Data on CF B needs recovering. Attempt to recover?

[Matt Katz]

I bought a Lexar Professional 400x 64GB UDMA 7 and after a few minutes I'm getting the same message, which is very discouraging since I had the XF100 two weeks before I could afford to buy a CF card.. Now I'll have to save up again for a Sandisk

[Josh Dahlberg]

Matt,

B&H have the Sandisks at a great price right now, just bought a bunch of them myself (have been using these with my XF300 for nearly 2 years now without a hitch).

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/646870-REG/SanDisk_SDCFX_032G_A61_32GB_Extreme_CompactFlash_Memory.html

[Matt Katz]

Thanks, Josh. B&H is sold out right now but I'm on the notification list...

[Steev Dinkins]

Yep, the XF camera's pickiness regarding CF cards is a big DRAG. At the moment I'm only buying SanDisk. 32GB and 64GB. Although I have several ADATA 32GB cards that work great. I have some 16GB Lexar's that work, but the 32GB don't - BUMMER! Oh well, I guess SanDisk has something to be happy about.

[Matt Katz]

I received a Sandisk Extreme 400x 32gb compactflash card from Newegg on Monday and, sure enough, it works perfectly. No more "Data needs to recover" text. Thanks for the help, y'all...

[Belinda Bowey]

Originally Posted by Jim Martin

We were shooting today and every 3-8 minutes, this would pop up. The manual mentions this as a recovery tool when a card has been ejected while recording or if power cuts out while recording, but neither was the case. We would say yes, just to be sure, but then it would "recover" and then stop the filming. It's very odd. Anyone else have this problem?

Jim Martin
FilmTools.com

Hi, I've had the same error & l am wondering if you we're able to recover the data. I've never had the error before but i was trying to quickly change batteries during a shoot & l think that's what's caused the error.

I haven't tried to recover the data as yet as I'm a little nervous about if it will work. Can you please let me know if it worked for you??? Or if its best to take the card to a data recovery place???

[Brett Delmage]

I haven't tried to recover the data as yet as I'm a little nervous about if it will work. Can you please let me know if it worked for you??? Or if its best to take the card to a data recovery place???

Definitely *allow the camera to recover the data*. Only the camera knows the data formats. A data recovery place will only know about the VFAT filesystem, not the Canon MX journaling, etc that is used for recovery.

If you are really nervous, put the card into a card reader first and copy the complete card to a backup folder on your hard disk first, before putting it into the camera for recovery.

My XF-300 has done recovery at least 5 times without failure.

Just make sure you select the choice to recover, when asked.

I was saved by an unusual recovery in August. I started editing footage the day after an evening shoot and the audio and video was misaligned. it was an unusual mess.

I went to a shoot that night and when I turned the camera on, it asked if I wanted to recover. It did, and it produced usable clips from the previous night. I set the cards aside and used others. Fortunately, I had somehow not downloaded and wiped the cards right away as I normally do. Sheer luck! I lost no footage. I have no idea what caused the corruption in the first place, except absent-mindedly turning the camera off while still recording? (No, I don't do that as SOP!)

Best of luck,

Brett

[Belinda Bowey]

Hi Brett,

Thanks so much for your reply...l stressed about it all weekend and then got up enough guts to just turn my camera on and l didn't even get the message...all the data was there except for about 18minutes, which l was very relieved about. I can pinpoint where the files were lost and their numbers and now l'm trying to find some recovery software to fix it.

I have tried a few programs, but nothing is getting me the results l'm after.

I've tried RescuePro Deluxe, nothing...
Stellar Phoenix - Nothing
Card Recovery Pro - Nothing either...

Any suggestions on what l can use ?

[Martin Catt]

I got the dreaded Data Recovery question a couple of days ago on my XF300 using 32 gig Duracell-brand Pro Photo 600X cards. I'd purchased two on sale. Fortunately, it was on a test I was running, something non-critical. I got the same message using both Duracell cards, switching them between both CF slots on the camera, so it isn't likely to be a single defective card. Each time, the camera appeared to be functioning properly, but after hitting the button to stop recording, the camera took considerably longer to display the STBY on the display than usual, then popped the warning. As near as I can tell, the data recovered completely with no losses, but I decided it wasn't worth the risk. The Duracell cards are now marked for exclusive use on my 5DMk2 only.

I bought a 32 gig Sandisk Extreme when I got the camera, which has given me no problems. On paper, the specs for the Duracell cards are identical with the Sandisk, possibly even a bit better on write speed IIRC.

I did buy a couple of 32 gig off-brand 600X cards the day my camera arrived, a brand called Silicon Power. Frys had them on sale for less than half the price of the Sandisk. I bought them on the odd chance they would work, and would use them for the 5DMk2 in case they wouldn't. The Silicon Power cards have worked perfectly, even though they cost LESS than the Duracell cards. I have no idea who Silicon Power is, never heard of them, but they've been reliable through heavy use. It could be that SP is sold by the same silicon foundry that makes the higher-end cards for the name brands.

I think the difference is in the internal firmware the cards use to distribute "wear" on the memory cells. Every time you write to a storage location, it damages it slightly, and after a sufficient number of writes, the cell will fail. I'm told the number of write cycles before failure has at least six digits in it (reading the card supposedly doesn't cause any damage). The cards have built-in logic that automatically shift the write locations each time, transparent to whatever device is using the card, so the "front row" locations don't get worn excessively.

Martin