5dmkii intermittently stops writing to CF card while shooting tethered to Lightroom

[blayson]

I have been using both my Eros cameras tethered to Lightroom using the same laptop setup and tether tools cable.

recently during several sessions I found that after the first few exposures the preview that pops up on camera screen was not there and later that the photos were not written to the cf card. Luckily the images were on the tethered laptop in the proper folder.

Has happened with two different cards

I format cards with camera after downloading images to workstation 

have not changed anything in my work flow

so far seems to be writing to card normally when not tethered. 

Does anyone have ideas?

[Waddizzle]

How full is the card? Performance may suffer as the card approaches the limit of its' storage capacity.  How old is the CF card?  If it is a few years old, then when was the last time you performed a low level format on it? 

All cameras need some "scratchpad" memory space to function.  A little extra "overhead" is needed in order to construct the final image files, for example.  The need for "overhead" is compounded when you're shooting continuously.

[blayson]

I have several, Main two I use are

Lexar Professional 1000x 16Gb

and Sandisk Extreme Pro 16Gb

I have the camera format whenever I have downloaded, before next session

Both are a couple of years old.

I never shoot them completely Full, I usually download after each photoshoot

I'm not sure what a Low Level Format is??

[RobertTheFat]

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@blayson wrote:

I have several, Main two I use are

Lexar Professional 1000x 16Gb

and Sandisk Extreme Pro 16Gb

I have the camera format whenever I have downloaded, before next session

Both are a couple of years old.

I never shoot them completely Full, I usually download after each photoshoot

I'm not sure what a Low Level Format is??

---

A regular format is a software operation that logically erases the existing data, garbage-collecting the chained spaces to make the next use of the card as efficient as possible. A low-level format actually looks for unreliable data blocks on the card and programs them out of the file system so that they don't get inadvertently used. After a regular format, the previously existing data may still be on the card, although it's now subject to being overwritten. After a low-level format, the previously existing data is unrecoverable, because the process involved writing to, and then reading, each physical block on the card..

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

---

@blayson wrote:

I have several, Main two I use are

Lexar Professional 1000x 16Gb

and Sandisk Extreme Pro 16Gb

I have the camera format whenever I have downloaded, before next session

Both are a couple of years old.

I never shoot them completely Full, I usually download after each photoshoot

I'm not sure what a Low Level Format is??

---

A regular format is a software operation that logically erases the existing data, garbage-collecting the chained spaces to make the next use of the card as efficient as possible. A low-level format actually looks for unreliable data blocks on the card and programs them out of the file system so that they don't get inadvertently used. After a regular format, the previously existing data may still be on the card, although it's now subject to being overwritten. After a low-level format, the previously existing data is unrecoverable, because the process involved writing to, and then reading, each physical block on the card..

---

I don't think the camera gives him a low level format option, or not, on a CF card.  I have to assume that when the camera "formats" a card, that it is indeed performing a low level format, followed by default folder initialization.

[Waddizzle]

---

@blayson wrote:

I have several, Main two I use are

Lexar Professional 1000x 16Gb

and Sandisk Extreme Pro 16Gb

I have the camera format whenever I have downloaded, before next session

Both are a couple of years old.

I never shoot them completely Full, I usually download after each photoshoot

I'm not sure what a Low Level Format is??

---

Those cards sound like they're fine.  It is unlikely that every card would fail at once, not unless the camera was compromising them, which again is unlikely.

Resetting the camera clears settings like Long Exposure Noise Reduciton, High ISO Noise Reduction, etc.  Some settings can cause a camera to sit there "BUSY" while it processes image.  Try taking some pictures in Green Square [A} mode.

[RobertTheFat]

---

Waddizzle wrote:

I don't think the camera gives him a low level format option, or not, on a CF card.  I have to assume that when the camera "formats" a card, that it is indeed performing a low level format, followed by default folder initialization.

