I shot the photo I posted last week of the VA2K Walk and Roll with my Nikon D700 using a Transcend UDMA 16GB 300x CF card for storage. When I started downloading and importing the 260+ RAW images into Lightroom I discovered I had a major problem. The CF card would virtually eject itself after reading only a few files. Even scrolling down the Lightroom import image thumbnail screen would cause the drive to drop-out/virtually eject. To get the card to show up again required it being physically removed and reinserted into the card reader, where the error would eventually again happen.
I could duplicate the problem, including not being able to scroll down the file listing, using the Mac file Finder even when using a couple different USB card readers. I finally discovered if I kept my Mac Finder window very small, showing about four files at a time, I could copy those four off the card and then move to the next four. This would work for about 4-5 copies before a virtual ejection would require a reinsertion and me restarting where I left off. Using this method I managed to get 256 of the 260+ image files off the card.
This card is about two years old and has never caused any problems before — I’ve used a number of Transcend cards and this is the first one to fail for me. The card didn’t have any trouble with the D700 writing to it but suddenly it doesn’t like high speed prolonged reads now.
This unexpected issue “awakened and almost bit me” — I narrowly escaped. It was sheer luck to get those images off the card, even if a slow process. A couple of new SanDisk CF cards are on their way to replace it.
I selected this image for todays post as these roots look like some creature sleeping in/upon the ground awaiting the not so lucky traveller to happen by. Beware! :-)
Sorry to hear about your card problem Earl. I’ve always used SanDisk cards and have had only one problem (years ago). It can happen with any manufacturer, of course, but I think the likelihood with SanDisk is generally lower. I’ve also purposely limited myself to cards that are no bigger than 4GB. True, I have to switch cards more often, but if something goes wrong my liability is limited. And once I have the images from the card on 2 separate hard drives, the card is reformatted. I honestly don’t know if that makes a difference or not, but it seems like a good idea!
I, too, like old tree roots. Although if you’ve ever seen any of the Bristlecone Pines out west, you know that this one is just an infant by comparison.
I have to ask, though: Did you include the bright sky in the upper part of the frame on purpose? I actually find it hard to concentrate on the details of the tree’s roots because of the sky. That could be just me, though. Generally speaking, I’m kind of adverse to unusually bright spots in images……..
Paul, I was indeed lucky the card didn’t stop functioning completely. I normally use 8G cards and reformat them each time I download the photos to other storage. I remember I purchased this card at a very good price and it served me well for a couple of years — guess I can’t complain. I don’t remember ever filling this card up before there was an opportunity to download the images. :-)
As to the bright spots, my original thinking was to include a portion of the trunk to give some visual reference to the roots and I couldn’t find a way to accomplish that goal without getting part of the sky. I find the bright sky a bit distracting but not to the point of overwhelming the roots. But, point well taken and thanks for the feedback!
The only issues I’ve ever had with my CF card were cold issues. I was out shooting in very cold weather in the Shenandoahs and my cards kept giving me writing errors. I would have to warm them up in my pocket then insert in the camera, I had maybe 15 mins or shooting before it did it again. Needless to say, I went home angry.
Fantastic colors in this image, it has an HDR feel to it!
NR, This was my first problem with a CF card. Sure is a helpless feeling when you’ve got photos you can’t recreate on a card and you can’t get them off it. I can imagine it was frustrating not being able to take them as well.
I did extent the tonal range a bit on this one but no actual HDR processing. Thanks!
I’m glad you persisted and finally were successful in retrieving most of the picture. I like the huge root system. It also appears to be a huge salamander-type critter poised to entertain me! :-)
Don, thanks and welcome back. I hope everything went well for you.
It seems fitting to have a somewhat ominous photo with a post about a failing cf card. I have only had two very old and very inexpensive cards (purchased with my first camera) fail me. Since then, I have stuck with SanDisk and had no problems.
The roots do appear to be rather threatening. I think it is well worth the mild distraction of the bright sky to have the trunk.
Anita, this was my first experience with a card failure and I’ve replaced it with a SanDisk card mostly from the good things I’ve heard about them. With any card it’s a situation of…”sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug.” I just want to be the windshield most of the time! :-)
Thanks for the feedback on the bright spots of the sky.
I’m one of those who uses the USB connection between camera and computer. You might have been better of using the cable, if the camera managed to read the card better than the computer did. I’m glad to hear you rescued most of the images on that memory card.
Ove, I would have tried that but with the D700 Nikon chose to not include the functionality of a generic USB card reader in the camera. You have to use Nikon Connect or similar software to transfer photos between the camera and your computer via a USB cable. I don’t copies of that software.
I see the sleeping dog at the foot of that tree! Wonderful!
I buy 2 new cards every year at Christmas time (when they seem to be cheapest) and use them as my primary cards and the old ones become secondary cards, which seldom get used. I’ve heard too many CF card horror stories so now I’m over cautious.
We more often hear of loosing data from hard drives rather than from cards. Glad you were able to recover those images.
Your creature looks like something right out of Lord of the Rings! :-)
Glad you were able to fix the card issue, at least mostly. I had a Sandisk card get corrupted during a LR download recently. I don’t know what exactly happened, but I used their rescue software and retrieved all of the other images off the card.
I’m very glad you managed to get almost all the files of the card, that must have been a very stressful moment!
I love your photograph of those very ancient looking roots. The tones and the wonderful lighting add a very magical mood to the scene. You can image a little fairy appearing any moment from behind the tree :)