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I killed a CompactFlash®

Cooknn

Cooknn

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Yesterday on a shoot my 1GB Lexar CompactFlash card went south on me. I use it a lot. Always format it between shoots as opposed to just deleting the pictures every time. Was it most likely the continual formatting that killed it 😕 My camera would see it, then not. I thought I got away without losing any shots but such was not the case 🙁
 
Cooknn said:
Yesterday on a shoot my 1GB Lexar CompactFlash card went south on me. I use it a lot. Always format it between shoots as opposed to just deleting the pictures every time. Was it most likely the continual formatting that killed it 😕 My camera would see it, then not. I thought I got away without losing any shots but such was not the case 🙁
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Hey Dave -

I always format after downloading my stuff. I have a couple of SanDisk 1GB cards that prolly have 3-4,000 shots on each of them.

Is it still under warranty?
 
iGary said:
Hey Dave -

I always format after downloading my stuff. I have a couple of SanDisk 1GB cards that prolly have 3-4,000 shots on each of them.

Is it still under warranty?
Click to expand...
I bought it about 4 months ago from B&H. Still have the box. Not sure what the warranty is, but I guess I should give them a call eh?! 😛
 
iGary said:
Hey Dave -

I always format after downloading my stuff. I have a couple of SanDisk 1GB cards that prolly have 3-4,000 shots on each of them.

Is it still under warranty?
Click to expand...
10-4 Big Gary-

I always format too. My 1GB lexar has been in constant use now for 2-3 years, and is doing fine.
 
Cooknn said:
I bought it about 4 months ago from B&H. Still have the box. Not sure what the warranty is, but I guess I should give them a call eh?! 😛
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure most of them have a one year warranty, and I think one of them even offers to recover your data, although I am sure you've probably already re-shot the pano, right?
 
I sure hope formatting isn't an issue because I reformat my cards like 3 times a week. 😱 Maybe I should start deleting instead, but formatting just seems better.
 
iGary said:
I'm pretty sure most of them have a one year warranty, and I think one of them even offers to recover your datd, although I am sure you've probably already re-shot the pano, right?
Click to expand...
I lost the master bedroom on yesterday's shoot - well actually 4 of the seven shots, but it's not a big deal because it was for a friend and I can get back there anytime without a problem. Blows that it happened at all though. Thank goodness it wasn't one of my more demanding clients. That would suck. I think I'll keep an extra card in my bag now - bought a SanDisk this morning. I've lost confidence in Lexar 😎
 
Cooknn said:
I lost the master bedroom on yesterday's shoot - well actually 4 of the seven shots, but it's not a big deal because it was for a friend and I can get back there anytime without a problem. Blows that it happened at all though. Thank goodness it wasn't one of my more demanding clients. That would suck. I think I'll keep an extra card in my bag now - bought a SanDisk this morning. I've lost confidence in Lexar 😎
Click to expand...

Yeah, I used to use Lexar, and was not happy myself (locked up both of my 20D bodies a lot), so I have 2 1GB SanDisk and 1 4GB SanDisk and they don't give me a bit of worry at all. 🙂
 
how exactly do I go about formatting my CF card (for Minolta A2) using my powerbook? It's currently in MS file format, I'm pretty sure; can my PB handle this ok, using Disk utility? My card has gotten slower over the last year, I think, so I'd like to give this a try. Thanks for the help.

Cheers
 
gauchogolfer said:
how exactly do I go about formatting my CF card (for Minolta A2) using my powerbook? It's currently in MS file format, I'm pretty sure; can my PB handle this ok, using Disk utility? My card has gotten slower over the last year, I think, so I'd like to give this a try. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Don't use the Mac. Use your camera to format it.
 
iGary said:
Hey Dave -

I always format after downloading my stuff. I have a couple of SanDisk 1GB cards that prolly have 3-4,000 shots on each of them.

Is it still under warranty?
Click to expand...
how do u get 3-4,000 shots on one card.... what resolution do u shoot at😕

with nikon on my 1 gig card i got about 500 shots using the full resolution
 
puckhead193 said:
how do u get 3-4,000 shots on one card.... what resolution do u shoot at😕
Click to expand...
...Over a period of time - with format's in between each shoot 😉
 
CanadaRAM said:
Don't use the Mac. Use your camera to format it.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeah, I figured that one out last night (read the manual...hey!). Something else is new (last 2 or 3 shoots): after I import photos, then go to erase them via the Finder, after it erases, Finder crashes and restarts. Is this a sign of a failing CF card (Lexar 80x 1GB "Professional" from B&H), or maybe my CF reader I plug into the PB could be the problem?

Thanks for the help.

Cheers.
 
My CF card stopped saving images and eventually deleted all images it was storing when I used it to take photos of sex. 😱
 
Johnny Rico said:
My CF card stopped saving images and eventually deleted all images it was storing when I used it to take photos of sex. 😱
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Shouldn't have bought the "Prude" brand....
 
I had a 1gig lexar pro for about a year. It suddenly went south on me and I lost a ton of photos that I shot on it. I called Lexar and they set me up with this online ticket thing. I've been waiting now 6 months for them to return my request for RMA. I've called four times. It wasn't worth my time so I gave up and bought a 1gb sandisk.

I'll be buying another 2gb sandisk in the near future. I don't like to have one large card for the very reason that without notice the lexar--supposed the best in the biz crapped out on me. I was in 80 degree weather, no wind, shooting about 2 frames per minute...it's not like I was asking much.
 
Always use the camera to delete files/ format the card.

Especially if you swap your card between camera brands or models. Reformat it beofre you shoot and download before you swap to another camera.

Sometimes you can get away with swapping, but it's not worth losing previous shots to use another camera.

Back to Gary's comment, I'm using 2 - 256Mb cards and 1 - 512Mb card in an S2Pro. I rotate them out and download via a card reader.
My camera total showed 12,000 + images before I accidently reset it. Now it's back up to about 3000.
I shot about 16,000 images with my old Kodak between 3 cards, a 32Mb, a 64Mb and a 128Mb card.
 
-All

Hmm. It's probably not a good idea to reformat after every shoot. This may surprise you, but flash memory devices like the NAND chips in the CF cards actual will wear out. It's parts, however are reeeeealy tiny in contrast to a hard drive though.

I personally reformat every five shoots or so, no more.
 
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