7d technical emergency!

[Chris Westerstrom]

Hey guys!

I am in the maldives shooting right now and have a nightmare scenario!

My CF Cards are no longer being read by my 7d!

I get this:

'Cards cannot be accessed. REinsert/change the card or format card with camera.'

Yet when I format, it says 'this card cannot be formatted'

On my friends 500d the cards were working and I was able to tank in my recorded material (from the 7d) from both cards onto my computer. It also worked on a Sony camera and on a card reader but I can no longer shoot or even view anything on my 7d.

I have also tested with 3 different cards, is there anything I can do?

[Dan Carter]

Grim! How frustrating! I wonder if a "Clear all camera settings" in the last camera setting menu would get you going?

Good luck

[Chris Soucy]

What's the weather like there at the moment?

I'm not making smalltalk here, this is important.

Hot and muggy? (Never mind, I just checked with the Maldives meteorology site - yep, hot and muggy).

http://www.meteorology.gov.mv/

Best bet (and this is a long shot), either the camera has had a terminal electronics experience (ie, dead) or it's had a fit of the vapours (literally) with the humidity.

If it's the former, I can't help you.

If it's the latter, you may be able to save the day.

Do you have access to an electric oven which can be controlled to no more that 40 degrees C? (and I DO NOT mean a microwave oven).

Is it in an air conditioned room?

[Before doing the following, check the manual for maximum operating conditions, 40 C is pushing it].

If the answer is yes to both, do this:

1. Crank up that air con to get the temp and humidity down as far as it will go. Leave it running for at least 6 hours to make sure the maximum humidity has been removed from the room air. Do keep doors and windows shut, but I know you knew that.

2. Remove every single thing that can be removed from the camera, battery, strap, lens (if possible), the works. Leave any flap that can be opened, open.

3 Turn on the oven and set for no more than 40 degrees C, 35C will do nicely.

4. Get a metal baking dish, line the bottom with a hand towel or similar and place the camera body in it. DO make sure that none of the toweling can get anywhere near an element or it really will be toast.

5. Place it in the middle of the oven and bake for 1 hour or untill tender (sorry, couldn't help it).

If that hasn't sorted it I'd say we're looking at option 1 (terminal electronics experience).

Do let us know how you get on.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, no, I really am NOT joking.


CS

PS: DO NOT leave the camera in the room whilst turning it (the room) into a fridge, it will make any condensation even worse. Keep it outside and hot.

PPS: Fan assist would be a godsend with the oven.

[Liam Hall]

Holy crap Chris!! Are you sure about that? I was going to suggest five minutes with a hair dryer!

[Bob Hart]

Unless I had the means to independently monitor inside temps of the oven at the camera position I would not put the camera in there, certainly not with a lens on it because relatively sudden cooling on bringing it out will likely crack the front element on the lens.

As far as removing humidity, the airconditioner should be able to do that on its own without recourse to heat. The camera can cook itself quite happily on its own without recourse to ovens. Hair-dryer sounds like a safer bet as long as it is not held too close and the camera body itself is not heated.

Is the computer being used a Leopard Mac? There have been reported issues in the past with these disabling cards. I know one messed with my XDCAM SxS cards which had to be "recovered".

If the images have been successfully copied to the computer, maybe now "read" the CF card in another computer, preferably PC or non-Leopard Mac and format it in that computer. The camera might then recognise the CF card even if it reports a fault and the card might then be able to be formatted in the camera.

This is all wild-guess stuff by me. Wait until a few more replies come along which will be more valid than my own.

[Steve Witt]

What about just puttinging it inside a cardboard box with a bunch of wadded up newspaper. The cardboard and the newspaper will draw the moisture out of anything in hardly any time at all. Just make sure the cardboard box and newsprint are clean, dry, thus "thirsty" before using.

[Martin Campbell]

Originally Posted by Bob Hart

Is the computer being used a Leopard Mac? There have been reported issues in the past with these disabling cards. I know one messed with my XDCAM SxS cards which had to be "recovered".

What's all that about then? Haven't heard anything about Snow Leopard causing issues?!


Will be interested to know how you get on with this mate. Not something that you will be able to do with the camera on this, but a handy tip for any future mishaps with liquid/small electrics especially phones. If you drop a mobile phone into water, put it in a jar of uncooked rice for 24 hrs. the rice absorbs the moisture and the phone works!!!!!!

Suppose you could use a big sackful of rice on this ocassion!

[Marc Brackhahn]

Originally Posted by Chris Westerstrom

Hey guys!

I am in the maldives shooting right now and have a nightmare scenario!

My CF Cards are no longer being read by my 7d!

I get this:

'Cards cannot be accessed. REinsert/change the card or format card with camera.'

