Formatted CF card shows 8GB instead of 16GB

I put my brand new Kingston 266x 16GB CF card into my 1D mark II (fw:1.2.4) and selected format and now I have half the space. My computer reads 7,81GB too. How could I restore the card?

Did you get the card from ebay? You might've been scammed.

If you're on Windows, try this:
http://dashboardhelp.d​atarobotics.com …nagement_utilit​y_help.htm

If you're on a Mac, try this:
http://macs.about.com …ns/ss/diskutili​typart.htm

If both ways only format your card with 8GB, you got scammed.

I bought it from a reputable shop. It says 7.83 Active,Primary partition and 7.06 unallocated. I want to merge it into one partition.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1176335

See this thread. Not uncommon unfortunately.

Is it possible that 1D Mark II can only recognize up to 8GB? Is 1.2.4 the latest firmware?

Looks like the latest firmware version is 1.2.6 at Canon USA.

Fixes:
This firmware update (Version 1.2.6) incorporates the following improvements and additional functions:

It fixes the phenomenon wherein the camera does not detect the capacity correctly when high-capacity recording media are initialized.

morph, certainly the firmware upgrade would be a good starting point and you likely win the prize.

From the Canon Japan website the following is quoted re 1.2.6 (which has been around since 12/29/2006) and 1.2.4. Note that 1.2.4 fails to address any memory card sizing issues.

Q : What has changed in the version 1.2.6 firmware?

A : It includes the following improvements:
It fixes the phenomenon wherein the camera does not detect the capacity correctly when high-capacity recording media are initialized.

a) SDHC cards with capacities exceeding 2GB (e.g., 4GB, 8GB) are now supported.
b) The phenomenon wherein the camera cannot correctly detect the capacity of CF cards with capacities exceeding 8GB (e.g., 12GB, 16GB) correctly when they are initialized has been corrected.

Version 1.2.4 changes:

Fixes the phenomenon of file numbers not being sequential even if the file number setting is for sequential numbers if a CF card is replaced while the power of the camera is switched on.
Improves reliability in communication when using some CF cards.

This happened to me when I tried to format a 16gb card in my 350d. Reformatting it in my 5d2 set it back to 16gb. Try reformatting in a newer camera or a PC.

This is normal for a partitioned disk. You need to open Disk Management and delete ALL partitions, then re-create one partition that encompasses the entire disk. Then format it. Then format it in the camera. This has nothing to do with the camera, unless someone knows of a camera that can partition a disk.

Get your photos off of it first. This process re-writes the entire FAT32 system area. You can't recover from this, easily.

I couldn't use the delete function in Disk Management but I used BootIt software to do it. I updated the firmware to 1.2.6 and it works altough I formatted the card in my card reader not in camera.

So it is working properly, as a 16GB card, now?

Feryll wrote in post #16170189
I couldn't use the delete function in Disk Management but I used BootIt software to do it. I updated the firmware to 1.2.6 and it works altough I formatted the card in my card reader not in camera.

If I were you I'd use the camera to reformat the card just to be sure it can recognize and format the whole 16GB capacity.

What morph2_7 said!

Feryll wrote in post #16169676
I bought it from a reputable shop. It says 7.83 Active,Primary partition and 7.06 unallocated. I want to merge it into one partition.

That's good. You should be able to repartition and reformat the whole card using Disk Managment/Disk Utility from those links I posted. Just means that whatever you formatted the card with had a max disk size of 8GB for some reason.

Do the firmware upgrades like the others suggested, should let you format in-camera to the full 16GB then. If not, then just format and partition with the computer each time you want to clear out the card.

Tommy1957 wrote in post #16170132
You need to open Disk Management and delete ALL partitions

hopefully no-one reading this follows it verbatum...

joeseph wrote in post #16170979
hopefully no-one reading this follows it verbatum...

OK, I meant all partitions on the offending card. The only software I've ever seen that could actually combine partitions without deleting them is Partition Magic. Window can handle this task quite easily, however. No need for supplementary software.