Memory Card Failure!

[William W]

Depending upon what data that a data recovery professional finds on the card you might have to follow a different line of investigation: and in any case the answer to the question below will likely assist the data recovery exercise.

Can you confirm that YOU saw an image review from the card, in situ? (when at the shoot)

This is a very specific question. I am asking if you at any time on the shoot saw an image review that was FROM THAT CARD (not camera memory).

The questions is predicated by your statement that when the card was REPLACED in the Second’s Camera it read “Card Error”.

That statement allows for several possibilities, including that the card was always faulty and no images were ever recorded.

WW

[TobyMac]

@Mark, I have had one but its just too expensive for me to afford, I have now handed the card over to my brother in law who does have a little more experience in the field and will let him try and see what he can do. I understand this is a risk on my part but at the moment its the only thing I can think of that might work.

@Bill, yes she showed me images every now and then and the original camera error was from her camera. We also then quickly browsed through them after the wedding to have a look. I then took the card out of her camera and tried to use my card reader and when it didn't work I put the card back into her camera and then the error popped up.

[William W]

That information will probably be important to mention if you choose employ a data recovery expert - tell your brother-in-law too, he may well be an expert.

Good Luck

[shreds]

Recovery software comes in different flavours and qualities. Those that read each 'bit' incredibly slowly and utilise their own 'controller' rather than that built into the card are going to be more successful. I would expect to set the card going overnight and still see it plugging away next day to get a successful recovery of the images. It is a long time since I needed to data recover (thank goodness, fingers crossed), but seem to recall Tokiwa data recovery software succeeded where others failed. Not saying this will solve your problem but anything is worth a try.

To try and ensure a bullet proof approach in the future, there is some good if brutal advice written above. Always have insurance (both PLI and PII) as this could pay for the costs of a reshoot if the worst came to the worst, whenever you are doing weddings or any other 'professional' shoot. Might I also say that renting a camera for a day is a poor idea unless it is identical to one you use all the time. (and if it only has one slot - not really helping) You really don't want to be fumbling for controls in front of the bride, everything must be second nature and that goes for the second shooter too. Just for comparison I use a D3 & D3X so four card slots plus second shooter, and there is still always a fall back camera in the bag with the assistant. Appreciate that such niceties are not applicable in this case, but before accepting a shoot, think about all the grief and stress for you, the second shooter and the happy (?) couple as well as the grief from the inevitable mother & mother in law!

Hope you get it sorted nevertheless.

Its supposed to be an enjoyable hobby!

[Mark von Kanel]

Interesting indeed, I don't have as many, but mine are scattered on the (dusty) desk like that a lot.
If I read this thread a few years ago, I may not have bought the Canon 7D as for a closer to the top end than the entry level camera...it only takes 1 card...or have I been using it all this time in error?

I think even Canon saw the error of their ways and agreed a body of this level should have 2 slots and introduced them in the MKll

[Mark von Kanel]

Tobias dont sweat it! i recovered 4 HDD and 3 cards for various folk last year alone i recovered 98% of the data even after formatting, im sure your brother will cope (it can take 7 days to recover 1tb, be patient!)

[TobyMac]

Yeah my current camera is actually the 7D but the Mk2 is what I hope to upgrade to in the future, hopefully not too distant.

[plugsnpixels]

Looking forward to hearing how this all turns out.

Back in the '90s I shot weddings on film, and with film of course you have no idea what you're getting until it's processed. Speaking of which, you could have done everything right capturing the film images and the lab could then ruin them. That (and everything else related to shooting weddings, even digitally) is why I no longer have the nerve for such work ;-)

Speaking of data storage and recovery, I was recently offloading a binder full of my own data DVDs onto an external hard drive where they would all fit in one place, so I could reorganize the data. One particular DVD, though not written long ago and successfully verified upon writing, simply would not read on the iMac I created it on, or any other somewhat recent iMacs I tried. I finally found success putting the DVD in a decade-old white iMac, which read it like normal, with the exception of not being able to copy over a single file (which I did get on the second pass).

It's scary that our important data is just digital bits, barely hanging on to the media on which they are stored... Backup, backup, backup!

[csa mt]

I think even Canon saw the error of their ways and agreed a body of this level should have 2 slots and introduced them in the MKll

Pentax K3 has dual SD Memory Card Slots and a
Weather-Sealed Magnesium Alloy Body

[PhotoRob]

Do you have any proof at all that that images were ever actually captured on that card to begin with? How experienced is your second shooter?

[mrinmoyvk]

Do you have any proof at all that that images were ever actually captured on that card to begin with? How experienced is your second shooter?

Whether images were captured or not is secondary, primarily card is not recognized in any camera or computer. If it gets read and it shows blank then this question arises.

[TobyMac]

Yes we did mention further back in the post though that I did see shots from the card during the shoot.

[PhotoRob]

Whether images were captured or not is secondary, primarily card is not recognized in any camera or computer. If it gets read and it shows blank then this question arises.

Of course it matters - would you pay to recover images from a card that never had the images to begin with? Most cameras I've used (that's not saying much) will allow you to take photos without a card loaded, or with the read/write tab set to R/O. Previewing in the camera you may not know that when you turn it off the images are going to be lost. Just a thought, little less exotic than an actual card failure only after shooting. Occam's razor. Mostly academic at this point I suppose.