topic Re: Sd card in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

EOS Rebel T7 SD Card "Cannot Be Accessed" Message

lala27d — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 14:16:56 GMT

I just bought the canon t7 and i have a question why this is coming up? I just bought a brand new sd card never used. Please help!! thank you in advance!

Re: Sd card

Tronhard — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 20:43:21 GMT

Hi and welcome to the forum:

For this kind of thing there are three scenarios that come to mind:
1. The write protect switch on the SD card is set to read only - preventing the camera from being able to write to or format the card. This switch is located on the long edge of the card opposite the diagonal corner. To write to the card the little switch should be positioned at the top of the slot.

2. You are using a card that is counterfeit, this is more likely when you buy on-line or from some outlet stores. Always get cards from reputable retailers.

3. You are using a micro-SD card with an adapter. These are plagued with issues because of the extra set of contacts involved with the adapter. You should be using a full sized SD card.

If the first one doesn't work, I would suggest trying another card to eliminate an issue with the camera

Re: Sd card

lala27d — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 20:45:54 GMT

thank you so much!

Re: Sd card

deebatman316 — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 20:58:58 GMT

Since your camera is new have you formatted the SD Card. Also is the Write Protected switch if its on the camera cannot store any images on the SD Card. Make sure the Write Protected switch is off and try to format the SD Card.

-Demetrius

40D, 5D IV, EF 16-35mm F/2.8L III, EF 24-70mm F/2.8L II, EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, EF 50 F/1.8 STM

430EX III-RT & 600EX II-RT

Re: Sd card

Tronhard — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 21:03:09 GMT

Demetrius:
It is a good idea to read previous replies before wading in... If you did you would see that this has already been addressed.

Re: Sd card

deebatman316 — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 21:05:12 GMT

Sorry about Trevor my post got deleted for some reason. I posted my original comment before you did.

-Demetrius

40D, 5D IV, EF 16-35mm F/2.8L III, EF 24-70mm F/2.8L II, EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, EF 50 F/1.8 STM

430EX III-RT & 600EX II-RT

Re: Sd card

lala27d — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 21:13:26 GMT

would this be a good one to try?

Re: Sd card

deebatman316 — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 21:19:34 GMT

Yes that would be a good card. It all depends on what you're using your camera for. Are you using it for stills or for video. If your doing stills smaller cards are better if the card were to fail. Larger and faster cards are better for video. I also recommend carrying around extra SD Cards.

-Demetrius

40D, 5D IV, EF 16-35mm F/2.8L III, EF 24-70mm F/2.8L II, EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, EF 50 F/1.8 STM

430EX III-RT & 600EX II-RT

Re: Sd card

lala27d — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 21:21:27 GMT

im just doing stills.i just wanna make sure i buy the right card

Re: Sd card

deebatman316 — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:06:20 GMT

I keep 3 or 4 extra SD Cards in the event of a bad card and for extra capacity. Carry plenty of SD Cards and take lots of pictures.

-Demetrius

40D, 5D IV, EF 16-35mm F/2.8L III, EF 24-70mm F/2.8L II, EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, EF 50 F/1.8 STM

430EX III-RT & 600EX II-RT

Re: Sd card

normadel — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:28:08 GMT

Sure, SanDisk is a good brand. But.....128 GB is awfully large. You're better off with several smaller cards. A 32 GB card can hold tons of photos, and you should be moving files to a computer rather than trusting a huge amount of stuff to one card. Having multiple cards lets you rotate them. Fill a card, and change cards. That way if any one card dies, gets lost etc. you have not lost everything.

Re: Sd card

Tintype_18 — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:31:45 GMT

Recording video on the T7, which I have, requires a different memory card; SD speed class 6 or higher. I would also recommend downloading the T7 manual as a PDF. I have it on my laptop and my Android phone for quick reference. There's a trainload of info there. Good luck!

Re: Sd card

deebatman316 — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:36:37 GMT

That's why I recommend that OP get a smaller SD Card the brand is fine.

-Demetrius

40D, 5D IV, EF 16-35mm F/2.8L III, EF 24-70mm F/2.8L II, EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, EF 50 F/1.8 STM

430EX III-RT & 600EX II-RT

Re: Sd card

lala27d — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:40:25 GMT

thank you so much for this. i only got the 128 because thats the only one cvs had at the time! ill look for smaller cards for sure. i appreciate all of you and your help!

Re: Sd card

deebatman316 — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 22:45:48 GMT

I recommend getting a few 32 GB SD Cards that should be plenty of space. I also recommend getting an SD Card reader too. This would be faster than trying to pull pictures from the camera.

-Demetrius

40D, 5D IV, EF 16-35mm F/2.8L III, EF 24-70mm F/2.8L II, EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, EF 50 F/1.8 STM

430EX III-RT & 600EX II-RT

Re: Sd card

Tronhard — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 23:10:56 GMT

No worries Demetrius - I know how that can work, and can be both confusing and frustrating! 🙂

Re: Sd card

Tronhard — Sat, 15 Oct 2022 23:15:20 GMT

Agree on both counts with Demetrius. It's a good idea to take the photos, copy them onto a computer, once you confirm the files are there, put the card back into your camera and format for the next shoot.

However, a couple of things.

Removing the SD card from your camera and then uploading the files via either an SD card slot in your computer, or one attached via USB is far more reliable and faster, and takes no more steps.

If you use Windows, use the Eject command in File Manager to close open files on the card once you have completed the copy process. It should tell you that the card is then safe to remove.

Re: Sd card

Waddizzle — Sun, 16 Oct 2022 14:34:52 GMT

I do not know why, but T5, T6, and T7 camera bodies and SDXC memory cards, 64GB or higher, do not get along. I know what the User Manual says, that the cameras can use SDXC cards. In the real world, the camera bodies frequently seem to choke on SDXC cards.

If you stick to SDHC memory cards, 32GB or less, then this current issue will go away. Be sure to to use the camera perform a low level format of the SD card prior to first use. They do not come reformatted. Follow all of Trevor’s advice in the first response.

Re: EOS Rebel T7 SD Card "Cannot Be Accessed" Message

Alfred_P — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:30:05 GMT

I’ve run into this before, and it usually turns out to be the SD card, not the camera. This can happen if the card is starting to fail, was used in another device, or was formatted on a computer.

The first thing I’d check is the little lock switch on the card. After that, try the card in a computer or card reader to see if it’s still readable there. If there’s nothing important on it, formatting the card inside the camera often clears the error. When I had a similar issue, I used Stellar Photo Recovery, and it was able to scan the card and recover the images even though the camera could not read it.