My CF card went kaputt... again

[C2S]

The Lexar Premium 80x CF-card (1GB) I've been using for the last two months just broke for some unknown reason, and it's the second time now. I had been using one of these when I bought my 400D in February, and the first one broke in about two months as well... it's becoming an annoyance.

I was shooting a medal on my table, and decided to swap the objective from my Sigma to Canon 50mm. After replacing, the camera powered up, I saw the digits lit in the viewfinder, but it wouldn't focus or take the picture. I thought, "no way it's happening again...". And yup, "CF Err: Replace the memory card". The camera works fine without the CF card, like the last time.

I guess I'm heading to the store tomorrow. I wonder if I should ask them to just return (part of) the money, and invest in a different brand instead. I've been thinking of a Sandisk 4GB card (about $65), but I don't know if that's more reliable - suggestions welcome.

Or maybe I'll go for another two months round, eh?

Note: in case you're going to suggest trying a card reader... thanks, but I don't own one. And fortunately, the card contained nothing that can't be re-shot if necessary.

[JWright]

When you are done with the images on the card do you reformat the card (in the camera) or do you just erase them? I've heard of situations where reformatting the card in the camera has solved the problem.

[prrs4me]

I have a Canon XTI and had problems with 2 Lexar cards. I then heard that Lexar is not compatable with the xti. I was able to return one of the cards and have been using SanDisk ever since without a problem. I think it's the Lexar card and will never buy one again.

[C2S]

JWright:
Actually, I use formatting much more than erasing.

Thanks for the advice though, I had forgotten to try that one... but unfortunately, it doesn't help. The formatting dialog just shows "---" in place of the MB count, and trying to format anyway will result in Error #99 which forces me to switch off the camera - just like the last time.

prrs4me:
Sounds like a similar experience. Also, good to hear that you've have no problems with SanDisk, I'll probably switch to it as well.

[cctsm]

prrs4me: There is no such thing as "not compatible". Both the Lexar card and the 400D should follow the CF standard to the letter - it's not like it's a difficult interface to master - and any failure after a significant (in computing terms) time would be more due to low quality on the cards (bad QC?), than any underlying incompatibility.

Not adhering to the specs can cause all kinds of corruption, but nothing a reformat won't solve. You can't really corrupt the interface controller chip by simply writing to the card. And, again, if something is wrong, it should happen the moment you actually try to access the card, not after two months.


That aside, I'm a great big fan of Sandisk cards myself. Have a 2GB Extreme III, will be picking up a 4GB Extreme II to keep as a spare (well, depending on any significant difference in writing speed in-camera, I might use the 4GB for my main shooting needs). Also have several Sandisk SD cards, for various devices. Never had a problem with any of them, and the build quality does indeed outperform cheapskate stuff like TwinMOS.

[Jon]

Lexar's deviated from the standard with their proprietary "Write Accelerated" technology, which Nikon among others has licensed; Canon hasn't. There's been at least one Canon Service Notice on Lexar cards with bad firmware. As a result, many of us shy away from Lexar cards. I use nothing but SanDisks; I've been moving up from Ultra IIs to Extreme III and Extreme IV.

[C2S]

They gave me a SanDisk Ultra II 2GB free of charge, so I have twice the storage space now, and hopefully a less troublesome card. A minor upgrade for free, which is good. Still, I'll probably buy 8GB at some point, as I shoot in RAW 95% of the time...

[tcrank]

Sounds like you only have one card? definitely get at LEAST one more!!!! while a large card sounds great, its still only one card if it fails - your stuck. Redundancy is a lifesaver.

You could also look at the 'bad' card by using windows file reading through a CF reader - twice I've thought a card was bad, only to find the first saved shot for some reason didn't save correctly. (didn't get cf errors tho...) erased the bad shot and it downloaded fine afterwards.