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I purchased 4 65gb Sandisc SD cards for my new Nikon d800E..so

 

Customer Question

I purchased 4 65gb Sandisc SD cards for my new Nikon d800E..so far 2 of these cards failed..on my camera it shows 1400 plus pictures..in Lightroom it says 999 pictures but 331 cannot download. The exact same thing with my second disc. 339 this time..I have 2 other discs but am afraid to use them

 



Already Tried:
I took the first card into a photography shop..they ran it thru a program and were able to get anothe 250 pictures out of the card. The problem is that I reformated the card when the problem first arose..I thought it was something that I had done..so I am actually missing over 600 pictures on each card

Submitted: 319 days and 22 hours ago.
Category: Computer Hardware
Value: CA$48
Status: CLOSED
Picture
Expert:  DrKlahn replied 319 days and 21 hours ago.


DrKlahn :

Good evening. Thanks for using JustAnswer, the web's independent source for answers to questions. I'm XXXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXXnamed "DrKlahn."

DrKlahn :

Disclosure: JustAnswer is not associated with Nikon or Sandisk, and is not an official support site for either.

DrKlahn :

Please let me know when you're online and ready to chat, and we'll proceed.

Customer :

ready anytime you are..I am a little stressed

DrKlahn :

If the pictures were transferred using a flash card reader, there should be no such problem.

DrKlahn :

So we come back to, are you downloading using a cable and software, or transferring the files using a card reader?

Customer :

I transfered them using a lexar card reader. At the store thier software indicated a problem with the card

Customer :

now I have a second card with the same issue

DrKlahn :

Interesting. There is no reason that there should be a 999 picture limit. Have you tried transferring the files on a system with a card reader from a different manufacturer?

Customer :

yes I brought them to a photoshop and their equipment also could not read the card completely.They used recovery software and managed to get a bit more pictures off. I have tried all three of my card readers

Customer :

on the camera the number of the pictures go from 0-999..then anothe set of numbers ..on this card there are 447 more

DrKlahn :

Hmmm. I wonder if you may have counterfeit SD cards. The 64 GB cards are so rare and expensive that there is a little industry in China turning 8, 16 and 32 GB cards into 64 GB cards by re-burning the chip IDs to look like 64 GB cards.

DrKlahn :

Where were the cards purchased?

Customer :

I bought them from Adorama..and I know they are expensive lol

DrKlahn :

Let me see if I can find the chip capacity testing software. I used it recently to verify some 8 GB cards. Please bear with me for a moment.

Customer :

thank you

Customer :

BTW if these cards were incapable of holding that number of pictures..then why are they present on my cameras LCD monitor?

DrKlahn :

An excellent question, and one that I don't have an answer for.

DrKlahn :

Still searching.

DrKlahn :

Here we go. The program is "h2testw", and it will test any SD/SDHC card installed in a USB reader.

DrKlahn :

http://fightflashfraud.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/h2testw-gold-standard-in-detecting-fake-capacity-flash/

DrKlahn :

The problem with a bogus SD card that is overrated is that it requires special software to test for this. As far as the camera and the computer are concerned, if the device presents itself as 64GB, that's what it is. Clearly in the case of a 32 GB card misrated as a 64GB card it will eventually start over-writing previous data. However, I find it unlikely that this problem would happen at the 999 picture mark.

DrKlahn :

Since you have images on two of the cards that you want to recover, don't run the test on either of those cards. Run the test on one of the cards that does not have data on it.

Customer :

I can see 1400plus pictures present on the camera..the store that I brought the first one to read 1200 even though my software preogram indicated that these pictures were there but unreadable

DrKlahn :

Well, that would be consonant with a card that is misrated for capacity. However, it would also be unusual for a card bought from a reputable reseller such as Adorama.

Customer :

Hmm I have one card with some data..17 pictures which I have copied already...the other card. is likely in one of my cameras. I just returned home from a large photoworkshop and likely took 6-7 thousand pictures

DrKlahn :

Can the camera be connected to the PC with a USB cable, and can images be downloaded that way?

Customer :

nope same message comes up.." unable to read 339 pictures" the numbers of these pictures are shown in the message

Customer :

I dont believe there to be a fraud case here...since I was able to download the other pictures at the shop using recovery software. I probably should use a recovery program at home..but our internet out here in the boonis is so slow

Customer :

perhaps Sandisc would recover them?

Customer :

still there ?

DrKlahn :

Yes. I was just asking:

DrKlahn :

Was the chip used with several different sets of batteries in and out of the camera? That could also be an issue, if the camera did not correctly sense the chip state when the batteries were changed.

Customer :

no. i installed the cards while batteries were in camera and spent 4 hours shooting (almost constantly) these professional cameras' batteries last for a long time..and are still half full

DrKlahn :

Well, you have stumped me on this one. Usually the problem is due to using a cable download rather than a card reader, but this is not the case. You have bought the media from a reputable company, not an ebay special, so it is probably not counterfeit (but this should still be checked with h2testw).

Customer :

the card i am looking at is full..there are numbers from 1-999 then it starts over and at 1445 the card is full

DrKlahn :

There is no reason the camera should not be able to write an indefinite number of images to the chip so long as there is space available.

DrKlahn :

The only recommendations I can make at this point are to test the media, and use smaller media so that the number of images cannot roll over past 999.

DrKlahn :

Would you like me to release this question back to the available question list? Another expert may have an insight that I do not.

Customer :

This camera has 36mp and I am shooting raw so that would mean it is a 65gb disc

Customer :

I also use 128 gb cards and have had no problems..in the same camera

DrKlahn :

Possibly a bad batch of cards, then?

Customer :

about three thousand pictures..We could release the question but I just think I have a bad batch of cards....would you be able to say that it is NOT my camera screwing the cards?

DrKlahn :

Not with 100% confidence, but if you can write 128GB cards successfully then you should certainly be able to write 64GB cards successfully. Are the 128GB and the 64GB cards both from Sandisk, and both with the same speed rating?

Customer :

absolutely

DrKlahn :

I am going to crawl out on a limb, then, and say that the 64GB cards are marginally unreliable. If all three are from the same batch (an ID should be laser-engraved into the case somewhere), I'd explain the situation to Adorama and ask for replacements from a different batch. I cannot think of any reason why a 128GB card would work and a 64GB card would not.

Customer :

thank you at least I can tell Adoram that I checked on a solution

DrKlahn :

That you can. I am sorry that I don't have a good explanation for this one. Shall I pass this question back to the available question list? Perhaps another expert has more insight into the issue.

Customer :

sure thank you

DrKlahn :

My pleasure. I wish you a quick and successful conclusion to this problem. Don't hesitate to follow up if further evidence emerges.

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Expert:  Lindie-mod replied 319 days and 10 hours ago.

Hi, I’m a moderator for this topic. Your Professional has opted out and I wonder whether you’re still waiting for an answer. If you are, please let me know and I will do my best to find another Professional to assist you right away. If not, feel free to let me know and I will cancel this question for you. Thank you!

 
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