GH5 My camera crashed and now no files can be read from the SD card

BobKo

BobKo

Well-known member
I was shooting clips today and had occasional problems with my GH5 taking a l-o-n-g time to write to the SD card. (I was recording in 4K 8-bit 4:2:0 100 Mbps, 30 fps.) Literally the last shot of the day, the camera locked up -- the LCD screen was on, but there were no menu items on the display... just the image of what the camera was pointing at. Pressing the shutter button did not seem to start/stop recording. The menu button was unresponsive. Nothing worked. Even turning the power switch off did not work... the camera stayed on. I turned the camera off by popping the battery out.

When I got home and put the SD card in my computer, I got an immediate box saying that the SD card needs to be formatted. If I clear that box and attempt to open Windows Explorer (I'm using Win 10), the box saying that the SD card needs to be formatted pops up. In other words, I can't get to Windows Explorer to see what is on the SD card without the "This needs to be formatted" box showing up. Throughout the day, I played back several clips immediately after shooting them, so I know things recorded properly.

Has anybody had anything like this before? I'm using a 256GB V60 SD card that I've had for months and not had any particular problems. Any thoughts or suggestions on how I might be able to get the files off the SD card without formatting it?

Thanks for whatever help you might have.
 
Don’t format. Camera probably just formatted the card. Use data recovery software to get any movie files off the card. Google options for Windows (I’m Mac based)

BobKo said:
I was shooting clips today and had occasional problems with my GH5 taking a l-o-n-g time to write to the SD card. (I was recording in 4K 8-bit 4:2:0 100 Mbps, 30 fps.) Literally the last shot of the day, the camera locked up -- the LCD screen was on, but there were no menu items on the display... just the image of what the camera was pointing at. Pressing the shutter button did not seem to start/stop recording. The menu button was unresponsive. Nothing worked. Even turning the power switch off did not work... the camera stayed on. I turned the camera off by popping the battery out.

When I got home and put the SD card in my computer, I got an immediate box saying that the SD card needs to be formatted. If I clear that box and attempt to open Windows Explorer (I'm using Win 10), the box saying that the SD card needs to be formatted pops up. In other words, I can't get to Windows Explorer to see what is on the SD card without the "This needs to be formatted" box showing up. Throughout the day, I played back several clips immediately after shooting them, so I know things recorded properly.

Has anybody had anything like this before? I'm using a 256GB V60 SD card that I've had for months and not had any particular problems. Any thoughts or suggestions on how I might be able to get the files off the SD card without formatting it?

Thanks for whatever help you might have.
Click to expand...
 
SanDisk has a great recovery program for SD cards called RescuePro. I think it's like $100/yr but honestly I just go buy a cheap 32GB sandisk SD card and there is often times a code stashed inside for a free year.
 
Thanks for the tips. Someone kindly gave me the key for a year's activity with SanDisk's RescuePro. I ran it and recovered a few files. Not nearly all the files, but I did get a few. I'm thinking of trying yet another recovery app to see if it can recover more. Fortunately, these are not client files I was shooting -- it was stuff to upload to stock video sites.

Thanks for the help!
 
I'm sure it's well understood, but I'd recommend you purchase a new SDcard and use that from now on. While not common, cards fail including ones from Sandisk. Should have little problem getting it replaced by Sandisk, but be sure to have saved the recovered content first as you'll need to send the old card back.
 
SeaRefractor said:
I'm sure it's well understood, but I'd recommend you purchase a new SDcard and use that from now on. While not common, cards fail including ones from Sandisk. Should have little problem getting it replaced by Sandisk, but be sure to have saved the recovered content first as you'll need to send the old card back.
Click to expand...

The SD card that got scrambled is a Lexar, not SanDisk. I was able to run some recovery software and get a few files off it, but not nearly everything I shot.

My gut feeling is that the fault lies in the camera, not in the SD card. However, the problems I have had are so intermittent that it is hard to say exactly what causes it.
 
