HELP - CORRUPT CARD

[MikalWGrass]

I just took a bunch of photos at a swim meet for some of the parents, and when I loaded the card into the card reader, the photos could not be imported because the files were unrecognizable in Lightroom 5. Lightroom tells me that "it cannot read the preview / preview unavailable for this file." I was able to load two photos, but they were damaged. I then put the card back into the camera to see if the camera could read the card, and the display said that "it is unable to display" the photos.

I shoot with a Sony a900. I used the 70-200/2.8G. The only thing I did differently today was turn off the D Range Optimizer. All other settings remained the same.

There was a very light sprinkling of rain at the pool, but the camera did not get wet as far as I can tell. I am very careful about that.

Before I left the meet, and well after the light rain, I checked the photos in camera and they were still on the card. After the meet, I put the camera on the floor of the car while I ate lunch. Then when I arrived home I popped the card into the reader, and this nonsense happened.:banghead::facesmack::wtf::angry:::cussing:

Can anyone tell me what happened and how I can recover the photos? In the meantime I will load another card into the camera to see if it works. If so, the card went bad at the wrong time.

Thank you.

 

[pegelli]

That's a bummer Mikal.

Does windows explorer read the files and can you copy them to your hard drive before importing into lightroom?

If not, what brand card is it, and did you check their website for file recovery software?

Also if you google "CF card recovery freeware"" you get many hits, fortunately I never had to try this, but if the same thing happened to me that's what I would try in case the above two steps fail.

 

[MikalWGrass]

P, I use a Mac. I downloaded some software and I will see where that takes me. I don't know that name of the card offhand because the new software is trying to recover whatever it can. I know it is not a major brand.

 

[pegelli]

OK, if you use a MAC does "Finder" see the card and files on it so you can copy them over?

I know it's clenching straws, but anything better than losing the files.

 

[MikalWGrass]

A free version of a software recovered most of the files for me. I think the card dumped alot of the photos. I have no idea which ones are saved. I am pretty aggravated about this. Not sure I want to spend the money as this was not a paying job. Then again, I should have photo recovery software available in the event this nonsense happens again.

 

[algrove]

Suggestion

There are enough problems with name brand cards let alone off brand cards. It's time to change if you value your images.

 

[MikalWGrass]

Al, I agree with you. The card is the Promaster 16 gb card. It worked fine until today. I usually buy brand named cards but I needed my camera and this was the only brand they had. Unfortunately, I am not a pro, so nobody went without their pix. Unfortunately, the people who asked me to take the pix like my other swimming and water polo shots, and I couldn't deliver on something that was non paying. But, there is a full day of swimming tomorrow, so I will be ready.

 

[carl-b]

As you have got some of the images back. Some people recommend formatting the card - don't use it. Then use the recovery software on the card. Sometimes it helps to recover more images for some reason. It could be worth trying.

 

[tcdeveau]

I've had good luck with the Sandisk recovery software. I've only used it with Sandisk-brand cards but it might be worth a shot.

 

[MikalWGrass]

Thank you for the suggestions. I decided that it wasn't worth it to proceed further and buy the software so I could recover the photos. I threw out the cf card.

Mikal

 

[Leigh]

A suggestion, if I may...

I ALWAYS transfer the image files from the card to a folder on my hard drive before attempting any use of the files.
I also capture raw as well as JPEG or whatever, so I can recover the original information if I need to.

Use the native file transfer function of Finder, which creates a copy and does not mess with the originals on the card at all.
You can always make additional copies from the card to other HD folders if needed as a backup.

Then you can manipulate the files safely, even surviving software glitches.

- Leigh

 

[Pradeep]

This is probably completely irrelevant to the OP at this time since he's thrown the card away. However, it may help somebody with a similar problem.

Sometimes a card gets corrupted suddenly even in camera and then it becomes 'unreadable'. The camera will not recognize that you've put in a card, the computer will not see it in Finder, Disk Utility will not see it etc. In short, nothing will work since no device can even see that there is a card in a reader. You cannot then use any software recovery option since there is no way to access the card.

This happened to me once after a shoot at a local venue, the card was fine and suddenly it was unreadable.

Fortunately the images were not that important but I was still able to recover them. I have a Colorspace UDMA device from Hyperdrive. I've owned all their previous versions of this. It does many things but the most useful (for me) is that it is the only thing that will read a card that nothing else will. You simply put the card in, hit the 'recover images' button and it will pull out all the images from the card, even those that exist from before you formatted it. In my example above, it recovered images not just from the shoot that day, but from months ago. As long as an image file has not been written over, you can recover it.

It is not cheap, but I never travel anywhere without it. No connection with the company but I am very happy with this device.

http://www.hypershop.com/HyperDrive/UDMA-2/

 

[MikalWGrass]

It is still in the trash can in my office. I will see about this device. Thank you for your help.

 

[Pradeep]

It is still in the trash can in my office. I will see about this device. Thank you for your help.

I've always bought the 'empty' version, it is much cheaper to simply put in an HD of your choice. I have a 1TB drive in it and use it as backup in the field. You do not need a computer to back up your cards, simply put the card in, press backup and it's done. You can also view the images on the screen to confirm focus etc.

Be aware though that the USB port on this runs at 2.0 speed and for some reason, it is slower at reading SD cards as opposed to CF. Still, it does so many things and is so versatile that it is well worth the price. Once charged, it will copy around 200G of data before you need to charge it again.

 

[neelin]

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

 

[Pradeep]

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

The problem is that sometimes a software solution, no matter how good will not work if the card is not recognized by your computer. If (on the Mac) Disk Utility cannot see it, no software can access it.

Which is where the Colorspace UDMA shines, since it uses its own hardware/software combo to read the card.

Talking to people on other forums, there are other such devices that professional data houses use which can also read corrupted cards and such.

 

[Annna T]

The problem is that sometimes a software solution, no matter how good will not work if the card is not recognized by your computer. If (on the Mac) Disk Utility cannot see it, no software can access it.

Which is where the Colorspace UDMA shines, since it uses its own hardware/software combo to read the card.

Talking to people on other forums, there are other such devices that professional data houses use which can also read corrupted cards and such.

Try with a PC of some folks or friends.. On a PC a recovery software will find the card. Even if the system asks whether you want to format the card because it can't read it, even if it can't see it.

 

[Pradeep]

Try with a PC of some folks or friends.. On a PC a recovery software will find the card. Even if the system asks whether you want to format the card because it can't read it, even if it can't see it.

That is a good suggestion. I never tried it because I did not have a PC. Worth a shot.

On a Mac too, if a drive is not readable (or formatted differently), you get a pop up message saying 'not recognized' or something similar eg. when you first connect a brand new unformatted HD. You can then launch Disk Utility which will show the drive/card as an entity that you can then interact with. The difficulty arises when the computer behaves as if nothing is attached to it, which is what was happening to my card.