Yet when I format, it says 'this card cannot be formatted'

On my friends 500d the cards were working and I was able to tank in my recorded material (from the 7d) from both cards onto my computer. It also worked on a Sony camera and on a card reader but I can no longer shoot or even view anything on my 7d.

I have also tested with 3 different cards, is there anything I can do?

Are you sure you don't have a bent pin?

[Chris Soucy]

I know whereof I speak with this.

Hair dryers have their place, but for a semi sealed box that is a modern camera body, about as much use as an ash tray on a bicycle.

They can pull local temperatures high enough to lift paint and most plastic finishes and are most definately a weapon of total last resort.

None of us can really know what fate has befallen Chris's precious camera, but a bit of thought would seem to indicate he didn't go all the way there to shoot the interior of his hotel room.

Ergo, he's been out and about. The weather is hot (30 degrees C/ 86 degrees F +) and muggy (70 - 80% RH).

If, as I suspect, the camera has been accompanying him back and forth to his hotel room and the relief of the air con, it's probably taken on a shed load of hot, humid air, which, back in the comfort of said air con, has quietly deposited liquid water on every single internal component, connector and contact.

IF that is the case (and the jury is still very much out) there is only one way (apart from total disassembly and rebuilding) of drying it out.

As for the oven, if, set on it's minimum setting, you can touch any of the internals without requiring the attention of the local A&E department, you're good to go.

The combination of total air con blitz and the oven will produce conditions in the oven similar to Namibia's "Skeleton Coast" on a good day, ie a RH approaching 0%.

That's dry, folks.

However, lets see how this pans out, I'm staying tuned for the next sitrep.


CS

[Jon Fairhurst]

Clean the oven first - unless you want a peperoni-flavored camera. :)

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Marc Brackhahn

Are you sure you don't have a bent pin?

That's a good question. I would take a penlight and closely examine the contact pins inside the camera's CF card slot.

[Chris Westerstrom]

thanks for the tips so far guys:

I hadn't been shooting especially long outside whent his happened, but I have noticed that their is a bit of fogging when I go outside with my back-up HDV camera.

So a recap of the three tips:

- I'll check for a bent pin now, the canon dealer didn't see anything wrong in there however.

- Yes, I am running on Snow Leopard Mac, I was able to read the cards from a card reader onto the mac however, so there is info on the disks, maybe I'll try to reformat them from my PC.

- Humidity. It seems very plausible this seeing as my HDV back up camera has a foggy lens for the first 15 minutes I start shooting outdoors with it. I'll take these drying tips into consideration.

Side note: this happened the moment I switched cards, withing a few seconds basically, when the next card went in, it said, it couldn't be read. Then I decided to put the other one back in and that one didn't get read then either. It's been since the switch that it stopped working, yet the cards work on other cameras, so it does seem the problem is with the camera itself. Not sure how to fix it with the mac software.

[Bob Hart]

There was a considerable discourse on this issue a while back.

For the life of me I cannot now recall the topic. I understand that not all cards were adversely affected, only some brands.

Apparently the issue occurred when the card was dismounted from the computer.

After the Mac equivalent of the safely remove card function was clicked on, the computer said to the card, "all finished, see you next time" and then reported that the card could be removed, something unwanted was written to the card and the camera would no longer recognise it. The card would be seen as faulty.

There was also some question as to whether there was too much power applied to the cards in the Macs but the "safe removal" bug seems to have been the valid cause in the end or maybe both. My recall is very vague.

I do know that both an 8Gb and 16Gb were poisoned by a Mac computer and had to be "repaired" in a camera menu before they worked again. As it was, I also re-formatted them in the camera to be safe.

Apparently, a temporary workaround was for operators to simply hot pull the card without going through the "safe removal" routine.

I understand the computer manufacturers did some revision to the hardware and operating system, again I am vague on this.


Furthur to the bent pin suggestion, - also have a look inside the conductor rail of the card with a torch. If a conductor has come unstuck and rolled back on itself, it may injure a conductor in the camera again if that card is again inserted.

[Ray Bell]

I have to ask the question... did you use a memory card reader or did you hook the camera up to the computer....

I think I know the answer before hand... :-(

[Roger Shealy]

If you can find access to a large bag of desiccant then take off all accessories including lens, strap, and the open battery compartment, and CF slot. Place dessicant in a soft lint free bag (or a sock) and place over open lens mount. Place camera and dessicant into a large zip lock bag and squeeze the air out before sealing the Ziploc. You may be able to suck more air out with a vacuum, but I don't want you to create a lot of static electricity either. Let the camera sit in the Ziploc for as long as you are able before testing again. Warmer temps will accelerate the drying process.

You may be able to find dessicant at a local shipping house, maybe even a FedEX or UPS store.