Step 2 | Inspect The Memory Card for damageĪssess the situation: does your camera not even “see” the memory card at all? Is it giving you a specific “ERR” message or code, or memory card warning? Is it telling you to format the card? I pre-print a few “BAD” labels on a P-Touch labeler,Īnd store them in my card wallet for an emergency. So, remove your memory card immediately, and finish your photoshoot on a different card. If this happens, if the images you wish to recover get overwritten by newer images, then you’re really, really out of luck. It simply tells the card to “pretend” that the current images aren’t there, which allows the camera to write new image data onto the card, on top of the old image data. Why is this so important? Because of over-writing. In most cameras when you “format” a card, it does not actually erase or destroy the image data on that card. No matter what, the very first thing you do when you suspect that a memory card has encountered a problem is, STOP SHOOTING! If you keep shooting on that “bad” memory card, all bets are off. Step 1 | Immediately stop shooting on the corrupt card! In this worst-case scenario, there are two common problems: either a single image has gone bad, or the whole memory card has failed. What if you weren’t using dual card slots, or what if both cards are somehow not displaying images that you know should be there? If you were using dual card slots, then the first thing to do is to check the other memory card, of course. (If it’s physically falling apart, you probably don’t want to get bits of it stuck in your camera, but a cheap card reader can be sacrificed!) Okay, so, let’s assume that your memory card is at least in good enough physical condition to be plugged into a card reader. The good news is, if you’re willing to pay a price, sometimes even a highly damaged memory card can be recovered. Unfortunately, if a memory card is physically destroyed, there is not much you can do except to either carefully attempt data recovery, (see below) or send the memory card off to a professional recovery service. (Surprisingly, water, especially freshwater, is a rather survivable event! Saltwater is nasty stuff, though.) Do not attempt SD card recovery if your memory card looks like this! As you might imagine, one is easier to deal with by yourself!Ĭards can crack open, (both CF / SD) or have the contact points damaged, or be physically bent or punctured etc. If the worst happens, there are two categories of problems that you face: Data corruption, and physical memory card damage. Most high-end cameras these days have dual card slots, and therefore all serious photographers should be recording raw images to both cards at once, especially if you are getting paid to click photos! If you do this, the entire issue of a memory card getting corrupted usually becomes a secondary, last-resort emergency. Your absolute best line of defense against any sort of data loss is redundancy, AKA, having a backup! So, duplicate your images as immediately as possible. Memory Card Recovery | How To Save Your Images!ĭuplicate Your Images As Immediately As Possible In this article, we’ll provide you with workflow steps for basic SD card recovery, (or any memory card, of course) so you can give yourself the best chance (the last chance!) of never truly losing images. It may sound silly, but, don’t accidentally format a memory card if you’re not absolutely sure you’ve transferred the photos! Unfortunately, the fact is that human error is far more common or likely than actual memory card failure. Also, just as importantly, you need to create a simple, safe workflow procedure and then never, ever cut any corners! Cutting corners, and sheer forgetfulness, will be your worst enemies. However, I have had a few memory cards “go corrupt” on me, and each time I was able to retrieve all the photos!įirst, it is important to start by understanding how memory cards work. Personally, I have clicked well over one million photos in my career, and the number of images that I’ve truly “lost” has been limited to a couple of unimportant snapshots here and there, thankfully.
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