Troubleshooting AND recommendations?

[brittski8]

Hi everyone. I'm at my wit's end here....I'll try to keep it as concise as possible! I'm a part-time photographer, hoping to become full-time eventually, and own a Canon Rebel T1i. My model didn't have a microphone port, and it's been running a bit slow lately, and it doesn't look like I can upgrade the firmware anymore, so I'm thinking of upgrading. (I often have to wait when my camera says "busy" after firing photos, with or without flash...drives me nuts!) Recently, I purchased another memory card--Sony, same kind I've used before--and the photos weren't available to review ("preview unavailable") toward the end of the shoot. To my horror, they weren't able to be viewed or uploaded on my computer either. Apparently they are "damaged." I'm currently looking for photo recovery software to help retrieve them (suggestions?! Sony has one, but keeps telling me the serial# and/or model # on the memory card isn't valid?!). I don't know if this is a memory card issue, or somehow my camera. Additionally, I put in the other 2 Sony 32-gig memory cards, idential to the "damaged" one, and my camera told me the memory cards were full...which they were not. They were completely empty. Once I tried the 16 gig Sony, it worked fine, as well as the 16 gig other brand of memory card I own. I cannot comprehend how so many problems are happening at once, and why I can't seem to find solutions online. If anyone has any suggestions or insight, it would be much appreicated. 

Additionally, I don't know much about shopping for cameras. (I got my current one from a friend's sister as a good deal). I know Black Friday & Cyber Monday are coming up, and I'm looking at what and where to buy. Should I stick with Rebels, since I'm familiar with it? Or go for a full-frame? Like those Mark 6/7Ds? I know they're a bit more costly though. And I'd love to buy a good portrait lens too...so I have to keep that in mind with price too. SO....that's that. Thanks in advance!! 🙂

UPDATE: I tried the Sony picture recovery again a different way and it still says I entered someething wrong....or this type is unsupported. (I'm guessing that's the problem....but WHY?!?!)

[cicopo]

There are several types of memory cards and newer ones are not backward compatible with older cameras. This may be your problem but there are also counterfit memory cards on the market selling junk cards under popular brand names. You need to verify what types of cards you bought, whether your camera can recognize them & if so they it's possible they are counterfit. If you have a card reader & use it with your computer can you then see the card & format it? 

[brittski8]

thank you for responding. I thought it could be counterfeit, but it's from Amazon and came with  high reviews. Maybe that means nothing. I'll investigate that for sure...once I try to recover the photos, that is. I heard that older models might not be compatible w/newer cards (for instance, it can't handle more than the 32 gig card...) but since the others are exactly the same, I figured this one should work too, which is making me think about it likely being a counterfeit. 

I used a card reader too, but same thing happened. File couldn't be found/was corrupt. UGH. 

[jrhoffman75]

If you think it's counterfeit contact Amazon. Maybe you can get a refund. 

[jrhoffman75]

You can download the firmware update, assuming you don't have the latest, from the Canon support site. 

Your camera can use SD or SDHC cards, but not SDXC. 

Go to the Canon eStore and look into what they are offering as refurbished models. Good pricing and same warranty as new camera. If you call them they might even offer a trade-in credit for your camera. 

[brittski8]

thanks! Yeah, definitely going to contact Amazon. Once I (hopefully) retrieve the lost photos, anyway!

Good to know about what kind of memory cards my camera takes. It's an SDHC, so that's good news. 

[brittski8]

thanks for recommending refurbished...never quite sure if it was a good idea until now!

[PaulSoebekti]

Hi, there are two possibilities.

One is that you may have a memory card that is not compatible with the camera, as discussed above.

This link will explain it all:

https://www.sdcard.org/consumers/sdxc_capabilities/

Or, two - that you have a malfunctioning card reader. Reboot the reader when it fails to read several cards and try again. Repeated fails on several cards is an indication of malfunctioning reader.

Hope this helps.

Paul

[brittski8]

thanks guys. I can't imagine the card isn't compatible with my camera, seeing as I have two others of this exact same one and have used them soley for my shoots. I tried a 64-gig Sony, but that wasn't compatible with my camera. I'm guessing it's a dud card. I'll have to contact Amazon once I try to recover the photos. I don't normally use a card reader, but I did this time to make sure I didn't miss any way to get those photos. The other memory cards work fine with it, so I'm going with a bad card. I just don't know why, all of a sudden, the other 2 cards I've been using are suddenly not working & giving me that message that the cards are full, when they're most definitely not. 

Thanks for your help, everyone. It's most definitely appreciated 🙂 This photography stuff is hard work...but it'll be worth it!

[ebiggs1]

"Additionally, I don't know much about shopping for cameras. (I got my current one from a friend's sister as a good deal). I know Black Friday & Cyber Monday are coming up, and I'm looking at what and where to buy. Should I stick with Rebels, since I'm familiar with it? Or go for a full-frame? Like those Mark 6/7Ds? I know they're a bit more costly though. And I'd love to buy a good portrait lens too...so I have to keep that in mind with price too"

My suggestion is a Rebel T6i.  Especially if you have any lenses for your currect Rebel.  If they are EF-S they will not work on a FF.  BTW, the 7D and 7D Mk II are not full frame!

If you can see your way to a Rebel T6i and the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens you will complete your wish list.  It makes a very nice portrait as well as a greta general all around lens.

My favorite places to buy gear from is B&H, Adorama, Best Buy and my local camera shop. Best Buy and you local camera shop will let you actually try the camera before you buy it. That is worth a great deal to me sometimes.