cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Canon Vixia HF-R800 "Cannot Record"

ZenGeekDad
Contributor

My Canon Vixia HF-R800 is unable to record to a new top-brand micro-SD card (64 GB).

 

(This is just to provide a record of it.  I doubt anyone has a fix.  But, feel free to prove me wrong!)

 

Details:

 

Camcorder = Canon Vixia HF-R800.  Relatively new (<1 yr old) / very light use / never abused (I'm a middle-aged video hobbiest and am very fussy with my gear; this is a spare camera for me; used for maybe 6 shoots).

 

Camcorder has recorded trouble-free to prior SD cards -- e.g., to a PNY 32 GB Class 10 / UHS-1 / V90 / "95MB/s R/W".

 

The currently-failing SD card is a Sandisk Ultra, 64 GB micro SD XC-I (class 10 / UHS 1).  This SD card works flawlessly in ever other camera I use it in (Canon XC15, Nikon D7200, Panasonix TM700, GoPro Hero5), and works fine with my PC.

 

I initialized this failing SD card in the Canon HF-R800.  (Home icon on touch screen > Other Settings [screwdriver & hammer] > wrench tab at far right > Initialize (4th up from bottom) > Initialize (button at bottom of screen) > Complete Initialization (bottom button of scrren again).  This did not help.

 

I also tried wiping the card in my PC, by doing a standard format (as opposed to a Quick Format), then trying as is, and when that failed to allow the Canon Vixia to record to it, then repeating the Complete Initialization in the Canon HF-R800.  Again, no luck.

 

I've repeated the in-Canon HF-R800 Complete Initialization a couple-few times, just to give it every chance to work.  No luck.

 

I've confirmed the Canon HF-R800 currently records just fine to another 64 GB micro SD card (in this case, a Samsung Closs 10 / UHS-1 claiming 48 MB/s R/W).

 

Note: Canon's 1st-level monitors / staff here might try to claim this problem is due to using a poor SD card.  But that doesn't wash.  Sandisk is about as reliable a brand as they come.  And that Sandisk SD card is working just fine in every other camera and device I own.

 

I'm not trying to gain anything here.  Just sharing my experience.  That way, if a lot of this sort of experience gets posted, we can start to sort out the patterns, and make more informed buying decisions.

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Yes-ssss!

 

I bought a Samsung microSD adaptor. At first disappointed because I still could not transfer files while the card was inside the camcorder. Still received the error message that files weren't detected.

 

Then, I thought I'd remove it and see what happened when I used it in my card reader (plugged into my computer). I was able to play the video WITH audio in my Media Player, copy the vid files from the microSD card into my hard drive, and then load it into my editor.

 

THANK YOU all so much for sharing all of your experiences with this problem! The video that was stored on this microSD card was extremely important on a few levels. Am so happy that, with your help, they weren't lost.

View solution in original post

34 REPLIES 34

Well played! Glad you stuck with it till you figured out a solution. As long as they played OK on the camera I figured there had to be a good, complete file somewhere on your card. Just a matter of figuring out how to get the files moved intact.

 

And you might want to scroll back a couple posts and give ZenGeekDad a kudo for his suggestions.

 

If you end up posting your video online somewhere, post a link to it here and let us see how you did. Smiley Wink

Hey!  That's great news!

 

Thanks for sticking it out, in terms of working to a solution, and then posting your results.  This sort of methodical trouble-shooting + documentation can be a lifesaver for future readers, for at least a couple-few years (while the camera model remains in common use; hmm ... and/or any similarly-behaving future cameras).

 

Sorry I missed your question about "what kind of Samsing adapter" to try.  But for future readers of this thread, I've taken a strong magnifying glass to every angle of my Samsung adapters, and have never seen a model number or serial number or unique identifier of any kind.  So I don't know if their adapaters vary such as with the type of micro-SD card they came with, or are all the same, or perhaps only vary incidentally (from production run to run, or which factory they jobbed it out to).

 

It's hard to imagine why the different adpaters (Samsung vs. Sandisk/generic/Transcend/etc.) give different results.  I would think they all just provide conductive paths between the various leads of the micro-SD card and the leads on a standard SD port.  But then I'm not an electrical engineer.  And it's not just current being conveyed, but rather a dense information flow, in the form of extremely rapidly varying current.  Perhaps there are transient effects (like inductive power drain, from the rapidly changing current) which -- in an imperfectly designed adpater -- might throw a challenge to the overall system?  Just a guess; it's been decades since circuits class.

