Frank Casanova
April 19th, 2010, 11:00 PM
Eight Sony engineers at NAB said it couldn't be done, but we found a way to retrieve deleted clips off an SDHC card in an MxR reader from my EX1.
Obviously it occurred by my own "operator error" that the EX1 workflow makes too easy to do. Doug Jensen comments on this in latest EX Manual (Page 24, Tip#10)...Never have more than one card at a time in the camera slots (with a few exceptions of course). That's how it happened. Just finished shooting on card in slot A... put another card into slot B to delete clips. Switched to Media mode to make sure those were the clips I wanted to delete. When switching back to Camera mode, it must go through the Off position and then on to Camera mode. That part has the camera default to the A slot...which I did not notice. So I go into the menu and merrily begin deleting All Clips... and then look up at the viewfinder to see the A slot is selected...and I melt into my socks.
Carefully, after letting the process complete, I extract the card and not let the client see my blank expression. My hope is, the data is still there since I have not over-written the card and that the card's Table of Contents simply has a code change that says it's OK to record on.
Searching all the Forums, it seems no one has ever had any luck retrieving deleted data. We have a utility that saw the files but couldn't playback anything. There was hope...maybe. Sent the card to Sony Data in Atlanta...they worked on it for a week... No luck. Their biggest complaint: Sony Japan would not help them out in unlocking the proprietary code. The next week I'm at NAB grilling every Sony rep, VP, and Engineer I could find. Most simply shook their heads saying it probably can't be done because it was an SDHC card and not a Sony SxS card. Then we found a Frenchman living in Barcelona, Spain by the name of Benoît Joossen ( supportcw@mac.com ) who has a company called Aero Quartet. He thought he could do it with his custom software (the man is a genius!). The process is a bit complex where first all the pertinent circumstances and information are sent to Aero. They then send back a "customized" scan program to search the device for the types of files we're looking for. That is sent back to Aero Quartet in Spain and they send a trial retrieval "customized" program. If it appears that it will retrieve all the files we're looking for, then we can send them payment for an unlocking code. It was an absolute bargain at $170 relative to all our bad alternatives. These guys walk on water.
I'm still smarting over the fact that Sony doesn't provide this as a service to their camera customers. I would have gladly paid them... if it weren't for that bit of arrogance from Japan. Maybe they'll add an Undelete function to the next Firmware update... but I'm not holding by breath with the current attitude from Japan.
Obviously it occurred by my own "operator error" that the EX1 workflow makes too easy to do. Doug Jensen comments on this in latest EX Manual (Page 24, Tip#10)...Never have more than one card at a time in the camera slots (with a few exceptions of course). That's how it happened. Just finished shooting on card in slot A... put another card into slot B to delete clips. Switched to Media mode to make sure those were the clips I wanted to delete. When switching back to Camera mode, it must go through the Off position and then on to Camera mode. That part has the camera default to the A slot...which I did not notice. So I go into the menu and merrily begin deleting All Clips... and then look up at the viewfinder to see the A slot is selected...and I melt into my socks.
Carefully, after letting the process complete, I extract the card and not let the client see my blank expression. My hope is, the data is still there since I have not over-written the card and that the card's Table of Contents simply has a code change that says it's OK to record on.
Searching all the Forums, it seems no one has ever had any luck retrieving deleted data. We have a utility that saw the files but couldn't playback anything. There was hope...maybe. Sent the card to Sony Data in Atlanta...they worked on it for a week... No luck. Their biggest complaint: Sony Japan would not help them out in unlocking the proprietary code. The next week I'm at NAB grilling every Sony rep, VP, and Engineer I could find. Most simply shook their heads saying it probably can't be done because it was an SDHC card and not a Sony SxS card. Then we found a Frenchman living in Barcelona, Spain by the name of Benoît Joossen ( supportcw@mac.com ) who has a company called Aero Quartet. He thought he could do it with his custom software (the man is a genius!). The process is a bit complex where first all the pertinent circumstances and information are sent to Aero. They then send back a "customized" scan program to search the device for the types of files we're looking for. That is sent back to Aero Quartet in Spain and they send a trial retrieval "customized" program. If it appears that it will retrieve all the files we're looking for, then we can send them payment for an unlocking code. It was an absolute bargain at $170 relative to all our bad alternatives. These guys walk on water.
I'm still smarting over the fact that Sony doesn't provide this as a service to their camera customers. I would have gladly paid them... if it weren't for that bit of arrogance from Japan. Maybe they'll add an Undelete function to the next Firmware update... but I'm not holding by breath with the current attitude from Japan.