Seeming CF card compatibility problem with Aptus 22

[mediumcool]

Happy New Year, everybody.

I received my new [used] Aptus 22 the day before Xmas, and have been testing it, with some limitations. I have never had a camera which uses CF, so I have taken every shot so far tethered to my old MBP. Bit limiting.

I have ordered some 4GB CF cards from an online supplier, but they won’t get here for another week or so.

So, I borrowed a Silicon Power 200x 4GB card from a friend. The Aptus displays error messages every time I try to format it. Have tried formatting it on my Mac for both FAT 16 and MacOs Extended (assuming though that the format is DOS) but this makes no difference.

I am wondering now if the Aptus simply cannot handle a newer, faster card.

If anyone knows the maximum size and speed of card that will work with the Aptus 22, please respond (may have to cancel the order!).

Thanks, Ian G

 

[yaya]

Ian,

You should not have any issues with new, fast cards, provided that the correct format is used

See this document for instructions. It needs to be FAT32 and you can ignore the LEAF-CF naming

Note that on some Macs the default scheme is GUID instead of Master Boot

Hope this helps

Yair

 

[mediumcool]

Thanks Yair

Had a problem with the card disappearing off the desktop intermittently, but finally managed to format it properly.

Back LED turned to green fairly quickly on re-start and I could begin taking untethered shots, but ...

Now getting this dialogue on the Aptus screen:

I can’t change any parameters seemingly. Next thing to try is a quick format in camera, or should I rename the card LEAF-CF?

 

[mediumcool]

Just did the in-back format, which re-named the card of course, and all is now OK.

Thanks again ...

 

[Leigh]

You should always format a card in-camera. This is true of all cameras/backs regardless of image size.

The reason is that the camera/back assumes that certain files and directories are present on the card.

If you format in a computer, those items will not be present.

Happy New Year.

- Leigh

 

[mediumcool]

You should always format a card in-camera. This is true of all cameras/backs regardless of image size.

The reason is that the camera/back assumes that certain files and directories are present on the card.

If you format in a computer, those items will not be present.

Happy New Year.

- Leigh

Irrelevant in this case. I tried formatting in-back first, as noted in the original post. Three or four times, with error messages each and every time. I only attempted formatting via the iMac as a last resort (Halusian Gulp, anyone?).

Yair’s link was helpful; the only thing he got wrong was about the naming of the card — in his defence he may have expected me to format the card again in the back, which is when it’s re-named to ‘LEAF-CF’ — but this was not specified either in his post or in the KB article he pointed to.

Seems to me that the back only performs a superficial format because it’s done so quickly, probably just dropping a new directory in (and changing the device’s name if needed). It certainly was unable to create a Master Boot Record by itself.

So two things at least are crucial; getting the name right because that is what the back’s electronics expect, and having a Master Boot Record rather than GUID.

Interesting to know which sort of boot partition Sony SLRs create when they format CF cards (that was where the card was last used).

 

[Leigh]

Seems to me that the back only performs a superficial format because it’s done so quickly, probably just dropping a new directory in (and changing the device’s name if needed). It certainly was unable to create a Master Boot Record by itself.

The digital cameras that I've encountered are capable of doing either a "quick" format (the default), or a "low level" format.

The quick format just erases and creates entries at the top level of the directory tree. Nothing is actually erased.

The low level format actually rewrites information on the media. This is the option that would create a new MBR.

- Leigh

 

[mediumcool]

The digital cameras that I've encountered are capable of doing either a "quick" format (the default), or a "low level" format.

Not this particular black duck (back actually — the camera body is not involved). And of the two Fuji, two Pentax and one Panasonic digital cameras I have also owned, none has had any options for formatting cards.

The quick format just erases and creates entries at the top level of the directory tree. Nothing is actually erased.

Yes, I know. Except for the area where the directory is established.

The low level format actually rewrites information on the media. This is the option that would create a new MBR.

Yes, I know that too; but it could not be formatted in the back, as stated in the first post. So therefore it could not create a MBR.

So down off that hobbyhorse, please.

 

[mediumcool]

Have posted a thread about Sony camera formatting of CF cards in the Sony thread, just out of interest.

Also have asked my friend via email if he Mac-formatted the card before lending it to me.

 

[yaya]

Yair’s link was helpful; the only thing he got wrong was about the naming of the card — in his defence he may have expected me to format the card again in the back, which is when it’s re-named to ‘LEAF-CF’ — but this was not specified either in his post or in the KB article he pointed to.

Ian, Just to clarify, the back does not change the name of the card. Whichever name it's got, the back will always show it as LEAF-CF.

Yair

 

[mediumcool]

Ian, Just to clarify, the back does not change the name of the card. Whichever name it's got, the back will always show it as LEAF-CF.

Yair

Point taken. And thanks again for your help. Interesting that it still needed the in-back format as well as the Mac format to operate without errors. Now I just need some new batteries ...