Lexar SD cards repeatedly getting stuck in DVX200

D

Dapple

New member
I purchased the following SDXC card to use with my DVX200:

  • "Lexar 256GB Professional UHS-I SDXC Memory Card (U3)" (model # LSD256CBNL633) (Here's the item on the B&H website.)

After I inserted this card into the SD card slot in my camera, it did not "click" into the slot as it should. The card got stuck.

I was unable to remove the card by placing my fingernail on each side of the card and pulling outward. I called Panasonic tech support and they suggested that I use a pair of tweezers to extract the card. Fortunately, tweezers did work to remove the card. I tried inserting the card into the second card slot, but it got jammed in this slot as well.

Please note that I am positive that I oriented this card properly into the camera. That is, the card's contacts are facing the lens-end of the camera, and the notched-end of the card is further away from me.

I happened to have an old 16GB Transcend SDHC card lying around. I repeatedly inserted/removed this card into either slot on my DVX200, without ever having any issue. The spring-loaded release mechanism functioned perfectly. So, this led me to believe that I received a defective Lexar card (as opposed to the camera being defective).

So, I returned this Lexar card to B&H, and re-purchased the same model of card.

I just received the new card, and, to my dismay, the new card has the exact same issue as the first (and again in both slots of the DVX200). I inspected the card and it looks to be fine; no visible defects or aberrations.




Does anyone have any idea what is going on???

This card has excellent reviews, and Lexar is a well-known and professional brand, so I am very confused. Has anyone used this exact card model before in their DVX200?

Do I just have bad luck or something? Should I return and re-purchase again, and try a third one?





Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
 
Last edited:
Well, Lexar now is not the same Lexar as a few years ago. They were sold. It's possible the card casing is just a little bit out of spec and probably just a little bit too big. If you've already had the same thing happen with two separate cards, I'm guessing it's their manufacturing process/specs that are just a little out of whack. Or possibly even the label is too thick. I've had SD cards get hung up that I've put labels on.
 
I've found that SOME cards are just a bit different than others, even though they are ALL supposed to be the same spec.... FWIW I use SanDisk Extreme Pro in pretty much everything now. I have some highly rated Samsung cards I had in one of my Canon's that worked well (worked GREAT in the Canon's, but the DVX wouldn't even read the card! Go figure...), but I damn near had to use a slide hammer to get the things out! If the cards work well for you you can: (A) Put then in and never really take them out; (B) resign yourself to a potential challenge taking them out regularly and know that if the card or camera gets messed up neither manufacturer will take responsibility!; (C) swap brands. FWIW, Lexar used to be pretty good... seems like something changed in the last few years to where I have trouble trusting them.... Someone did a poll on the site a while back.. I think the SanDisk's came out on top for what people use. Not necessarily plugging the SanDisks, but I recently spent 2 weeks in the South Pacific. Harsh environment. Dropped cards in sand, in sea water, airport x-rays, heat, humidity, rained on, and they got frozen in the cargo hold of an un-pressurized freight plane (like -20f), and generally abused them even though I didn't mean to. They all worked great and never screwed up.
 
I know a guy who had the same issue. I don't know the exact brand of the card though. His DVX200 ended up into the service! Because he broke that slot completely trying to extract the card. So be careful there.
 
Update:


Per MichaelA's testimonial, I bought a SanDisk 256GB Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I Memory Card (model # SDSDXXG-256G-ANCIN). (Here's the item on the B&H website.)

While I was still in the store, I opened the packaging and tried inserting the card into my DVX200. To my astonishment, this card got stuck in the camera too.

I showed the stuck card to the store employee and a small huddle of three employees gathered around. They were all astonished... "The cards should be standardized." "I've never seen this happen before in my life." etc.

After I extracted the SanDisk card, the employee measured my various SD cards with a pair of digital calipers. The SanDisk card and my ancient Transcend card (which has never gotten stuck in the DVX200) were the exact same thickness. This confused us even more. "How could one card fit, and the other get stuck?"

The employee decided to insert the same SanDisk card into my DVX200 for a second time. I began to sweat, as I internally recounted AlexLF's horror story.

But, stunningly, this time the SanDisk card did in fact click into place as it's supposed to. We tried the SanDisk in the other SD card slot, and it was inserted and removed without a hang-up.

We continued to insert the SanDisk card into both slots repeatedly, and it never got stuck for second time.

The employee concluded that, because the DVX200's slots were so tight, a brand new SD card essentially has to be "broken in" for it to fit. If the contacts on the SD card have zero wear, then this means that there are no ridges or grooves on the contacts. Without these ridges, as minuscule as they are, the card won't seat properly in the slot.





Interestingly, the thickness of the Lexar SD card was actually .1 mm thicker than the other two. So, this card would never be able to fit nicely in the DVX200—even with worn contacts. The employee who I spoke with reinforced Run&Gun's comment that Lexar recently went out of business and was re-purchased by a Chinese company. He said that it was still too soon for him to tell me if the Lexar products made by the new manufacturer have maintained the same level of quality.

Since then, I purchased a higher-end Lexar card:

  • "Lexar 256GB Professional 1000x UHS-II SDXC Memory Card (U3)" (model # LSD256CRBNA1000) (Here's the item on the B&H website.)

This Lexar card behaved similarly to the SanDisk card (in that it got stuck the first time that I inserted it into my DVX200, but after repeated insertions/removals, the card has never become stuck again).

So, it seems that the takeaway here is to avoid the lower-tier Lexar SDXC cards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top