Memory card issue with 7d (kind of urgent)

JohnRogJohnRog Registered Users Posts: 173 Major grins
edited July 22, 2011 in Cameras
I have a 7d and a sandisk card that I have been using together for over a year... we are currently visiting DC, and I was just taking some longer exposure shots in the Marta station. When I went to set up for another one, my camera said "cannot access memory card... reinsert or format card"... I don't have another card with me (not a proffessional shoot), and my laptopis at the hotel so I can't see if it is the camera or the card that has the issue... is there anything I can try aside from removing the card and retrying? I've done that several times, and tried removing the battery pack too... I know I can try to find a place to buy another card to avoid having to reformat this one right now.... thanks!

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Comments

  • aj986saj986s Registered Users Posts: 1,100 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    I would recommend looking for another card to purchase, and leave this one alone till you can get it into a PC to try and view or recover. Cards are probably available at any store, like CVS, that does photo processing. Might even be able to have them take a look at your existing card.
    Tony P.
    Canon 50D, 30D and Digital Rebel (plus some old friends - FTB and AE1)
    Long-time amateur.....wishing for more time to play
    Autocross and Track junkie
    tonyp.smugmug.com
  • JohnRogJohnRog Registered Users Posts: 173 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    Thanks... trying to find one..n

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  • pmaxwellpmaxwell Registered Users Posts: 129 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    does the 7d see the card? you could try formatting the card if the camera sees it.

    if you do this you will lose everything you have already shot, and it may not get you up and running again, but that is all I can think of without a laptop or other resources.
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    Pete
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,954 moderator
    edited June 15, 2011
    I'd buy another card and deal with the old one later. A camera store will have a better selection, but 7-11s, supermarkets and drugstores all sell them these days.
    My Pics
  • JohnRogJohnRog Registered Users Posts: 173 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    So far, I'm finding SD cards, but no cf...

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  • Matthew SavilleMatthew Saville Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,352 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    As always, and especially with Sandisk cards, my first question is: exactly which type of card is it and where did you buy it? Sandisk Ultra II 8 GB cards do NOT have the best history, for example.

    I'd buy another card ASAP either way, I mean it's a huge risk to EVER shoot with just one memory card for this exact reason. Even if you NEVER would fill up a single memory card, you should have two or three with you.

    =Matt=
    “My first thought is always of light.” – Galen Rowell
    My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
  • JohnRogJohnRog Registered Users Posts: 173 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    Its an extreme III 8gb... and I meant to grab my other one out of my backup camera, but got distracted with my kids when we were packing... and no luck at the 2 places I found within walking distance of the air and space museum... hopefully at least I can get a recovery utility to get the several hundred images I shot yesterday... I'll stop by the HH Gregg near our hotel in Maryland to grab another card before tomorrow...

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  • JohnRogJohnRog Registered Users Posts: 173 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    JohnRog wrote: »
    Its an extreme III 8gb that I got from Adorama when I bought the camera... and I meant to grab my other one out of my backup camera, but got distracted with my kids when we were packing... and no luck at the 2 places I found within walking distance of the air and space museum... hopefully at least I can get a recovery utility to get the several hundred images I shot yesterday... I'll stop by the HH Gregg near our hotel in Maryland to grab another card before tomorrow...

    Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk



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  • JohnRogJohnRog Registered Users Posts: 173 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    Anybody got a recovery software suggestion? Laptop says the card needs to be formatted too...


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  • pmaxwellpmaxwell Registered Users Posts: 129 Major grins
    edited June 15, 2011
    the Lexar Pro cards I just bought came with a free down load of their image rescue software. I haven't needed it yet, but I understand it is pretty good.
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    Pete
  • CuongCuong Registered Users Posts: 1,508 Major grins
    edited June 16, 2011
    JohnRog wrote: »
    Anybody got a recovery software suggestion? Laptop says the card needs to be formatted too...
    Try ZAR 9. I used ZAR 8.5 last year and it worked wonderfully. Good luck!

    Cuong
    "She Was a Little Taste of Heaven – And a One-Way Ticket to Hell!" - Max Phillips
  • Matthew SavilleMatthew Saville Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,352 Major grins
    edited June 16, 2011
    JohnRog wrote: »
    Anybody got a recovery software suggestion? Laptop says the card needs to be formatted too...


    Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
    Stick the "bad" memory card in the camera once, format it, (don't worry!) and then plug it back into the computer.

    Personally, I use PhotoRescue Pro / Expert, from http://datarescue.com I think, not sure if that's the right website...

    I've never *lost* a card completely, I've always been able to recover MOST images off a card. (Usually when a card goes bad like this, it's just one image that is truly corrupted, the rest are fine) ...EXCEPT for totally fake Sandisk Ultra II cards that other friends have bought on eBay and then asked me to try and run recovery on... (Done that 2-3 times for friends, which is why I HIGHLY recommend staying away from anything other than authorized dealers... :-)

    =Matt=
    “My first thought is always of light.” – Galen Rowell
    My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
  • JohnRogJohnRog Registered Users Posts: 173 Major grins
    edited June 17, 2011
    Cuong wrote: »
    Try ZAR 9. I used ZAR 8.5 last year and it worked wonderfully. Good luck!

    Cuong

    Thanks guys... I found Zero Assumption Recovery (ZAR) online the other night and while it took a LONG time (889 18mp JPEGs if I remember correctly) almost all of them were recovered... only a few show as full pics as thumbnails, but only load about halfway when you try to open them... still WAY better than losing them all. One cool thing about ZAR is that the free demo works fully for pictures indefinitely... so you only have to get the paid version if you're working with other files.

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  • aj986saj986s Registered Users Posts: 1,100 Major grins
    edited June 17, 2011
    JohnRog wrote: »
    Thanks guys... I found Zero Assumption Recovery (ZAR) online the other night and while it took a LONG time (889 18mp JPEGs if I remember correctly) almost all of them were recovered... only a few show as full pics as thumbnails, but only load about halfway when you try to open them... still WAY better than losing them all. One cool thing about ZAR is that the free demo works fully for pictures indefinitely... so you only have to get the paid version if you're working with other files.

    Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

    Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

    Good news! thumb.gif
    Tony P.
    Canon 50D, 30D and Digital Rebel (plus some old friends - FTB and AE1)
    Long-time amateur.....wishing for more time to play
    Autocross and Track junkie
    tonyp.smugmug.com
  • JohnRogJohnRog Registered Users Posts: 173 Major grins
    edited July 22, 2011
    Just an update... The memory card in question continued to work fine for a few more weeks, but it failed again... This time permanently... It isn't recognized at all by my computer, 7d, or 20d, so I can't even format it. It was about 2 years old, but honestly didn't see that much use... I don't think I'll be buying another sandisk cf. They have a 1 year warranty, while the transcend I just purchased has a lifetime warranty and cost less... I do know for sure that I'll never go into an important shooting situation with only 1 card!

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