I cannot tell you how many problems I've rooted out, and been able to fix myself, through Forums such as this! This particular video footage was extremely important to me, and the band featured in the video, since we needed it in order to submit to a number of music festivals this spring/summer--and the deadline(s) were upon us. Absolutely no time to re-shoot.

 

Some folks have suggested that Samsung adapters either have better conduction or the material they're made of is thinner/thicker by a millimeter so that it behaves more like a full-sized SD card. It was also speculated that the other adapters bowed a bit when the microSD was inserted which caused a problem. Obviously, we can only guess but whatever the reason, the Samsung worked in this situation!

 

I also had a close look (bought this via Amazon) at the adapters that came with various Samsung microSD cards and, frankly, they all looked the same on the images. So felt pretty comfortable buying one that didn't cost an arm & a leg ($30 range).

 

I shied away from the EVO Select that Amazon sells as I got feedback that these were manufactured in China specifically for Amazon. Still Samsung labeled but not the same as (say) EVO Pro (which is what I purchased). Since I already had so many problems with adapters, I didn't care to roll the dice on a China-manufactured part for this test run. Do not know whether it mattered but frankly don't care at this time. What I bought worked and that saved a boatload of blood, sweat, and tears!

See below - it worked!


 wrote:
Thanks for sharing your certainty that Canon DOES NOT RECOMMEND micro-SD cards in adapters in the HF-R800.  Since that information isn't in their 288 page manual, ... where did you come by it?

I didn't. I just stated that they might have done a better job of not recommending their use in the user's manuals.

Wait, you said with great emphasis that Canon DOES NOT RECOMMEND using micro-SD cards.  Right?  So I'm just asking how you learned that.  Not trying to be a pain here.  Just genuinely trying to learn.

I based my observations largely on a response to this very forum post, from Richard, who's listed here as a "Canon Product Expert". If I'm not mistaken, I believe he contributes here on a voluntary basis, so I figure he has no ulterior motive.

 

As posted by Richard:

"We recommend against the use of cards that require an adapter to fit in the camcorder (i.e. micro-SD or Mini-SD). The increase in the number of connections between the camcorder and memory card (from the memory card to the adapter, then from the adapter to the camcorder) makes a malfunction more likely."

Also, by doing a site search using the search terms "micro", "sd" and "adapter" you will find seven pages of links returned. The majority of the threads concern problems encountered when using micro sd cards and adapters in Canon DSLRs. I took the liberty of extrapolating that information to also apply to Canon video cameras. And I did so feeling that I wasn't taking too big of a technological leap.

http://community.usa.canon.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=false&allow_punctuation=fal...

Maybe Canon doesn't state their "non-recommendation" more clearly because they also realize that using a micro sd card and adapter can work OK in certain circumstances. But they may also realize, as you've found out, that that they don't always work as reliably as their recommended full-size sd cards.

Nicely answered. Thanks.

Richard
Product Expert
Product Expert

Hi ZenGeekDad,

 

Thanks for posting and for the detail you've provided.

 

While we don't recommend specific brands or models of cards, we do recommend that you use a memory card produced by a major manufacturer that closely adhere to the current industry standards. You may see the standards at sdcard.org.

 

We recommend against the use of cards that require an adapter to fit in the camcorder (i.e. micro-SD or Mini-SD). The increase in the number of connections between the camcorder and memory card (from the memory card to the adapter, then from the adapter to the camcorder) makes a malfunction more likely.

 

Important: Your camcorder does not support memory cards using the UHS-I, UHS-II or UHS-III standards.

Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

UPDATE.

 

Turns out the SD card adpaters are definitely part of it, but it's complicated ...

 

I rounded up seven different micro SD card adpaters, and tested different combinations (card + adapter) in different devices. 

 

The HF-R800 and Sandisk are the sole fussy combination.  They only work together when I use a Samsung adapter.

Every other combination works: (1) the Samsung card* works in the HF-R800 no matter the adpater, and (2) the Sandisk card* works in my other four cameras and my PC, regardless of the adapter.

 

* both Samsung and Sandisk micro SD cards are 64 GB class 10 UHS-1.

 

So it's not completely an adapter thing.  And evidence says it's not a UHS-1 thing (see my related reply below this one on UHS-1).

 

Maybe the HF-R800 SD port flexes the cards a teeny bit, breaking electrical continuity at the contact points in most of my adapters, but which the Samsung adapter fends off better somehow (maybe it's stiffer or perhaps a crucial mil or two thinner)?  Just a guess.  No circuits in these adapters that I know of.  Just a conduction path.

 

SD card tests.png

 

Announcements