Panasonic Class 6 Card Failure 'Check Card'

J

JBH

Active member
I got a Panny 16GB class 6 card from the promotion a few months ago. When I first tried to use it I got the 'Check Card' message in my 150. Then, after moving the 'write protect' switch on the card back and forth, it worked fine, both on my Mac and the card. The footage that is on the card now is from the second of two weddings in which it was used. That footage has been backed up (right after I got home from the wedding) so this is not a matter of losing footage for a client.

But, now that I am getting ready for my next wedding it won't work......period. Moving the little switch doesn't work, it won't mount on my Mac......nada.

So, if a Panasonic Class 6 16GB card can die like this, then any card brand can. The card says it was made in Japan. My Transcend cards and my Delkin Devices cards have worked flawlessly.

Not good.:furious3:

Jack
 
when we ordered our camera we got a 16gb class 6, air free card or something like that? i forget the brand name.
had the same issue as you i think, went to format it, seemed like it worked, got out in the field to shoot and got the 'Check Card' error, the company we ordered from said they got a whole shipment of bad cards, they sent us a new one and the same thing happend!
we got a 3rd replacement and it worked fine, none of our other cards have had any problems, so i'm guessing you got a messed up card.
i tried everything i could think of to fix the two cards that failed and nothing, if you can't return it, it's probably a lost cause... but maybe someone else knows a trick?
 
I have had 2 Panasonic Cards die on me after being used 3-5 times. I almost lost very important footage. I use Transcend cards and have never had a problem, but will never use the Pansonic cards again.
 
Well, every product has bad apples. There are some faulty Transcend cards out there and now looks like Panasonic cards are not immune. Anybody have issues with SanDisk?
 
I think the best practice for us would be to record a few minutes before the actual shoot. So you can check for errors and such . No matter which brand !
Just like I use to do with dvtapes, cheap and expensive ones .
 
After testing a bunch of cards, I standardized on Patriot SDHC 16GB cards, and they have worked flawlessly so far.
 
There is another thread where people have had transend crash. Truth is we are all going to have some failures what every we buy. No way around it. Some people just have the wammy...everything fails for em. LOL
 
Everts said:
I think the best practice for us would be to record a few minutes before the actual shoot. So you can check for errors and such . No matter which brand !
Just like I use to do with dvtapes, cheap and expensive ones .
Click to expand...

Excellent advice.

Also only use previously used cards you have been successful with, not a brand new card.

All the potential crashing has made me nervous, although I have not had a data loss yet. I think a few people with crashes are trying to remove the card with the camera on. So user error does certainly play some role in it.

Shot another 4+ hour event this weekend across 4 different cards and 3 different brands, no problems. The Transcend cards offload faster than than any other brand with my primary card reader, even beating the Sandisk Extreme III.
 
OK, here's the really weird thing. I decided to try my card just one last time before calling Panasonic to report the problem, and guess what happened....it didn't mount on my Mac when I inserted it into the Transcend USB/SDHC card reader/adapter that came with my Transcend cards I got from Amazon. I noticed the card slips very easily into the reader but didn't think much about it. Then, I fiddled with the safety switch on the side of the card (just as I did about a dozen times when I last tried to use it) and inserted it into the camera and it worked! It also mounted on my Mac when I put it into my Dynex card reader. When I inserted it into the Transcend reader it didn't mount until I squeezed it, apparently establishing contact between the card and the reader contacts.

So, I called Panasonic at1-800-211-PANA (7262) and eventually got cut off after being transferred a few times. They were polite, however. I'll try again tomorrow and report the results.

I'm baffled as to why this card works intermittently. It just doesn't make any sense. Obviously it needs to be replaced.

Jack
 
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Just one other idea I had which may explain some of the results we're getting: if you push the card door to the left a little it unlocks it to open, and when this happens I think the cards stops recording.

I didn't do any tests and am not near the camera for the next week and a half, but perhaps recording while opening that door slot a little could cause it to "eject" from the camera prematurely? That might be bad for it.
 
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