Lost wedding footage! 7D froze up! at DVinfo.net

Jeffrey Fuchs · August 17th, 2010, 08:32 AM

Ok so I am pretty depressed that I lost most of a wedding ceremony from my 7D. Here’s what happened:

• I hit record on the camera to record the first segment of the ceremony; it went for about 12 minutes like expected.
• I hit record again for the 2nd segment of the wedding. It went for about 12 minutes like expected.
• I hit record a third time; it went for about 12 minutes then froze up.
• I can’t remember if it was froze-up before or after I hit record the 4th time.
• On the monitor on the back, it just displayed a still image.
• The camera would not power down.
• On the top LCD it displayed a flashing “391” on the upper right hand corner (normally where the countdown number goes, not sure if this was a error code or just what was left on the memory card)
• I let it sit for the rest of the ceremony, about 20 minutes, thinking it would fix itself.
• Again tried to turn off the camera, it flashed “Busy” and remained frozen.
• Let it sit for 45 more minutes.
• Took the memory stick out, nothing changed, still frozen. Still flashed “Busy” and “391”.
• I took the battery out, put it back in, then it went back to normal.
• I quickly recorded a few short clips on the same card and it seemed to work fine.
• At the reception, on a different memory card, recorded some shots and it seemed to work fine.
• I brought the data from the memory card with the issues into my computer system.
• The first ceremony segment plays fine.
• The 2nd ceremony segment, I can see the file and it is about the same size as the first segment, (about 4 gig) but does not play. It is a corrupt file.
• The 3 ceremony segment, which should be also 4 GB, is 5 mb, and does not play.

So is this a card problem or a camera problem? Do I use the card again? I am sending the camera to Canon to look at. I do not feel too good about this situation. Has anyone heard of this happening?

The camera and the card are about 3 months old. The card that had the problem is a 16 GB SanDisk Extreme 60MB/s UDMA. The camera was inside on a balcony, not so hot, about 80 degrees maybe.

As for the wedding, the 7D was my wide-shot camera, so I do have other good footage and the couple will probably not even notice, so this is good.

Any advice?

Liam Hall · August 17th, 2010, 09:38 AM

Did you format the card before using it??

Jeffrey Fuchs · August 17th, 2010, 09:45 AM

I am pretty sure I formatted the card before using it.

James Donnelly · August 17th, 2010, 09:46 AM

I am glad it wasn't a complete disaster.

It seems likely those un-readable 4gb files contain most of your footage. The file headers are probably corrupt, which would explain why they won't play. If this is the case, it should be possible to regenerate those headers in theory.

Have you tried repairing them? Both VLC and Quicktime have a repair option.

I would personally put it down to the card and throw it out.

Taky Cheung · August 17th, 2010, 10:12 AM

That's the worst nightmare a wedding videographer could have. Sorry to hear that. I remember from buying the Sandisk card it has a recovery tool you can download from their web site. Have you tried that?

I hope you are shooting with more than 1 camera.. so you still have coverage from other angle.

Zach Love · August 18th, 2010, 07:12 PM

Just to throw it out there, but could there be a better camera to use as your wide? A 7D as a wide angle doesn't have much DOF, so what is the advantage there.

Maybe something like a Canon HFS200 or Panasonic GH1 might work better? Both of those cameras don't have the 12min record limit. The HFS & HF series are good quality for the dirt cheap price, headphone, mic in, etc. etc...

Sorry to hear about the trouble, best of luck.

Kelly Langerak · August 24th, 2010, 02:24 PM

Jeff, check out my post on the same page. I have a picture of what the files look like. I put them in VLC but couldn't get it to play. I will try the QT and Sandisk tool.

I had to take out the battery to get it to work. Lost a lot of footage because of this and I too was also running long clips. I now limit it to 8 min only and have a second camera running at all times.

Disappointing to myself and the Bride.

Kelly Langerak · August 24th, 2010, 02:43 PM

Where is the repair option in QT? Do you need the Pro version?

Spoke with Sandisk support and they could only point me to LC tech.com 866-603-2195

or use Rescue Pro 4.0

I'm trying it now. I will let you know if it works.

Kelly Langerak · August 24th, 2010, 03:10 PM

Try "Treasured" by Treasured • Download

worked for me $139 to fix the 3 files.

Jeffrey Fuchs · August 27th, 2010, 07:23 AM

Getting the camera back form Canon today. They did do some work on it. Replaced the main board as a pre-caution. This tells me that they felt pretty strong that it was a camera issue and not a card problem. I will let you know how it works going forward.

Kelly, thanks for the info!

Brett Munoz · September 11th, 2010, 12:21 AM

Were you able to retreive the footage? I just had this happen to me. The 7d has been working fine for many shoots but all of the sudden is corrupts 8 files. No warning no freezing, not sure what happened.

