we came home, I turned on the Nikon camera to take a few more pix, and got these 3 error messages,

Warning this CF card cannot be read
No images on card,
Card is not formatted.

Now we are at home I put it into the Mac and its corrupted, I got a bunch of nothing.

Is there a company or somebody who can recover these pictures for me from the card? Its a Lexar 256 MB and its about 3 years old, always worked perfectly.
This is really really sad, as the grandkids were with us in Maine and there are some great pictures on that card, well maybe not now.
Thanks in advance,
Jane

Yes, cardrescue dot com, but it costs $40, oh well, its worth it to get those pix back. Im looking at their previews now, they are all there.  Here goes,,,,,,
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 09, 2010, 03:04:48 PM
Yes, it worked!  Ive got most of the pictures.  But some are truncated. Tried opening them in Photoshop, Preview and more, but some are just plain cut in half and some are sort of like small boxes.
In Cardrescue's info, this does happen and I think its because my card is very old.      Is 3 years considered an old card?  I guess I should buy a new one?
Anyway, I hope this info helps other people who have this problem.
It was worth the 40 bucks to get those vacation pix back.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: Paddy on July 09, 2010, 10:21:13 PM
Jane, sorry to hear that this happened to you. The age of the card is not the factor - it's the number of times you've used it and erased it that generally matters. From what I've read, most cards are good for at least 1000 uses. You should have a warranty still - if you kept the bill. (Most cards come with at least a 5 year warranty)

Now...a few words of advice. ALWAYS have more than one card. ALWAYS. Cards are cheap these days. Get 2 to 4GB ones - not the big ones that will tempt you to put all your pics on one card (unless you have a 16MP camera or something, in which case the bigger cards become a necessity) On a trip or any other special occasion that cannot be repeated, use at least 2 cards - alternate their use each day or over the course of the day. That lessens the possibility of a complete loss of all photos considerably. And offload your pictures every day to at least two sources if you can; I use my laptop and a portable hard drive/card reader. You could also copy your pics to a DVD.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: kimmer on July 09, 2010, 10:32:54 PM
Jane, I'm glad you recovered most of your pics. What a sad.gif ending to your trip.

Fear of losing vacation pics was one of the biggest reasons we bought a laptop. We download each day, and we back them up to thumb drives.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: Highmac on July 10, 2010, 03:33:00 AM
So a happy-ish ending.... smile.gif

A few years ago, during a holiday in Spain, I found an internet cafe, run by Brits, where I could burn pictures from the card to a CD (smaller pictures back then!) ready to bring home. Just bought a blank disk and rented the PC for an hour. But they had to show me how to burn a disk on a PC..... rolleyes.gif

Didn't take long and I was able to log on to TS while it was burning. From memory the whole thing cost me about 1.50 GBP -  less than $2 US back then.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 10, 2010, 05:43:48 AM
I think that this card has been erased at least 1000 times, I download it to one of our Macs every time I get a chance, sometimes daily.
Thats most likely the problem, seeing that some of the recovered photos were truncated.

We always take 3 cameras with us, (and the iPhone), so hopefully we divide the trip up amongst many CF cards.

Having a Macbook would be a great thing to have, but the last time I had one, all I used it for was to download pictures, and ended up giving/sending it to Kelly here at TS.

I am going to buy another card, as my old ones are tiny.

Thank you for this advice, as I will buy another card right away!
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: Xairbusdriver on July 10, 2010, 04:23:20 PM
Apparently, this write/erase action is also a potential problem in flash-based SSD memory. Some manufacturers go to the trouble of monitoring the usage of the cells and randomly assigns bytes to cells that have not been used as much. The intent is to level out all cells usages and extend the MTBF of any one cell.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 10, 2010, 04:42:38 PM
Yes, this is a learning process for me, and it was interesting to notice that several of the truncated pix had a partial 'wipe', like a written page where somebody had stopped writing.
I can post a screen shot of that, but I think that its where the camera stopped 'writing' to the card, or more like where the card stopped accepting the signal.
My terminology is not correct, but it looks like this.
Jane
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: Xairbusdriver on July 10, 2010, 05:32:52 PM
Your terminology sounds perfect to me. The problem was in the card, not the camera. wink.gif And the camera even was telling you that's where the problem was. thumbup.gif Now, a really advanced camera would have ejected the bad card, crimping it slightly to avoid any mistaken use in the future, and grabbed a good one from your camera bag... eek2.gif
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 10, 2010, 08:47:21 PM
Soon as we get to town, which we avoid in summer, we will get a new one(my old ones are tiny).
Or to order one on-line.
Though we have many other cameras which use different size ones.