I wouldn't come to any conclusions one way or the other. From a Redit post:


GH5 Freezing issue
Not always but frequently enough to become annoying my GH5 will freeze up for a minute or so when ever I press the playback footage button. My camera is relatively new and has no other issues, so I am not really sure what is causing this problem. Any input on how to solve or what might be causing this issue would be appreciated.

Edit 1: The SD cards I am using are a Lexar SDXC II 2000x 300 MB/s and a Sansdisk Extreme PRO 300 MB/S

Edit 2: Okay I think the Issue is with my Lexar SD card because when I am only using the sansdisk one it no longer has any issue.
 
I have used Lexar 1000 cards since I had my GH5 and have had no problems. Were you using Panasonic batteries? Was the power low ?
 
Ron Evans said:
I have used Lexar 1000 cards since I had my GH5 and have had no problems. Were you using Panasonic batteries? Was the power low ?
Click to expand...

I have a couple other Lexar cards and have never had any problems. There's always a first time, however. Yes, I was using a Panasonic battery, but the power was not low.

I have since reformatted the 256GB SD card that got trashed when the GH5 crashed, and it is now in the B slot. I have a 128GB Lexar card in the A slot.
 
BobKo said:
I have a couple other Lexar cards and have never had any problems. There's always a first time, however. Yes, I was using a Panasonic battery, but the power was not low.

I have since reformatted the 256GB SD card that got trashed when the GH5 crashed, and it is now in the B slot. I have a 128GB Lexar card in the A slot.
Click to expand...

were you using a battery grip? I got an MDT file when I pulled the grip battery while recording before the camera automatically switched over to the internal battery.
 
estarkey7 said:
were you using a battery grip? I got an MDT file when I pulled the grip battery while recording before the camera automatically switched over to the internal battery.
Click to expand...

No, I don't have a battery grip, but that is an interesting thought. What if there is a bad contact for the battery, and not a bad contact for the SD card? Perhaps that is what caused my crash.

I have been using the camera since, and it has worked perfectly. This included a time-lapse yesterday with 6,800 photos.
 
Lexar cards are the source of many problems on Panasonic cards. Either there are a ton of counterfeits being made of it, or they are just total junk cards not worthy of use if they were free. It's not a matter of if they will fail, it's when, and how much footage you'll lode when it happens.
 
Not my experience at all. All my cards are Lexar 128G 1000X. I have 8 of them and not a single problem in the years I have had them since I bought the GH5 when it first came out some years ago. I shoot exclusively in UHD 60P 150Mbps. All my camera batteries are Panasonic too. For long shoots I use an external battery system.
 
The Lexar cards are giving the Panasonic S series fits. Also, if you review B&H, Amazon and Adorama, there you'll find a bevy of complaints against the cards as a whole. So much so I don't even use my 256GB Lexar x1666 card anymore.
 
The problem with reviews is one does not know the cards being referred to. They could be any of the Lexar cards. If you look at the Lexar reviews on B&H some actually quote an older card when the reviews are under the 1000x section. Strange mix of people like me who are very happy with the cards and give 5 stars then someone with 1 star. I only have experience of one particular class the 1000X and as I said have had no problems with 8 of them in over two years. Recording UHD 60P on the GH5 and GH5S. I have read reviews of peoples complaints only to find out they were using the wrong cards for camera for instance or the wrong speed rating, larger than specified by manufacturer, battery died , etc. Honestly I am more inclined to assume user error in some way since I have had no issues with any SD card from any manufacturer, Lexar, Sony, Sandisk due to the card. I caused a problem by changing a battery without switching off the camera when using the battery grip ( only do that once, card was fine but as you may know file left is not readable. Not a problem for me as I had several backups running too )
 
Yeah, I hear ya. After my post, I ran a test with the Lexar x1666 V60 card writing 400Mbps ALL-I with my GH5S andmy S1H. The GH5S recorded for over 15 minutes before I stopped it, but the S1H only recorded for only 2 minutes before it stopped. I also ran this test with the FreeTail Evoke v60 cards and I knew I had recorded until the card had filled up, but the Evoke ran two minutes also.

So who is wrong? Two cameras with the same specs, with the same cards. One completed and the other stopped prematurely? Is it the card or the camera?
 
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