WOT? No CF card??

[Derek Smith]

OK, I have two confessions to make.

First Confession.

I spent the first two hours of a very expensive photoshoot clicking some of the most incredible images of my life, only to discover that the CF card was NOT in the camera. The client was less than amused, the job went from profit to loss, and the reshot images just didn't have the same WOW factor as all those that had just disappeared into data eternity.

Second Confession.

I am one of those people who should have RTFM tattooed onto the insides of their eyelids. I mean REALLY read the ruddy thing.

I must have read through the Custom Function Setting section of the manual more than 3 times, yet still I managed to miss C.Fn-02 (p146) until I just read on a separate thread that someone else made the same mistake.

So, to those who have shared a similar misfortune:-

1. Read page 146 of TFM and change the default setting of C.Fn-02 from 0 (thank you Canon) to 1.

2. If you feel the need to purge your soul, feel free to post any confessions of ineptitude here, as others might benefit from your (lets be generous) 'experience'.

Derek the uplifted

[Belmondo]

One would have to wonder why Canon didn't make that the default setting. I had a similar experience---fortunately the pictures weren't all that important.

Thos.

[Rob Larsen]

Ouch! Changing my C.Fn-02 now....

Thanks for the heads up.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I must admit I have read the manual AND seen that particualr function ....


...BUT I still thought the default was the "other way round" ???

I too will make the switcherooo.... :(

[Brian Mackey]

I'm nor sure what purpose it serves to be able to shoot without the CF card unless you have limted card space and want to test the lighting setup etc.. But even then if you need to review your dead...

[RichardtheSane]

I think is is to allow remote capture direct to the hard drive of a PC, might be wrong thouth.
How often will anyone use that, not very!

[MediaMagic]

Alrighty then, I posted most of these in another thread but in the spirit of the topic at hand, I'll post my list of goof ups here as well...

Let's see,

1) I shot about 175 daylight football pics with the WB set for tungsten. (Special thanks to Dans_D60 and Rob Larsen for helping me correct those on my failing monitor)

2) I set up to shoot an awards banquet using a 420ex as a slave to the 550 master. I had the base of the 420 facing with sensor AWAY from me (thanks to DaveG for noticing that one for me)

3) Forgot to put the CF card in the camera and missed the bald eagle shots of my life. (I had already read the manual, had set Cfn(2) to 1, but then decided to practice shutter squeezing with the Big Ed vertical, set Cfn(2) back to 0 for practice and then forgot to reset it to 1, so I have no excuse for missing the shots, I flat blew it).

4) Left AF on while using the TC-80 to control some time lapse shots in low light. The timer functions of the remote work exactly as if the shutter is being pressed at the programmed interval, so, if the camera doesn't have enough light to refocus, it won't take the shot. The remote manual clearly warns of this condition. Goofed it anyway.

5) Set Cfn(04) to use the * for AF, then forgot I had set it. Spent several minutes bitching loudly the next day when the AF "stopped working" with the shutter release.

6) The best one yet (the only one with witnesses), Turned the 550ex head backwards to bounce a 42" gold reflector. Took a few shots. Changed backdrop and pose, removed the reflector, then proceded to roast my corneas on the first shot because I had forgotten to remove the flash from the hotshoe. Live and learn.

I'm like the "Columbo" of the photographic world. I figure I'll eventually make every possible mistake there is, learn what NOT to do, and become great by the process of elimination.


Feel better about yourselves! There's always someone you don't wanna mimick... I'll just be glad when I can pass that baton! heh

Take care,
David

[MarkH]

I have never worried about changing this setting and I don't think that I would make this mistake, I always have a card sitting in the camera.

However, I have never needed the ability to take a picture without a CF card in the camera, I always have a card sitting in the camera. So I have just changed the setting just in case. If I ever find myself wanting to use the camera without a CF card, I'll change the setting at the time.

[Belmondo]

I've gotten into the habit of periodically resetting the cf settings to default. I've found it too easy to forget what's been changed---usually at a time when it fouls me up the most.

[Erin]

I always have a spare 256 meg card in a seperate pouch of every camera bag I own (3) plus a spare in my vest, as well as a 512 card in each camera.

This saved my bacon just yesterday when I travelled 30 ks out of town to cover a Rally Sprint for a client. I had been downloading a previous take, had a quick coffee and grabbed my kit and ran out the door. Got to the venue, walked half a mile around a hillside and prepared to set up the camera. The LCD flashed me "No CF Card"

I normally take the card from the reader and replace it in the camera immeadiatly after downloading the files. This time it was still in the reader 30 ks away.

Out with the spare card and into action.

An oversight like that will probably cost you that client

MarkH, from one Kiwi to another, remember Murphys Law, "what can go wrong, probably will!" (Good Rally Pics BTW)

It applys in spades in a complex craft like photography.

