Canon Vixia HF-R800 "Cannot Record"

[ZenGeekDad]

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.

[BurnUnit]

I think you'll find in the user's manual that Canon recommends using only full-size SD cards. At least there are no recommendations for micro SD cards and their required adapters. Micro SD cards and/or their adapters have been known to cause problems or subpar performance in DSLR cameras and I would guess the same issues could occur with camcorders as well. You're just adding another couple sets of electrical contacts and another area for potential connection problems.

I'm sure they've been used with no problem in certain cameras under certain conditions, but it's not really considered to be a best practice.

[Richard]

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.

[ZenGeekDad]

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.

[ZenGeekDad]

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@Richard wrote:

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

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Can you please double check your product info on that?   Reasons I am confused by your statement:

1. UHS-1 came out in 2010.  Canon Vixia HF-R800 came out in 2017.  Camcorders singularly drove the development and commercialization of UHS SD cards.  So it's hard to believe Canon wasn't caught up with UHS-1 seven years later.
2. The HF-R800 manual says nothing about UHS-1 cards being incompatible.  I've searched it.  If I missed it, please post the manual's page number.
3. The HF-R800 manual says to use class 6 or class 10 cards.  For some time now, it has been very hard to find class 10 cards that are not also UHS-1.  Recommending class 10 cards, but being incompatible with UHS-1 seems like exceedingly unfortunate product design.
4. Over the past year, my HF-R800 has recorded many hours on two different UHS-1 SD cards.  In fact, it is happily test-recording me typing this entry right now, to a UHS-1 card.

Note: By UHS-1, I mean the card has both the number "1" inside a "U" and has the roman I after the SDXC logo:

[ZenGeekDad]

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@BurnUnit wrote:

I think you'll find in the user's manual that Canon recommends using only full-size SD cards. At least there are no recommendations for micro SD cards and their required adapters. Micro SD cards and/or their adapters have been known to cause problems or subpar performance in DSLR cameras and I would guess the same issues could occur with camcorders as well. You're just adding another couple sets of electrical contacts and another area for potential connection problems.

I'm sure they've been used with no problem in certain cameras under certain conditions, but it's not really considered to be a best practice.

---

Thanks for your comments.  FWIW, I scoured the manual but found no warning against micro SD cards.

I understand the speculation that adapters might introduce interference.  Audio techs cite jack adpaters all the time as boosting signal-to-noise ratio.  So something like that might apply here too.  Though it does feel a bit like the scape goat du jour, or perhaps the dragons we draw at the edge of the map where our knowledge ends.  But in this case, I have personally-generated data showing that the adpaters were in fact at least contributing to the problem.  So, thanks for the nudge!  Without your reply, I would not have tested all the combinations.

[BurnUnit]

I've always looked at the Micro SD cards as being designed for use in smaller devices like cell phones, tablets and MP3 players. And the only reason that the adapters existed was to make it easy to transfer files between the card and a desktop computer. Never really gave any thought to using a micro SD card any differently. If the camera has a slot for a full size SD card then that's what I intend to stick in there.

I would agree that Canon might have done a better job in their manuals however by stating outright that they DO NOT RECOMMEND the usage of Micro SD cards and adapters.

[ZenGeekDad]

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@BurnUnit wrote:

I've always looked at the Micro SD cards as being designed for use in smaller devices like cell phones, tablets and MP3 players. And the only reason that the adapters existed was to make it easy to transfer files between the card and a desktop computer. Never really gave any thought to using a micro SD card any differently. If the camera has a slot for a full size SD card then that's what I intend to stick in there.

I would agree that Canon might have done a better job in their manuals however by stating outright that they DO NOT RECOMMEND the usage of Micro SD cards and adapters.

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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?

[ZenGeekDad]

Misc Update:

Today I shot a play, using the Canon Vixia HF-R800 as one camera (of several), recording ~90 minutes to a Samsung 64 EVO micro-SD card in an adapter.  It worked.  No failure to record.  No clipped files.  I'm not saying this proves it will always work; I'm just sharing the data point.

[BurnUnit]

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 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?

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