August 17th, 2010, 08:32 AM	#1
Jeffrey Fuchs Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Zimmerman, Minnesota Posts: 89	Lost wedding footage! 7D froze up! Ok so I am pretty depressed that I lost most of a wedding ceremony from my 7D. Here’s what happened: • I hit record on the camera to record the first segment of the ceremony; it went for about 12 minutes like expected. • I hit record again for the 2nd segment of the wedding. It went for about 12 minutes like expected. • I hit record a third time; it went for about 12 minutes then froze up. • I can’t remember if it was froze-up before or after I hit record the 4th time. • On the monitor on the back, it just displayed a still image. • The camera would not power down. • On the top LCD it displayed a flashing “391” on the upper right hand corner (normally where the countdown number goes, not sure if this was a error code or just what was left on the memory card) • I let it sit for the rest of the ceremony, about 20 minutes, thinking it would fix itself. • Again tried to turn off the camera, it flashed “Busy” and remained frozen. • Let it sit for 45 more minutes. • Took the memory stick out, nothing changed, still frozen. Still flashed “Busy” and “391”. • I took the battery out, put it back in, then it went back to normal. • I quickly recorded a few short clips on the same card and it seemed to work fine. • At the reception, on a different memory card, recorded some shots and it seemed to work fine. • I brought the data from the memory card with the issues into my computer system. • The first ceremony segment plays fine. • The 2nd ceremony segment, I can see the file and it is about the same size as the first segment, (about 4 gig) but does not play. It is a corrupt file. • The 3 ceremony segment, which should be also 4 GB, is 5 mb, and does not play. So is this a card problem or a camera problem? Do I use the card again? I am sending the camera to Canon to look at. I do not feel too good about this situation. Has anyone heard of this happening? The camera and the card are about 3 months old. The card that had the problem is a 16 GB SanDisk Extreme 60MB/s UDMA. The camera was inside on a balcony, not so hot, about 80 degrees maybe. As for the wedding, the 7D was my wide-shot camera, so I do have other good footage and the couple will probably not even notice, so this is good. Any advice?

August 17th, 2010, 09:38 AM	#2
Liam Hall Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: London, England Posts: 969	Did you format the card before using it?? __________________ Writer-Director-DOP www.liamhall.net

August 17th, 2010, 10:12 AM	#5
Taky Cheung Inner Circle Join Date: May 2007 Location: Los Angeles, USA Posts: 2,114	That's the worst nightmare a wedding videographer could have. Sorry to hear that. I remember from buying the Sandisk card it has a recovery tool you can download from their web site. Have you tried that? I hope you are shooting with more than 1 camera.. so you still have coverage from other angle. __________________ LA Color Pros Blog RODE Authorized Reseller . Comer LED Camera Lights . TakyBox HTML5 Menu Generator

August 18th, 2010, 07:12 PM	#6
Zach Love Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 944	Just to throw it out there, but could there be a better camera to use as your wide? A 7D as a wide angle doesn't have much DOF, so what is the advantage there. Maybe something like a Canon HFS200 or Panasonic GH1 might work better? Both of those cameras don't have the 12min record limit. The HFS & HF series are good quality for the dirt cheap price, headphone, mic in, etc. etc... Sorry to hear about the trouble, best of luck. __________________ Nothing says you're a serious video maker like S-VHS

August 24th, 2010, 02:24 PM	#7
Kelly Langerak Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bay Area Posts: 522	Sob Jeff, check out my post on the same page. I have a picture of what the files look like. I put them in VLC but couldn't get it to play. I will try the QT and Sandisk tool. I had to take out the battery to get it to work. Lost a lot of footage because of this and I too was also running long clips. I now limit it to 8 min only and have a second camera running at all times. Disappointing to myself and the Bride.

August 17th, 2010, 09:45 AM	#3
Jeffrey Fuchs Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Zimmerman, Minnesota Posts: 89	I am pretty sure I formatted the card before using it.

August 17th, 2010, 09:46 AM	#4
James Donnelly Major Player Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Chelmsford England Posts: 287	I am glad it wasn't a complete disaster. It seems likely those un-readable 4gb files contain most of your footage. The file headers are probably corrupt, which would explain why they won't play. If this is the case, it should be possible to regenerate those headers in theory. Have you tried repairing them? Both VLC and Quicktime have a repair option. I would personally put it down to the card and throw it out.

August 24th, 2010, 02:43 PM	#8
Kelly Langerak Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bay Area Posts: 522	Where is the repair option in QT? Do you need the Pro version? Spoke with Sandisk support and they could only point me to LC tech.com 866-603-2195 or use Rescue Pro 4.0 I'm trying it now. I will let you know if it works.

August 24th, 2010, 03:10 PM	#9
Kelly Langerak Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bay Area Posts: 522	Try "Treasured" by Treasured • Download worked for me $139 to fix the 3 files.

August 27th, 2010, 07:23 AM	#10
Jeffrey Fuchs Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Zimmerman, Minnesota Posts: 89	Update. Getting the camera back form Canon today. They did do some work on it. Replaced the main board as a pre-caution. This tells me that they felt pretty strong that it was a camera issue and not a card problem. I will let you know how it works going forward. Kelly, thanks for the info!

September 11th, 2010, 12:21 AM	#11
Brett Munoz Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 30	Were you able to retreive the footage? I just had this happen to me. The 7d has been working fine for many shoots but all of the sudden is corrupts 8 files. No warning no freezing, not sure what happened.