7D vs. Kingston Elite Pro 8gb CF cards...

Well, I just 'unboxed' (man I hate that word) my brand new 7D, popped in a CF card, and...the 7D can't read it. Can't even FORMAT it! I tried it with each of my four Kingston Elite Pro 8gb cards, and all had the same problem. One of my generic 4gb cards works perfectly, however.

Does anyone else have this problem? In doing my research for buying the 7D, I never thought to check whether it'd be able to read my freaking cards!

Where did you buy the cards? Please don't say you got a open package bundle deal on E-Bay or Amazon. There are a lot of fakes out there.

Nope, from B&H, and I've been using them with no problem in my 40D for a year. And they still work in the 40D just fine. Perhaps the 7D's pins or too short?

Do you have an external card reader? If so, maybe formatting them from the computer first and then reusing them in the 7D will work?

There aren't different "formats" of CF cards, so if it works in the 40D it SHOULD work in the 7D...

What sort of a message or error do you get when you try to format them in 7D?

I get this:

"Card cannot be accessed. Reinsert/change card or format card with camera."

And then I attempt to format the card unsuccessfully. It really is as though the camera isn't physically connecting to the card (the format screen doesn't even show the card's size, etc.)

hmm...my Kingston Elites work on my 7D. I have the 8gb class 6 cards.

I got a new 7D afew days ago. My old CF cards (2gb, 1gb, and 512mb) all Kingston and Sandisk brands work fine, and format perfectly in camera. I'm puzzled at what may be causing your problem, especially if one of your cards - the 4gb - works OK.
It sounds as if the cards are not making proper contact with the pins - sorry I can't be of more help.

Pixels wrote in post #10613673
It sounds as if the cards are not making proper contact with the pins

It does seem that way. I tried formatting them with my computer, to no avail.

I tortured myself deciding between a 7D and a 5D classic...perhaps this is an omen! (I've got two weeks to return the thing)

cptrios wrote in post #10613693
It does seem that way. I tried formatting them with my computer, to no avail.

I tortured myself deciding between a 7D and a 5D classic...perhaps this is an omen! (I've got two weeks to return the thing)

You might take it back and try a different copy of the body...maybe there is a pin or two out of whack? Doesn't seem likely if it reads your 4GB card, but this sounds quite bizarre...

I'm not sure if any of those firmware upgrades addressed anything with reading the cards but there is a new one out.

Is the camera on or off when you're inserting the card? Try it the other way.

I like the "format in a different device" suggestion above as well.

If none of that works, send em back!

Did you buy a new 7D? Does any of the pins inside the camera looked bent or broke?

my first thoughts too - check the pins

ecub wrote in post #10613756
Did you buy a new 7D? Does any of the pins inside the camera looked bent or broke?

Funny you should mention that! I've just been digging around for a little LED light to do just that...and guess what! One bent pin and one ENTIRELY MISSING pin.

It's a Canon Refurb bought from Adorama. In theory this should make this kind of thing LESS likely to happen. Unacceptable either way... now who knows how long I'm going to have to wait for this to ship back and for them to refund my money/send me another one!

Damn man thats a shame, I'd be pretty pissed off about it too.

Interesting, he said that he had a generic card work correctly so I doubt that it's an issue with the pins.

I would definitely format it in the computer