Older EOS Rebel T1i

[AlaskaBev]

I gave put a brand new card in camera and get error message saying card cannot be accessed Reinsert or format card with camera why

[BurnUnit]

Exactly what brand, model and capacity of card are you using?

Is it a full sized SD card or a Micro SD card with an adapter?

[AlaskaBev]

I’ve been using a micro but needing more space for pictures to take at Denali Park so tried another micro and it said same them went back to 32 reg and still won’t

[RobertTheFat]

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@AlaskaBev wrote:
I’ve been using a micro but needing more space for pictures to take at Denali Park so tried another micro and it said same them went back to 32 reg and still won’t

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32GB may be too large for a T1i. Has your camera ever worked with a card of that size?

[BurnUnit]

The consensus around here is that Micro SD cards with an adapter can be frustrating, unpredictable ,erratic, undependable, etc., when used in cameras. They seem to work OK in some instances, until they don't.

Do you have a full size SD card available that you can try in your T1i?

[AlaskaBev]

Oh yes . 64 is what I have

[kvbarkley]

Did you try to format it?

[TCampbell]

The T1i can read MS-DOS FAT32 filesystem format.  I cannot read exFAT format.

Standard "SD" and "SDHC" cards use either FAT-16 or FAT-32 formats.

But "SDXC" cards use exFAT format.  An "SDXC" card canot be used in a T1i because it doesn't understand the filesystem on the card.

The exFAT filesystem is a relatively new invention.  The MS-DOS FAT32 filesystem because fairly universal/ubiquitous.  Not only can Windows computers read it, but so can Macs, Linux computers, and many others.  But the filesystem is so old and was made in an era when computer didn't have big disk drives.  The maximize size of the filesystem is limited to 32G.

Later, as computers got bigger filesystems, Microsoft came out with their proprietary NTFS filesystem ... but they demand royalty payments from any other vendor who wants to use it.  Apple came out with HFS+ ... but they demand royalty payments from anyone other vendor who wants to use it.  And so on.  

Ultimately the "exFAT" standard was proposed as a common middle-ground that everyone can use.  You can insert an exFAT card into a Windows PC, or a Mac, or a Linux machine, etc. and they all know how to use it.  Also camera companies like Canon can implement it.  

But this is a moderately new-ish idea.  The T1i pre-dates the existence of this standard and thus doesn't know how to deal with these really large memory cards (which didn't exist when the T1i was a current product.)

For your T1i:

Get an "SDHC" card ... make sure it is not an "SDXC" card.  Also make sure it's a true "SD" (physical) size card and not a "microSD" size card with an adapter.

The first time you use the card in the T1i, perform a format by using the in-camera menu and tick the "Low Level" check-box.  You only need to do this once.

That card should be used exclusively by the T1i (except to copy images to your computer).  Don't share memory cards between different devices.  If for any reason you DO use the card in another device, it's a good idea to re-format the card (low level) on the camera again.

You want the card to be formated with a filesystem and directory structure laid out the way the *camera* wants to get optimal performance.  You may think "Yeah... but I could format this on ___ instead".  You could... but you wouldn't necessarily get the same blocking factor, etc.  and it wouldn't be optimal (sometimes devices refuse to read them.)

[ebiggs1]

"Get an "SDHC" card"

That is the correct answer.  However, don't buy huge SD cards. Instead buy several smaller ones like 8GB.  They are far safer especially for a long vacation trip to Denali National Park.  Also never use the tiny micro SD cards with adapter.  Never!

"You want the card to be formated with a filesystem and directory structure laid out the way the *camera* wants..."

You know I used to claim and say the same thing.  I guess because it is what I've always heard.  Since I have tried using my computer to format CF cards I have not seen any adverse or noticeable difference.  If it makes you feel better use your camera but I doubt you will see a difference.

The main thing I want you to do is stop buying huge SD cards.  Go for several smaller ones.  Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[TCampbell]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

"You want the card to be formated with a filesystem and directory structure laid out the way the *camera* wants..."

You know I used to claim and say the same thing.  I guess because it is what I've always heard.  Since I have tried using my computer to format CF cards I have not seen any adverse or noticeable difference.  If it makes you feel better use your camera but I doubt you will see a difference.

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I've learned this based on "luck".   I formatted a memory card using my Mac and discovered that I had a Windows computer that couldn't recognize it even though it claimed to support exFAT.  What I later learned is that it didn't like the blocking factor (the number of bytes per block) that the Mac used.  Apple was able to adapt to different blocking factors, but the Windows PC was fixed to just one blocksize that it wanted to use and refused to work with anything else.

This wasn't a camera issue... but it taught me that just because it's the same filesystem, doesn't necessarily mean there wont be something about the format that a device doesn't like.

If the camera formats the card, then you can be assured that the card is formatted in a way that the camera will like.

If you prefer to have your computer format the card... just make sure you test it in the camera to verify there are no issues ... before you need to rely on the camera for something important.  It may work fine.