---

The 50D and the 7D don't do a low-level format at all. On the T2i, 5D3, and 7D2 it's optional. None of them do a LL format by default. I don't have a 5D2 manual in front of me, but it's hard to believe that it works the way you suggest, given the way the others work.

[Waddizzle]

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@RobertTheFat wrote:

---

@Waddizzle wrote:

I don't think the camera gives him a low level format option, or not, on a CF card.  I have to assume that when the camera "formats" a card, that it is indeed performing a low level format, followed by default folder initialization.

---

The 50D and the 7D don't do a low-level format at all. On the T2i, 5D3, and 7D2 it's optional. None of them do a LL format by default. I don't have a 5D2 manual in front of me, but it's hard to believe that it works the way you suggest, given the way the others work.

---

If you're not given the option to do a Low Level Format, then they would have to do a Low Level Format, by default.  I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't.  A Random Access storage device is unusable until it has been low level formatted.

A Low Level Format, LLF, lays down a paved road.  A LLF identifies all of the bumps in the road [bad sectors] and smooths them out, while erasing every sector in the process.. It lays the groundwork for data storage by creating all of the so called "pigeon holes" where data gets stored.

A "regular" format merely paints the lines on the road. If there is no road, then you cannot paint the lines.

A regular format initializes a special directory that keeps track of where the first sector that is being used for storage is located for each file.  Basically, this special directory is cleared out, but none of the data throughout the storage device is erased.  When a file is deleted, it is removed from this special directory, and put into another similar directory, called a Recycle Bin.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

---

@RobertTheFat wrote:

---

@Waddizzle wrote:

I don't think the camera gives him a low level format option, or not, on a CF card.  I have to assume that when the camera "formats" a card, that it is indeed performing a low level format, followed by default folder initialization.

---

The 50D and the 7D don't do a low-level format at all. On the T2i, 5D3, and 7D2 it's optional. None of them do a LL format by default. I don't have a 5D2 manual in front of me, but it's hard to believe that it works the way you suggest, given the way the others work.

---

If you're not given the option to do a Low Level Format, then they would have to do a Low Level Format, by default.  I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't.  A Random Access storage device is unusable until it has been low level formatted.

A Low Level Format, LLF, lays down a paved road.  A LLF identifies all of the bumps in the road [bad sectors] and smooths them out, while erasing every sector in the process.. It lays the groundwork for data storage by creating all of the so called "pigeon holes" where data gets stored.

A "regular" format merely paints the lines on the road. If there is no road, then you cannot paint the lines.

A regular format initializes a special directory that keeps track of where the first sector that is being used for storage is located for each file.  Basically, this special directory is cleared out, but none of the data throughout the storage device is erased.  When a file is deleted, it is removed from this special directory, and put into another similar directory, called a Recycle Bin.

---

The 50D and 7D manuals specifically tell you that they don't do a low-level format. They even tell you to destroy the card before throwing it away, because the data will still be on it. I'm too lazy to look up whether the 5D2 behaves similarly, but it's at least possible. If it does, a workaround would be to do a LL format on a computer or on a camera that allows it. then do a regular format on the 5D2.

That said, I think your argument that a formatting issue on more than one card is unlikely, makes sense.

[Waddizzle]

"The 50D and 7D manuals specifically tell you that they don't do a low-level format. They even tell you to destroy the card before throwing it away, because the data will still be on it. I'm too lazy to look up whether the 5D2 behaves similarly, but it's at least possible. If it does, a workaround would be to do a LL format on a computer or on a camera that allows it. then do a regular format on the 5D2.

That said, I think your argument that a formatting issue on more than one card is unlikely, makes sense."

That's remarkable.  I mean your text size.  Stop doing that, whatever it is.

Okay, I checked a 7D manual and it says "only the file management information is change.  The actual data is not completely erased.  Be aware of this ....."

That's incredible news to me.  I wonder when and how the CF card is supposed to get a LLF. 

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On that note, back to the OP's issue.  One card going bad is possilbe.  Several going bad at once is next to impossible.