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Pictures disappeared from memory card! SOLVED (updated at bottom of thread)

jef3r
Contributor

Took a ton of pictures today on vacation.  I was able to view them on the camera itself after taking them.  Got home, put memory card in my computer, pictures weren't there.  Put memory card back in camera, pictures were gone from there too.  What the heck?!

 

I tried running a data recovery tool to no avail.  The files it found for me were all old pics.  Nothing from today's date so I did not pay the money to recover them.  All pictures from yesterday and before are still there.

 

There IS a .ctg file with today's date on it.  But the pics themselves are gone.  Is all hope lost?  Is there a better recovery tool to try (used Stellar data recovery tool).

 

ETA: Camera is a Canon EOS Rebel T3i and memory card is PNY Elite Performance 32GB SDHC.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

jef3r
Contributor

UPDATE:

 

I was able to recover the pictures.  Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

Card was not locked.

 

Menu options weren't changed (aside from which I know the pics saved to the card b/c I'd gone back and reviewed them at multiple times throughout the day).

 

My brother tried multiple recovery programs and had success with ZAR v. 9.2 (they have newer versions...this is just the one he happened to have from a recovery attempt on his phone a year or so ago).  ZAR is the only one that was able to search deeper into the memory card and found all the pics.

 

Interestingly enough, there were 172 pics that were lost and when he checked them all for recovery and began the process, a progress bar showed on the screen.  The first 171 pictures took just a few minutes and only about 1/3 of the progress bar.  When it got to picture 172, it took another 10-15 minutes and the remaining 2/3 of the progress bar.  Things that make you go hmmm...right?

 

So, after having them all saved to a folder on his desktop he went to transfer them to a flash drive for me to move them over to my computer and when it got to picture 172, the flash drive balked and said "no room..."  This prompted him to investigate further and he discovered that that 172nd picture was 8 GIGS which explains why that last picture took so long during the recovery process!  Don't know if that weirdness happened when the recovery was being done or if the memory card is the one that did that and which caused this whole mess in the first place.

 

Either way, I can't trust the card anymore and now don't trust the brand either.  Without knowing what caused the problem in the first place, I'm going back to Transcend and hoping that sticking with a more well known brand will prevent this from happening again.

View solution in original post

26 REPLIES 26

What model of camera? I guess I have to assume that it's a Rebel, which probably means that what I'm about to say doesn't apply, but ...

If it's a camera with two card slots, Canon makes it easy to lose track of which card is in use. So check both before giving up.

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

Sorry...that would have been helpful info for me to include in my original post.

 

 

It's a Canon EOS Rebel T3i

 

Memory card is PNY Elite Performance 32GB SDHC

 

In all my years using digital memory cards and all different brands, I've never had this happen before. 

 

I find it odd that it's JUST the pictures from today and all other pics are still on there.   

Is the memory card in lock position or accidentally bent or moisture exposed ? 

 

Try this link might help to recover files:      http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

 

Search for:   Software like SD recovery pro

 

 

 

 


@newsense52 wrote:

Is the memory card in lock position or accidentally bent or moisture exposed ? 

 

Try this link might help to recover files:      http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

 

Search for:   Software like SD recovery pro


Locking a card doesn't make it unreadable, does it? I thought it just made it unwritable.

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

I have the same problem of pictures and videos that disappeared after the memory card error showed up.

 

I cannot view anything from that card on my camera, and on the computer only some pictures show up.

 

I have a Canon G7X Mark ii camera but it seems to me that it's a memory card issue and not the camera (I tried another card and it was fine)

"I tried another card and it was fine"

 

Well there is the answer going forward, isn't it?  You might try any of the recovery softwares out there on the bad card.  Don't use that card and don't fromat it until you do.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

What kind of free recovery sources are there? I am unfamiliar with them.

Be very careful where you buy your cards because the popular brands are frequently the subject of counterfeit producers.  A few years ago I bought a couple of Sandisk SD cards from the extremely large online retailer and they were clearly not real Sandisk cards.  I had no problem returning them and purchased replacements from B&H which is a reliable source.

 

Lately even lithium coin cell batteries have become a major target of counterfeit producers and I bought a pair of replacements for my Corvette key fobs from the same place I got the counterfeit SD cards and received a pair of counterfeit batteries.  Now I get my replacement batteries from my favorite industrial electronic components supplier, Mouser.

 

The moral is be careful blaming the brand when what you bought may very well have been a counterfeit copy.

 

Rodger

EOS 1DX M3, 1DX M2, 1DX, 5DS R, M6 Mark II, 1D M2, EOS 650 (film), many lenses, XF400 video


@wq9nsc wrote:

Be very careful where you buy your cards because the popular brands are frequently the subject of counterfeit producers.  A few years ago I bought a couple of Sandisk SD cards from the extremely large online retailer and they were clearly not real Sandisk cards.  I had no problem returning them and purchased replacements from B&H which is a reliable source.

 

Lately even lithium coin cell batteries have become a major target of counterfeit producers and I bought a pair of replacements for my Corvette key fobs from the same place I got the counterfeit SD cards and received a pair of counterfeit batteries.  Now I get my replacement batteries from my favorite industrial electronic components supplier, Mouser.

 

 


 

I've had this experience with Amazon "marketplace" sellers.  I find you really have to double-check the seller when placing an order.  I've had numerous experiences with the coin batteries.  Amazon claims they shut them down but the seller will just pop up again under a new name. 

 

I agree that with both batteries and memory cards, you really need to check the source.  

 

 

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da
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