7D frustrations

For a couple years now I've been very happy with my three 8gig SanDisk extreme IV CF cards. I sill remember how happy I was to pay 180.00 a piece for them with a 50.00 rebate from B&H. Oh those where the good ole days.....
Well now I'm getting into a little bit of video with my kids and I'm feeling the need for a larger capacity CF card. This was nothing but frustration on deciding what size and speed. I've seen different specs on both for the 7D.
Well I came across a cheap 32gig Transcend 400x on Amazon so I jumped on it. 33.00 shipped! My how a short few years changes prices of storage.
Well as soon as I got it, I popped it into my 7D and it instantly had a cf error. Tried ejecting and re inserted with the same issue.
Well next I did what anyone would do, pop it into the trusted 40D... same thing. So I have a bad card right? Oh wait don't answer that just yet, it was rhetorical.
I'm a computer guy so I brain stormed a bit, popped it into the first computer in the house with a cf reader. Called up data/disk manager the darn thing wasn't formatted, so I fat32 formatted that baby and went back to the 7D. Still has a cf error. F&@K! Went back to the 40D once more to confirm... wait...what's this? It worked perfectly. No problems what so ever. Took a few pictures, formatted it a couple (in the camera) times took some more pictures. The card works prefect. Ok back to the 7D, it has to work now right? .. still rhetorical.... Wrong! Still has the same error.
Ok, you may be thinking why the long story. Its bad, send it back.... well here is the second part to our twisted tale....

I had to run to the post office to get a lens sent to me by irishjim, and when I returned I picked up my 7D, mounted the lens and give it a try. Well if you remember in the last part of the first half of the story, the Transcend card was still in the 7D. I always leave my cameras on (set to auto shut off after 1 minute). I picked the camera up and started taking pictures with the new lens. Then it dawned on me, ..... wait a minute..... that stupid bleep bleep transcend cf card is still in my 7D how is this possible? I looked through the pictures, even the ones from the 40D were on there. I was so happy. Problem fixed right...... um you guessed it, don't answer that,
I wish our story ended there on a high note.
Unfortunately, as soon as I powered the camera off than on I got the same error.
My frustration is exacerbated... the card works fine in the computer and in another camera. The 7D will read it if I cycle the power off then on again several times in a row. This last time it took maybe 20 plus cycles to get it to read the card.
What is going on? ( yes please answer that one) What can I do? If I send the card back what should I look for and will my camera react the same way? The card is clearly not defective.

I'm using the latest firmware on the 7D and my budget is limited at the moment...
Thanks for your help on this issue'

Did you try formatting the card in the 7D?

Assuming you did that, call the card manufacturer, explain the situation, and see what they say. Transcend will probably just send you a new card.

Apart from that, if you don't turn your camera off when not using it, the self-cleaning of the sensor doesn't run frequently. Which in turn is bad, since it allows dirt to stick more. The sooner the camera can try to shake it off, the better.

BigAlz1 wrote in post #16710205
I'm a computer guy so I brain stormed a bit

This is what this computer guy would do.
Aparently the 8G works in the 40D and in the 7D.

Plan A: Check the hardware
Do some benchmark checks on both CF cards on your PC to see if there are performance issues e.g. read errors.

Plan B: Check the hardware on a low level
Check the clustersize of the 8GB and reformat the 32G with the same cluster size.
If this doesn't work, startup your favorite partition manager and partition the 32G to 8G, with the same cluster size as the existing 8G.
Check if the 7D is happy with this.
Then scale up from 8G to 16G and check again, then scale up from 16G to 32G and check again.

Plan C: Let the hardware get checked
Do what geekyrocketguy suggests.

Plan D: Buy other hardware
Don't try to be cheap on the memory card. It is the first place your pictures are stored.

Sorry you are having problems..

Don't know if this will help any, but I have been using the exact same transcend cards for years in my 7d, without any issues. It really does sound like a bad card. I would call transcend.

Good luck!

Ron

I run the sensor clean while I'm out shooting every once in a while. I find that if I keep up wit that it stays clean.

geekyrocketguy wrote in post #16710234
Did you try formatting the card in the 7d

sorry I left that detail out, yes I did.

apersson850 wrote in post #16710261
Apart from that, if you don't turn your camera off when not using it, the self-cleaning of the sensor doesn't run frequently. Which in turn is bad, since it allows dirt to stick more. The sooner the camera can try to shake it off, the better.

I turn it off every single lens change, and it turns itself off when i swap battery and swap CF cards which is already a total of twice per shoot.

Canon Amateur wrote in post #16710446
This is what this computer guy would do.
Aparently the 8G works in the 40D and in the 7D.

Plan A: Check the hardware
Do some benchmark checks on both CF cards on your PC to see if there are performance issues e.g. read errors.

Plan B: Check the hardware on a low level
Check the clustersize of the 8GB and reformat the 32G with the same cluster size.
If this doesn't work, startup your favorite partition manager and partition the 32G to 8G, with the same cluster size as the existing 8G.
Check if the 7D is happy with this.
Then scale up from 8G to 16G and check again, then scale up from 16G to 32G and check again.

Plan C: Let the hardware get checked
Do what geekyrocketguy suggests.

Plan D: Buy other hardware
Don't try to be cheap on the memory card. It is the first place your pictures are stored.

Way ahead of you on that one. Didn't want to make the post that much longer and fill it full of tech talk. I even changed the default cluster size. The transfer rate was right on par where it should have been. I can not find anything wrong with this card!

I want to hear from people with problems with the 7d reading CF cards. It is not the card itself. I will have to send it back but what happens when I get another one? I've read somewhere before that other people have had issues with card reads on this camera. I wanted to know what cards to buy to avoid this.. and what other things might be going on here that I'm unaware of.

Replace the card. Just because it works in the 40D does not mean it is a "good" card. It had trouble from the start and for some reason it is mostly working but not working properly. It could be something as simple as a socket where the 40D might have a pin just a fraction of a millimeter longer than one on the 7D which just happens to make it work or something like that. I take it your other cards work fine in the 7D?

Whatever the case, the card sounds bad. It was bad when you got it. Wouldn't work in either camera at first. Being a computer guy, if you bought a hard drive and it wouldn't initialize on one PC, but would on another, and then when brought back to the first PC again it would initialize sometimes, I'm sure you wouldn't keep it around, right?

Already rma,