cf card problems

Help. I am on assignment in Venezuela and, overnight, none of my 9 Lexar cards will work in either of my Nikon D1x’s (with some, I am getting the “CHA” message in the display, and on others, the card icon simply flashes). On the cards that contain images, I am able to see the images on the lcd, but not shoot more, despite extra room.

I was in an area that I have heard might have a “high magnetic charge”. Anyone have any suggestions? Is this a card issue or a camera issue? What is the solution? Have tried Photo Rescue and Card Wipe to no avail.

Thanks,
Allison

by Allison Shelley at 2005-09-12 13:46:24 UTC (ed. Mar 12 2008 ) Caracas , Venezuela | Bookmark | | Report spam→

Allison – I had this problem once and had to mail four cards back to Lexar for repair/replacement. The only explanation that made some sense was the cards corrupted when switching between a Nikon D2X and a D1X and not formatting the cards in the camera. I now only format in camera (making sure the images shot were on one camera not two) and never on the computer. I have not had any more problems in about a year.
I think the problem occured somewhere between the cards being switched between your two cameras.
Lexar was unable to fix my cards, but was very quick shipping me new ones.

by Tom Sperduto | 12 Sep 2005 19:09 | New Jersey, United States | | Report spam→

Thanks Tom. I have done the same with Lexar myself on other occassions. And I only format them in-camera, so don’t think it has to do with that. The thing that makes me wonder whether it might be a camera issue, is that NONE of the cards work— neither the reformatted ones nor the ones that already have a few images on them.

by Allison Shelley | 13 Sep 2005 12:09 (ed. Sep 13 2005) | Caracas, Venezuela | | Report spam→

Hi Allison:

I have had the same issue recently with my D1X and for me it was a battery problem. I switched the battery out and ultimately trashed it, as it would repeat the same error everytime that same battery was being used. Everything now works fine with new oem batteries.

by Ken Murray | 13 Sep 2005 12:09 (ed. Sep 13 2005) | Broomfield, Colorado, United States | | Report spam→

Hi,
After all the issues with Lexar like the way it drops frames on Canon, why even bother using them?
I am switching to Sandisk.

by robert stone | 14 Sep 2005 14:09 | ny, United States | | Report spam→

So it was the compression boards. $600 to fix both. Nikon says that it could have been caused by the faulty “CHA” cf cards. Am sending the cards I shot with that day back to Lexar.

by Allison Shelley | 26 Sep 2005 13:09 | Washington DC, United States | | Report spam→

Hi Allison:

I had the same problem you stated word for word and for me it was the Poloroid Battery (1 yr old with transfered oem latch). I switched to one of my oem batteries right away and the problem went away. Were you shooting with a Poloroid replacement at the time? Just curious..

by Ken Murray | 26 Sep 2005 17:09 | Broomfield, Colorado, United States | | Report spam→

Not sure, but certainly likely, as I have a number of Polaroid batteries. But they tell me that the defective cf card(s) actually caused the irreversible failure of the compression board, an issue which apparently spread to the second one when I tried the same card in that one. A lesson for sure…

by Allison Shelley | 26 Sep 2005 19:09 | Washington DC, United States | | Report spam→

Thanks for the update Allison!

I was wondering how you were making out with your issue. Just a note, I got three of the Poloroid batteries last August and two of them were shot at 12 months right at the time my CF situation happened. I have the third one still working but I’m wondering if I may have narrowly avoided a problem that occurs at the end of it’s life cycle. I hope there not related but I don’t like taking chances anymore than I like spending $112.00 each for the oem battery.

All the best!

by Ken Murray | 26 Sep 2005 20:09 | Broomfield, Colorado, United States | | Report spam→