I have been there and done that, Hell I even left the camera behind after being rushed off to a job by a reporter once!

[Longwatcher]

I had a similiar goof (no CF card), but fortunately only took a couple of shots to notice something wrong. I was re-reviewing a shot and for some reason it had lost the shot and would not display it in review mode. Figured maybe the CF card was bad. When what to my ammazment I should find - no CF card in camera.
Hmmm... D60 had default to 'must have CF card in place'. Much more sensable default.

I have also like MediaMagic, set my second 550EX sensor in the wrong direction. I have also forgotten to reset my WB, although in my case from Sun to tungsten. Now I just shoot in RAW and AWB; works much better overall.

My "favorite" mistakes though are still forgetting to put ISO back to 100 after using it at 800 for some low light shots the night before and lastly forgeting I still had it set for IR (manual - 6 secs/f2.8) and wondering why the first two shots (it seems to always take two to catch on) are just white after pulling off the IR filter.

You can call me the absent minded Photographer.

Just my experiences in stupidity.

[Dave I]

I never needed the cf. When you first turn on the camera, it says "No CF Card", whether the cf is set or not. I always look over the settings right after turning on the camera, so I always catch the message.

I have gotten really upset with the camera 'acting up' when I accidentally switched the drive mode to 'timer'.
"Why won't this thing shoot??" .. aims off into the sky, looking at the readout .. [click]

[Motorsports Photo]

Heres a tip that might help:

Always format your card before use. This will keep the card from corruption AND if you forget the card you will notice it right away.

Yes I have a spare card in my bag too for when I forget it in the reader! (-:

-Pete

[caldgrp]

I have always wondered what the first line of the Installing and Removing the CF Card on page 26 of the Manual meant:

"The captured image will be recorded onto the CF card (optional)"

I could never figure out what options I had. And there is no reference in this section to C.Fn-02

[HeatherJL]

Ouch. I've had that happen as well, but fortunately I was just taking some snapshots and I realized it pretty quickly.

[wtlloyd]

Media Magic said:

'I'm like the "Columbo" of the photographic world. I figure I'll eventually make every possible mistake there is, learn what NOT to do, and become great by the process of elimination.'


Then again, that reminds me of the guy I hired years ago, who liked to reassure customers " Don't worry, I've made every mistake there is to make twice!"

[IFLY]

Well, here is another confession of even worse blunder.

I did read the manual carefully - I knew about the Cf option, but I disregarded that possibility UNTIL yesterday while shooting what I was hoping would be my fine POD. This was done while my car was going through a car wash, so I had to pay all my attention to the moving object and try to compose and grasp the right moment. My bag with my gear, other than the camera, was in the car, and could not be accessed during the wash.

10 beautiful "captures" shot quickly before I could pause to review my work - and then I found out what happened. The CF card was back home in my PC !!!

Well, having taken a very deep breath, I waited for the car to come off the washing line, found my spare CF in my bag and managed to get a decent shot after all:

http://www.pbase.com/image/22527602

I have already changed the CF to what should have been Canon's default setting on the camera from the start.

[zWWWer]

i've drove around (200-300 km's), walked and climbed for another 20 or 30, found a vista to die for, shot 1 gb card and bitchin' where is all that light coming from, only to find out when i got home that i was set to iso1600. ccc...

[Erin]

Another good tip to prevent taking off without a CF card in your camera is to get in the habit of leaving the camera so the CF door is always facing upwards, and is always left open while you are downloading images from the card that is always supposed to be in the camera except for downloading. When you go to pick up the camera "Ah huh! door open, no card!" Retrieve the card from the reader and off you go!

[rockyc2]

Haha! I have also done that with my Pro90 IS. No card, no getem!:D:D
Rocky

[SpocktheCuriousBovine]

I am sure it is rarely used by most folks - but I do a lot of Time Lapse photography and the NoCF function (and no review) are handy to have on my little 30D.

StCB

[tmonatr]

I have never worried about changing this setting and I don't think that I would make this mistake, I always have a card sitting in the camera.

However, I have never needed the ability to take a picture without a CF card in the camera, I always have a card sitting in the camera. So I have just changed the setting just in case. If I ever find myself wanting to use the camera without a CF card, I'll change the setting at the time.

No one thinks they will make this mistake.;)

[ed rader]

I'm nor sure what purpose it serves to be able to shoot without the CF card unless you have limted card space and want to test the lighting setup etc.. But even then if you need to review your dead...


you can always delete your test shots if space is an issue :D.

ed rader

[ed rader]

No one thinks they will make this mistake.;)


the mistake i make is to leave the house without a CF card....obviously this is when i am just carrying my camera and one lens.

i keep a CF card in my glovebox and i have had to use it several times :D.

ed rader

[Denny G]

It's always nice to go back to a post in the year 2003 to see what was going on. Things never seem to change do they? RTM.

