1DMKIV settings questions - help needed ASAP

Snowgirl

Hi. I've been (happily) using my new camera now for about a month with no problems - although it's a learning curve for sure.

Anyway, yesterday I went out and spent the day shooting. This morning I went to upload my images from the CF card to computer to edit and share and there was NOTHING on the card. Gulp. Luckily, they were pictures for personal use not paid client work, but I can't figure out what happened?

I checked the settings and I have it set up to record to the CF card first and then, if that gets full, to go to the SC card.

I re-formatted the CF card (as I always do) in the camera and took a few shots in my kitchen - and they were fine - so it wasn't a bad card problem. I checked the SD card and there was nothing on it either.

I re-read the camera manual but can't find anything that applies. Anyone got any suggestions? I'm leaving on vacation on Tuesday and plan on spending a lot of time on the beaches of PEI, camera in hand, and don't want to have any problems. Help, please? :dunno

Thanks folks.

ziggy53

Put the card back into the camera and see if you can play back the images from the camera.

Snowgirl

ziggy53 wrote: »

Put the card back into the camera and see if you can play back the images from the camera.

I tried that and there was nothing on the card.

Strange, because while I was shooting, I did view a few of the shots just to check them.

ziggy53

Take some new pictures and ensure that you can play them back in camera. If that works OK then the camera is recording the images to the cards.

If that works, I would suspect that the method of transfer from camera to computer is causing problems. I would need to know your exact procedure, including all hardware, operating system, and software information, as well as a step-by-step description of your methodology.

Snowgirl

ziggy53 wrote: »

Take some new pictures and ensure that you can play them back in camera. If that works OK then the camera is recording the images to the cards.

If that works, I would suspect that the method of transfer from camera to computer is causing problems. I would need to know your exact procedure, including all hardware, operating system, and software information, as well as a step-by-step description of your methodology.

Hi Ziggy. I really appreciate your time in working through this with me.

OK, I stepped out on the deck and fired off a few shots. Viewed them on the LCD - no problem.

Took the CF card out of the camera and inserted it into my Apacer multi-card reader (which has a USB connection to my iMAC). That action caused Aperture 3 to launch (which is the way I have it set up) and the pictures I shot outside were there - no problem. I imported them into Aperture - again, no problem.

So I guess my question is, how the 'h' could I have turned the camera on and off several times yesterday, shot images in four different locations, and had NONE of them recorded? I could see it maybe happening once if I screwed up something, but all day? I'm ready to take the gas pipe for being stupid, but seriously can't figure out what in 'h' I did. It's obviously not the card, because it's working just fine.

ziggy53

If you can review the images after shooting (chimping is such a derogatory term) then the camera and cards are doing their job. I would suspect that Aperture is causing some of the problem as there are several ways to set up its operations.

I do recommend simultaneous recording to both cards for image safety and security of important events. If you should have the same instance occur in the future (lost images), and if you have recorded simultaneously to both cards, use a different computer to review the SD card and make sure that you set the SD card lock before inserting into another device. The SD lock will prevent anything from inadvertently erasing the contents of the card.

Snowgirl

Thanks. Could very well be the case and I will switch to simultaneous recording - a good idea for "CYA", right?

aj986s

I'll ask a silly question....but did anyone else have the opportunity to handle your camera between taking pics and downloading to PC? Is there any possibility that someone else may have inadvertently entered the "Format" action, effectively erasing the pics? Or, is there any chance that your camera may have been positioned in a bag such that buttons might have unexpectedly been pressed causing the "Format" action to be activated?

Snowgirl

ziggy53 wrote: »

If you can review the images after shooting (chimping is such a derogatory term) then the camera and cards are doing their job. I would suspect that Aperture is causing some of the problem as there are several ways to set up its operations.

I do recommend simultaneous recording to both cards for image safety and security of important events. If you should have the same instance occur in the future (lost images), and if you have recorded simultaneously to both cards, use a different computer to review the SD card and make sure that you set the SD card lock before inserting into another device. The SD lock will prevent anything from inadvertently erasing the contents of the card.

PHOTOS FOUND!!! They were on the SD card. How do you suppose THAT happened? Maybe the CF card wasn't fully seated into it's slot so the camera automatically went to the SD card? Hmm. Regardless, I'm greatly relieved.

Thanks again!

ziggy53

Snowgirl wrote: »

... I will switch to simultaneous recording - a good idea for "CYA", right?

I am a big believer in safety and options. If that means "CYA", I can live with that.

BTW, that quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in your signature, is what I try to live by.

ziggy53

Snowgirl wrote: »

PHOTOS FOUND!!! They were on the SD card. How do you suppose THAT happened? Maybe the CF card wasn't fully seated into it's slot so the camera automatically went to the SD card? Hmm. Regardless, I'm greatly relieved.

Thanks again!

Generally, if the preferred card is not found when you power up the camera, the camera will tell you that the card was missing. The menu of the 1D MKIV is just confusing enough that it's easy to invert the selection of cards without realizing it.

Once you do find a comfortable setup for your camera, I do suggest that you dedicate a small CF card for the settings. In the Setup menu, I believe it is the 3rd "yellow/wrench" icon in the menu, you should find a "Save/Load Settings" and you can copy your setup information to a card for rapid retrieval if the camera gets unstable of if you want to quickly revert to a specific setup.

Snowgirl

ziggy53 wrote: »

Generally, if the preferred card is not found when you power up the camera, the camera will tell you that the card was missing. The menu of the 1D MKIV is just confusing enough that it's easy to invert the selection of cards without realizing it.

Once you do find a comfortable setup for your camera, I do suggest that you dedicate a small CF card for the settings. In the Setup menu, I believe it is the 3rd "yellow/wrench" icon in the menu, you should find a "Save/Load Settings" and you can copy your setup information to a card for rapid retrieval if the camera gets unstable of if you want to quickly revert to a specific setup.

Thank you again for all of your help. The CF setup card suggestion is a great one.

Uh huh - I'm a firm believer in that quote too:D

Best regards!

dlplumer