UKC

I took some photos yesterday and was about to download them to the PC this morning. When I initially opened the DCIM folder which contained all the images, I saw all the RAW files sitting there no problem.

Stupidly perhaps, I first moved the jpgs into the folder on my pc, but when I then went back to transfer the RAW files, they'd all disappeared. I can't find them anywhere; I've searched for 'RAW' files in Win Explorer, but nothing's coming up.

Any suggestions as to what's happened or what I can do to 'recover' them? :-/

In reply to Fraser:
When you put the card back in camera, are they still showing the Raw+fine files?

In reply to dek:

When I go to playback mode in my camera, I don't see the RAW files separately from the jpgs. (Is that what you meant?) I can still see all the downloaded files' images okay.

To transfer to pc, I removed the card and put it in the reader in the PC, rather than connecting it via USB cable.

In reply to Fraser:
It's a Nikon right?
So in play back mode as you scroll through the individual image capture Info, can you check the bottom Right hand info about image quality ie Raw+Fine?
Have you tried searching the Pc for Nikon Neff files rather than 'Raw'?

In reply to dek:

Yep, is a Nikon I use. I'm now currently away from the camera for a few hours but I'll check once I get back, both for the 'info.' in playback mode and searching for neff extensions. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll let you know how it goes.

In reply to Fraser: Can you see the Raw files if you connect the camera via a USB cable ?

In reply to dek:

Hmmm, this has got me wondering now. On playback, I'm only seeing 'Fine' in the lower rh corner, which makes me think I must somehow have switched back from RAW & Fine before taking the photos. The strange thing is that I was sure I'd seen RAW files displayed in the explorer window when I was doing the initial download from the camera.

No RAW files showing when connecting via USB either, so it appears to be 'pilot error'....again. Thanks for the help anyway.

In reply to Fraser:

Maybe, but I wouldn't be so sure...

I always shoot RAW only, but I've had a couple of scary experiences when a card seems to have been corrupted somewhere between sticking it into the card reader and downloading the RAW files. Not only had the The Nikon Nef files 'magically' disappeared from the card, but when I put the card back inside the camera and pressed 'review', the card seems to have been 'formatted' and there were no images.

The first time this happened I had just returned from a two day photography trip and loosing all the files would have been mildly disastrous.

I googled 'file recovery' and downloaded a program (many are now available) for about £25 which enabled me to scan the 'corrupted' card (via the card-reader) and recover all the RAW files.

Unless you over-write the original files (by using the card to take new pics) even if you accidentally format the card in the camera those originals will still be recoverable.

Pete.

In reply to Fraser: Depending on the card you purchased for use with this camera, you may have access to free recovery software. Check the packaging/documentation you got with the card.

Ian

In reply to IPPurewater and Pete D:

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm dubious about it being a card failure, since only the Raw files have disappeared - the jpgs are still visible. That's the main reason I think it must have been me accidentally switching back to 'Fine' only, not 'Raw & Fine'.

I no longer have the card packaging I'm afraid. It was bought online from Amazon (it's a Class 10, 16Gb Kingston card) so I just ditched it at the time. Didn't realise there was the possibility of recovery so I'll bear that in mind next time I buy a card.

Fortunately it was nothing too crucial I lost and I do still have the jpgs.

In reply to Fraser:

I have to say that I pretty much always re-format my SDcards once I've copied all the photos off them.

And I always get the SDCard out of the camera to transfer the files, always make sure the camera is switched off when the SDcard is removed or inserted, and always make sure the card has been safely ejected from the computer before removing it.

If you do all that, then you are far less likely to get data corruption.

On the odd occasion I have inserted the card into the camera when the camera is switched on, I have seen the camera complain about a "faulty card" - which it isn't, but I always check the card back on the computer, and re-format it in the camera afterwards.


||-)

In reply to Dominion:

Interesting to hear that, thanks. I'm pretty sure I've only formatted the disc the once when I first got it. On a few occasions in the past, I've had error messages come up to the effect that there is a rpoblem wiht the card format, when I stick it back in the camera. Usually just switching the camera off and on again clears the error.

Is this repeated reforatting a recommended thing to do?

In reply to Fraser:


Errrm not sure. It's often the File Allocation Table that gets corrupted when cards are removed and re-inserted.

I think I am correct in saying that pretty much all Cameras will only support cards that have a old style FAT filesystem on them, so that they can be read by people using both Windows and OS X (and linux) without having to install any extras, and FAT has always been fairly easy to corrupt.

I just don't want to be in the position of losing a good photo because I've got a card that seems OK, but is writing a corrupt file when you take a photo. Possibly I'm paranoid, but SDcards are disposable to a certain extent, and I'd rather know it's OK, than find out by losing photos.

In reply to Fraser: Try this software, if you want to see any files you may have deleted, the image recovery part of the software is Freeware, with no limitations.


http://z-a-recovery.com/download.htm

In reply to Dominion:

Thanks, I'll try that procedure fomr now on.



In reply to A Fish Shop:

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.