Memory Card Destruction! Help!!
- Thread starter Than001
- Start date
Sounds very very bad. I had that problem with an audio recorder (Zoom H4n). I would put in and format the card (16GB) and halfway though the shoot it gave up a write error. After I got another error which said card full. Even after that the card ended up corrupting.
Turned out to be that I bought a cheap card and after I did some research it ended up being a card that frequently corrupts. I lost a whole days worth of audio and posted help on the audio forum. After trying to recover files it turned out all was lost and lesson was don't buy cheap cards.
You should by the best brand you can get. I am pretty sure the Kingston CF cards are one of the cheaper brands. Also speed matters in the card.
I know I have an example that was not compact flash (SD card) and was an audio device but the symptoms are the same. I'm 100% sure if you keep using you will loose footage.
Turned out to be that I bought a cheap card and after I did some research it ended up being a card that frequently corrupts. I lost a whole days worth of audio and posted help on the audio forum. After trying to recover files it turned out all was lost and lesson was don't buy cheap cards.
You should by the best brand you can get. I am pretty sure the Kingston CF cards are one of the cheaper brands. Also speed matters in the card.
I know I have an example that was not compact flash (SD card) and was an audio device but the symptoms are the same. I'm 100% sure if you keep using you will loose footage.
Zissou
Well-known member
i can say from experience, from two XH A1 to CF card with a DN-60 recorder systems, to a D3s digital SLR, a D300 DSLR, D50 DSLR, to 3 T2i's; Sandisk's, of the pro/extreme III or greater variety (legit ones), have NEVER failed me. i used to buy Kingston or A-Data etc ones with supposedly equivalent speeds, but i ALWAYS had a problem eventually. i have old Sandisk Extreme III's from 2-3 years ago i rely on every week, and NEVER one problem.
For the XH A1/DN-60 rigs we use Sandisk Extreme III CF cards (30MB/sec) and for the 3 T2i's we use Sandisk Extreme III (30 MB/sec) SDHC cards too. Never had an error or buffer error. Same for my D300 and D3s or my GF's 7D, when im shooting critical work or high FPS work, I ALWAYS run a Sandisk Extreme III card (SDHC or CF). 90% of the Panasonic GH-13 hack problems are due to cheap/garbage cards. why chance it on the memory? you spend a cool grand plus on a body, hundreds on a lens, and you cheap out on a no-name card (not an attack on you personally, just the 'you' in the generic user sense).
I've had some no name brands that work great, even at 8FPS for 100 shots continuous on the D300 at the Grand Prix in Monaco, never an issue. At the Monaco Grand Prix in 2009, my ONLY card was a Sandisk 4GB Extreme III that had gone through both a full wash cycle and full dryer cycle earlier that year in the USA and STILL works 100% perfectly since then. Its still my main memory card for my D300, over a year later. If its a paying gig, its always a Sandisk Extreme III in my mem slot. And im no brand loyalist, i just go with what works best. With the DN-60 (which is an HDV CF card recorder) i never had much luck with Kingston cards, never had a problem with Sandisk Extreme III's. Same with the D300 and D3s at max FPS for extended periods; i had 2 minor issues with Kingston cards (their best btw) and Lexar's too (also their top of the line cards) and ive never had one problem with Sandisks, so i stick with what DOESNT give me headaches.
i cant stress enough, you spend $x,xxx (or $xx,xxx or $xxx,xxx on hardware) and cheap out on the media; the most CRITICAL part. yes you can have bad takes, bad WB, poor acting, and a billion other variable problems, but if you HAVE NO FILES TO EDIT, its a 100% loss, not 1-5% of bad shots. One day of lost shots will justify the costs; same with cheap hard drives for RAID setups (been there done that LOST EVERYTHING) i learned my lesson. Media matters. period.
For the XH A1/DN-60 rigs we use Sandisk Extreme III CF cards (30MB/sec) and for the 3 T2i's we use Sandisk Extreme III (30 MB/sec) SDHC cards too. Never had an error or buffer error. Same for my D300 and D3s or my GF's 7D, when im shooting critical work or high FPS work, I ALWAYS run a Sandisk Extreme III card (SDHC or CF). 90% of the Panasonic GH-13 hack problems are due to cheap/garbage cards. why chance it on the memory? you spend a cool grand plus on a body, hundreds on a lens, and you cheap out on a no-name card (not an attack on you personally, just the 'you' in the generic user sense).
I've had some no name brands that work great, even at 8FPS for 100 shots continuous on the D300 at the Grand Prix in Monaco, never an issue. At the Monaco Grand Prix in 2009, my ONLY card was a Sandisk 4GB Extreme III that had gone through both a full wash cycle and full dryer cycle earlier that year in the USA and STILL works 100% perfectly since then. Its still my main memory card for my D300, over a year later. If its a paying gig, its always a Sandisk Extreme III in my mem slot. And im no brand loyalist, i just go with what works best. With the DN-60 (which is an HDV CF card recorder) i never had much luck with Kingston cards, never had a problem with Sandisk Extreme III's. Same with the D300 and D3s at max FPS for extended periods; i had 2 minor issues with Kingston cards (their best btw) and Lexar's too (also their top of the line cards) and ive never had one problem with Sandisks, so i stick with what DOESNT give me headaches.
i cant stress enough, you spend $x,xxx (or $xx,xxx or $xxx,xxx on hardware) and cheap out on the media; the most CRITICAL part. yes you can have bad takes, bad WB, poor acting, and a billion other variable problems, but if you HAVE NO FILES TO EDIT, its a 100% loss, not 1-5% of bad shots. One day of lost shots will justify the costs; same with cheap hard drives for RAID setups (been there done that LOST EVERYTHING) i learned my lesson. Media matters. period.