UKC

OK, so....

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20 camera.
Been using Fujifilm 2GB SD Card.

Twice over the last few months the SD Card has just "stopped" doing anything. When I take a photo it says "Write Error".
When I stick it in the computer I cannot save any files to it (either says it can't read from the source file, or error 0x800703EE volume has been externally altered so opened file is no longer valid).
It won't re-format (Windows was unable to complete the format dialogue box comes up).

Have tried saving the same file from laptop to memory stick, works no problem.

Any thoughts before I yet again have to shell out for another SD card that might only last a couple of months...?

(will post in Photography as well!)

Cheers,
Gordon

In reply to peebles boy:

I am sure the last 4GB SD card I bought was only about £10. You can't even buy a book of stamps for that these days! Replace it and move on.

In reply to peebles boy: Unfortunately it does seem to happen. I have 2 32GB cards, 1 64GB card and a 2GB card all sat on my des here at work that have turned 'read only'. Two of those are brand new, "Transcend" brand, one brand new "pqi" and a SanDisk.

In reply to peebles boy:

Not all SD cards are the same.

They have different speed classes and default formating.

For instance, the FZ45 I have for work is marked as a SDXC device and is currently using a 4Gb Class 6 SDHC card which you would expect to be compatible and indeed it works very well.

Simple compatibility info.
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2520/~/sd/sdhc/sdxc-specifica...

Cure for insomnia.
https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/pls/simplified_specs/part1_410.pdf

In reply to peebles boy:

Get another SD card ASAP. Throw the old one away. The longer you delay, the greater risk to lose all photos in the card is.

I have got many USB sticks and SD cards which refuse to work. One 16GB USB stick I got for free started to behave weirdly. I kept using it and just see how it works later (nothing important was held there anyway). In the end, Linux recognized the device, but couldn't access it.

The next time just make sure you eject the card from your devices properly. It's probably the main damage for any flash type memory.

In reply to peebles boy:

'Write error' im not sure if thats a camera,or card problem?

Been there with 'cheap' cards...unreliable imho. Buy Sandisk or similar, dirt cheap for huge capacity, compared to a few years ago. Tried the same card in a different camera?

In reply to ByEek:

Seriously? If you bought a krab for £10 and after 5 or 6 outings the gate locked shut for an unknown reason, would you just "replace it and move on"??
Am I being unrealistic here, or should an SD card keep working for more than a few hundred photos worth of work?!

In reply to PPP:

Thankfully no pictures are on it. Trying to manually delete every scrap of file on it, but even that is seemingly problematic...

In reply to dek:

Yep, "write error" worried me a bit too, but have tried card in other camera and nothing happening there either. Need to hunt for some other card to double check! Wouldn't be such a problem if this was a one off, but as I say, I've replaced x2 this winter, even though the initial one lasted over a year and over 10,000 photos of effort...!

In reply to peebles boy:

I had similar problems with a sandisk one. I wrote to them and with very little fuss they offered to replace the thing. Simple and easy, I would go to the manufacturere and see what happens. Didn't cost me anything other than postage to get a new one.

In reply to peebles boy:

Your best chance is to format it and see how it works. Just don't use it as a main card. If you are not going to record video, this card is more than you need: http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDSDB-008G-B35-Secure-Memory-Change/dp/B000... . It's not very expensive and not the fastest one.

However, more old-school photographers will definitely tell you that you'd better get more low-capacity cards and keep them all safe. In case one dies, you wouldn't lose all photos. On the other hand, you are not getting paid for these photos (I assume, sorry if I'm wrong) and if you unfortunately lose all photos, nothing serious would happen. When I was working as a photographer, I used to check every piece of gear if it's working properly and take few sample shots before heading out of home.

I happened to leave a film camera on 2nd sleepless night in a car in Warsaw while hitch-hiking around Europe. I lost all photos but ones which were taken by Romanian friend over there. I regretted a lot and couldn't concentrate properly until I got back home, but now all I remember are good moments of the trip. Well, sometimes you just have to be more careful.

In reply to peebles boy:
The climbing gear is well tested and there's less to go wrong. However, if you mechanically eject a card from a computer while you are writing in it, that could be enough to damage the card permanently. Good brand and well looked after cards should work for a half a decade or even more. I have few cards back from c. 2005 and they still work without any problems, though most of them are 1GB or 2GB of capacity.

My film camera is made in 1962. Still works more reliably than my Canon DSLR. Nowadays, things do not last that much.

In reply to PPP:

So what film camera of that age are you using, Leica, Rollie?!

In reply to dek:

It's very similar to Leica. It's Zorki-4 (with Jupiter-8 50mm F/2.0 lens), probably the best looking USSR made rangefinder camera. Sometimes it's called Poor Man's Leica in Eastern Europe/Russia.

The funny thing is, I bought it for 25 pounds... in mint condition!

In reply to peebles boy:


No - I would take it back or fix it. But you have been using it for a few months (according to your OP). If we were talking about hundred's of pounds worth equipment it might be a different matter, but an SD card. They aren't exactly the most robust piece of electronics and I think it reasonable that some might be less reliable than others. You have certainly spent more money in your own time on this thread than it would cost to replace.

In reply to ByEek:

I wish I earned £1 a minute!!