I LOVE the iPhone!  And am astonished at the quality of the photos from it.  (Just learning about FUN apps)
Thanks,
Jane
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: Paddy on July 11, 2010, 06:43:42 AM
Jane, as I said before...order TWO...not one. And get them online - unless one of the big box stores is having a sale, they'll be far cheaper from Amazon etc.

You can get some idea of performance (and weigh that against price) from Rob Galbraith's excellent database:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007

I generally buy cards in the lower half of his lists - I don't have the multiple shot needs that sports photogs have etc.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 11, 2010, 07:13:00 AM
Thank you!
This is just the perfect info, I will order them today.
Weve been so busy in this hot weather and using the other cameras, that I forgot.
Glad I did forget, as its better online than our local photo store.
Its an old Nikon, so thanks to your link, I can pick out the proper card for it.
Jane
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 11, 2010, 07:38:57 AM
This camera is a Nikon Coolpix 4300, my card is an older Lexar 256MB card, 24X speed. Seems the new ones are HUGE, but I download frequently, so I should look for a smaller capacity card, but the speed is nice, as my old card is rather slow. I need to read some more about this, as the card has to be compatible with the old camera I would think.  So many to choose from!  Need to find a compatibility chart, to see what is recommended for this older camera.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jchuzi on July 11, 2010, 08:53:26 AM
Look at the links in this Google search page. If you can't find the answer there, phone Nikon tech support or email them via Nikon's website. Contact information for phone service can be found here.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 11, 2010, 10:33:04 AM
Thats good!  I saw the 2005 questions about the cards, but also found that the newer ones 'might' work in the older cameras.
I will give Nikon a call.
I have bought things in the past from Abes of Maine, and can call them when their business hours resume too.
Thank you all for this info!
Its a great little camera, though not many mpixels, it does the job, and Im not afraid of taking it to the beach.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: Paddy on July 11, 2010, 09:20:37 PM
Jane - I had no idea that your camera was so long in the tooth. You should be fine with a 1GB card and they're pretty cheap. I would just get a couple at Amazon. Abe's will be more expensive no doubt.

This is one option:

http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-TS1GCF133-...176&sr=1-24
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 12, 2010, 06:51:14 AM
Hi Paddy,
This really does look the best.  That camera is old, but it is the one I carry most of the time, as if it gets hurt or lost, its no super loss. Fits in my pocket on my bike too.
Ive got my Olympus  Stylus 1030W that I like better, but its heavier though smaller.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011E87QI/?tag=g...sl_3zkds5869b_e
Im looking at the price, odd that I didnt pay that much?  Ive a neck lanyard on it, its waterproof and shockproof. I bought it for my husband to take rafting on the Colorado, but they decided not to take a camera, as no way to charge the battery.

Thank you again,,,,,,
I will order the little cards today.
Jane
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: Paddy on July 12, 2010, 07:34:25 AM
Jane, that Olympus is no longer available - sometimes prices on things like that are nutty. I think they're preying on people who had one which died/got lost etc. and want one again, despite the fact that usually a newer camera is both much better and cheaper.

You can buy an additional battery for the Olympus, you know. And you don't need to buy an Olympus brand one (which will be expensive) - there are plenty of very good 3rd party batteries around. Just Google "replacement Olympus 1030W batteries" and you'll get plenty of options. I just got two batteries for my Dad's Nikon camera for about 1/5 of what Nikon batteries cost through Amazon. Look for ones that have good reviews.
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 12, 2010, 08:18:18 AM
I probably should do that, and then they can take the camera with them.  With several batteries it should be enuf juice for the 2 week trip.
Though carrying a camera is a pain in the rafts, though with the neck lanyard, they could have it around their neck, or at least attached to the life jacket.
I will see if they want to bother with it, if so, I will get another battery or 2.
They took some amazing pictures last year with 2 tiny point and shoots that they could stuff into the pockets in the life jackets. Some of the other people on the trip brought some big expensive cameras in waterproof cases, but thats a pain. They all put their pictures up collectively on a Flickr site they created for the trip.

Grandma(me) is staying home again, I did it once, and that was spectacular.  I opted to stay home with Lilly.
Jane
Title: Camera CF card failed
Post by: jcarter on July 12, 2010, 08:53:07 AM
I called Abes camera store(I like to do business with them, they are great), and they suggested the same card too.
http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-TS1GCF133-...176&sr=1-24
He also said it would work in my husband's older Coolpix 990. So I will get two.
The Nikon tech support gal sounded younger than my camera! And she didnt know anythng about the older cameras nor what cards would work.
Thank you for all the great advice!
Jane