5D Mk IV not reading CF card

[wrencottage]

I’m looking for someone to help explain why my 5D Mk IV has suddenly stopped recognising the photos on the CF card. I have been downloading my photos via a cable to my Mac (which is running Sonoma 14.5) without trouble until now. Then today it suddenly stopped showing the photos on the card, including newly taken photos, and said there was just one photo on the card (the oldest one by date), which had already been downloaded. This was when there were over 200 photos on the card, including new ones not yet downloaded.

I have re-booted everything in sight and changed USB plug sockets. Then I took the CF card out and put it in a card reader plugged in to my Mac, and immediately I could see all the photos. I also have a 7D Mk II, which connects quite happily to my Mac with the same cable, and all photos on the card are visible. I took the CF card out of the 7D and put it in the 5D and then once again only the oldest photo is visible. So it seems to be a problem with the 5D body, and not the card or the cable.

Does anyone have any ideas to help me please? 

[Tronhard]

Hi and welcome to the forum - that's an intriguing handle: Wrencottage!

My first thought is to check that your firmware version is up to date.  The current version is 1.4.0 which was released about 14 months ago.  You can download that from this link: Canon Support for EOS 5D Mark IV | Canon U.S.A., Inc. 

Note that the operating system for this is not 14.5 but 14 and this may be the issue if you have that firmware version.

[wrencottage]

Thank you for your reply, Trevor. I did consider updating my firmware, but in view of the fact that the problem occurred in the middle of downloading photos – one minute it's working, the next it isn't – led me to feel it is more likely to be a problem with the socket where the cable fits. I have now managed to download one photo to the 5D, so I'm thinking it may be an intermittent problem rather than a permanent one. I will, however, update the firmware anyway! Thanks again.

[garymak]

My first comment: Call Canon Factory Customer Service: ‭(800) 652-2666‬.  I've always found them to be helpful.  Mid-week is best and definitely not around the holidays like Christmas!  It could be an unreported technical issue, it could be a lot of things, and they can help troubleshoot in real time, specifically for your issue. In the long run, it will save you a lot of time.

My second comment-**bleep**-question is, why are you uploading via a cable?  First, it's very slow, second, it requires intermediary software of some kind (such as Canon DPP or MacOS ImageCapture (and some software can affect the creation date and time in some cases);  third, it drains the camera battery, and fourth, it requires the use of the camera's clunky, slow software, and fifth, it requires use of a cable, which can be flaky for a number of reasons.  

Why aren't you just popping the SD card into the slot on your laptop/desktop and dragging the images to your folder?  It is much faster, doesn't require any software, and doesn't drain your camera's battery.  It's as fast as your computer's and card's read/write speed (lowest common denominator) which is a lot faster than cable, even on the slowest days! (On a recent photo outing, I took 10GB worth of 300 images/videos and it copied in about 15 seconds (roughly, as I wasn't timing it officially.)

...and certainly for traveling, it's one less 'cable' you need to be sure to bring!

And any software/firmware version/update is totally irrelevant...

I can see no reason to upload images via a cable...

[wrencottage]

Thank you for your comment. First of all, I must apologise, and confirm that I was using an SD card and not a CF card (I stupidly was thinking compact must mean small!). Secondly, I can assure you that plugging the cable (which came in the box with the camera) into the computer is a fast and simple way to transfer photos onto my Mac. The photos go straight into Photos, no intermediary software required, and it's done very swiftly. However, I haven't been using the provided cable protector, which is probably why I'm experiencing intermittent connection problems now. So I will put your mind at rest and tell you I've bought a CF/SD/MicroSD reader to replace my SD reader and all is working fine now. No faster though! 😉

Thanks again for your help.

[garymak]

PS: Wow, there was nothing to "bleep"!  I most certainly did NOT say anything naughty!  You can thank AI for reading something that wasn't there.  Somehow I wasn't able to edit it! Very strange!

[normadel]

The OP has a CF card, not SD. Computers don't have CF card slots. OP CAN use a CF card reader plugged into the computer. They are available.

Using a cable should do the same thing as using a card reader. The card should appear on the computer as a drive. If you don't have a card reader, you use a cable. Nothing unreasonable about that.

[garymak]

Thanks for the correction/clarification. My misread by the time I got to the end I was thinking "SD", not CF.🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️  Yes, of course, you'll need a card reader for a CF.  Having said that, I stand by my comments about  just mounting the disk versus "using a cable" to directly connect the camera to the computer. 

For some reason(s), the R5 sometimes puts MP4s on the CF card, sometimes on the SD card. 🤷‍♂️ And sometimes, due to using burst mode where the SD card can't keep up, it even puts come CR3 files only on the CF card, so I also have to use a card reader. 🤦‍♂️   Except for those occasions, the SD card does all the heavy-lifting.

[Tronhard]

I have to agree with my colleague Gary that, at least as an alternative measure, you are wise to get a USB, CF card reader - if you are going to do so you may as well get one that reads CF Express cards as an insurance for the future - almost all read SD cards as well.

I have to agree that the most reliable, and fastest method to download images (current issue aside) is to remove the card from the camera, and insert it into your card reader.  The computer should then see it as a removable drive and you will be able to copy the images across to the folder of your choice at a much faster speed.  It also does not drain your camera's battery.   Using a cable can cause flexing of the port connectors and that can lead to dry joints in the circuit, which may be a possible issue.

After checking the download, Eject the card (Windows, for example has a command for this) and once back in the camera, format it clean with the camera's format command.   That ensures maximum performance and reliability.

[wrencottage]

Thanks again for your comment, and please see my humble apology to garymak above. I stupidly called the SD card a CF card (my 5D takes both, and I've got both, but tend mainly to use the SD card) and I've now bought a CF/SD/MicroSD reader, which I'm using instead of the cable for downloading, to prevent further possible damage to the connection in the camera.