[nadtz]

I obsessively check what ISO I am set at and make sure I have a card in the camera before I start shooting (usually before I even leave the house though I do have spare CF in my bag).

I used to have a little card stuck in my bag that said 'CHECK ISO, CHECK CF' after both forgetting my main card then starting the day shooting at ISO 800 when I could have shot at 100, after a while it became habit to check both.

I do shoot tethered so I don't mind the control function default, though it wouldn't bother me set the other way as default either as Id just change it to suit my needs.

[deconb]

I once hiked to a remote fire lookout in sequoia national forest. 5 miles, 1st half of the trail was steep downhill and send half was steep up hill. So, it was literally uphill BOTH ways :)

When we finally got up there, I took a few minutes to appreciate the view, the MAGNIFICENT view, then grabbed my camera and went to work. After about 5 shots I looked down to chimp and saw, NO CF CARD...

Then I remembered that back at camp, sitting in my OTHER backpack were all my CF cards. GAH.

I spent about 5 minutes sulking and being pissy at myself. The bucked up and spent the next couple of hours just appreciating one of the most beautiful places I've ever been..

Obviously not my pictures:
http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151043/the-needles.html

[lroe]

Ok, I'm finding out the painful consequences of taking photos with no CF card in my camera. The confusion for me was that when I took the photo, the image came up in the display, so I figured there was hd space on the camera as most vidcams have. Duh! Why do images display when shot if they are not stored? Someone confirm for me... they are no where to be retrieved?

[lroe]

I get that I need to turn this feature off!

[RPCrowe]

I always use the custom function which prevents the my Canon cameras from firing without a CF Card. At least I almost always use that function.

I was having a minor (operator error) problem with the custom functions on my 40D and decided to select the custom function which returns the camera to its default settings. I then set the camera to shoot the way I wanted EXCEPT I neglected to initiate the function which prevents the camera from firing without a CF card.

You guessed it... I was passing through the very beautiful Red Canyon area of Southern Utah and the light was perfect. I shot a bunch of images before returning to my car and driving off. I HAD NO CARD IN THE CAMERA.

I did return through that area later in the afternoon but, although I was able to shoot (this time with a card) the light was no where as pleasing as it was earlier in the day.

Of course this mistake was operator error but, it was compounded by the way the default settings are arranged. It seems logical to me (I guess because I missed those shots) that the default setting should be for the camera NOT TO FIRE without a CF card installed.

Here's another operator error blunder...

I was visiting the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico and we stayed in a nice R.V. park in the town of Carlsbad which is about twenty minutes or a half-hour drive from the Caverns.

I had two cameras with me; a 30D and a 350D. I was not down in the Caverns very long when the battery of my 30D went down (I usually replace fresh batteries in the camera before every day's shooting but neglected to dothat on this day). O.K., no problem. I always carry spare batteries in my camera bag but, this time I had only batteries for my 350D. No problem, I'll just use my 350D for the shots. Fine, but the remote cord for the 30D doesn't fit the 350D.

I ended up using the self timer to shoot the caverns. It worked out O.K. but, was a pain in the butt because every shot took and additional 10 seconds.

A little logistical planning could have prevented this problem but, the problem would not have presented itself if my two cameras used the same batteries or cords. I solved that problem by getting a 40D to use along with my 30D.

This was a great excuse to get a new camera....

Speaking about custom functions... When you select AEB (auto exposure bracketing) you get three shots - one under exposed - one right on - one over exposed. This is great when shooting in chancey light conditions and is also great when using a tripod in high contrast lighting situations because you can combine the images into a HDR image. Setting the camera on burst mode will shoot three shots and stop. This is a great option.

However, when you turn off the camera, you automatically deselect the auto exposure bracketing - unless you have opted (by using a custom function) not to let the camera automatically return to non-AEB shooting. This is the way I have my camera set up allthe time. I want to be able to select and deselect auto exposure bracketing, not have the camera decide how I should shoot.

BTW.. it is easier for me to understand in the 40D manual how to keep your camera shooting in AEB mode than it is in the 30D manual. It's just the way the two manuals explain the process.

[T.D.]

Ok, I'm finding out the painful consequences of taking photos with no CF card in my camera. The confusion for me was that when I took the photo, the image came up in the display, so I figured there was hd space on the camera as most vidcams have. Duh! Why do images display when shot if they are not stored? Someone confirm for me... they are no where to be retrieved?


Correct, they are not stored anywhere. They're gone. Sorry about that.

I've never understood why anyone would want to be able to shoot with no CF card. There may be a good reason, but I sure don't know what it is.

[LowriderS10]

turning shoot w/out card off is the FIRST thing I do to every camera I buy.

also, I think Canon has it turned on as a default so cameras can be tested in stores even if they don't have a card in them (which could easily be stolen and hence a lot of places don't provide their display cams with cards). That's my guess, anyways.