# Digital camera woes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401 "2009-04-08T15:49:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401/21 "2009-04-08T20:51:20Z")
Well that solves part of the problem. Anyone have any ideas on getting the compact flash chips to work? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401/22 "2009-04-08T20:55:41Z")
> [@Bewildebeest](#): > > Well this must be the crappiest! After about 1/2 hour with no batteries the pictures are gone. Wow. That’s craptastic. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401/23 "2009-04-08T21:06:02Z")
> [@Bewildebeest](#): > > Well that solves part of the problem. Anyone have any ideas on getting the compact flash chips to work? I don’t know the technical reasons, but certain brands of CF cards simply wouldn’t work in certain cameras back in the old days (and I’m not talking about using a high-capacity card in a device that doesn’t accept high capacity). I haven’t encountered this problem in the last, oh, three or four years, but that card I described before I had the problem with–that was in 2003. It worked in my PC and it worked in one of my digital cameras, but the other was not having any of it, and refused to format it. Google “Cf card won’t format” or “cf card won’t work” and you’ll find others who have had similar difficulty. The last test I would check is to see if a 64MB or even a 256MB (even though the specs say 128MB capacity) from a different brand works. If not, then it’s quite likely the camera. Also, check that all the contacts in the CF connection to the camera are present and not bent, and make sure they are free of dust. I’m grasping at straws here, but that’s all I could see you could do from this point. Or try the Linux formatting. Who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401/24 "2009-04-08T21:41:48Z")
I’ve absolutely seen bargain-basement no-name cameras use volatile memory for images; it’s standard on the early keychain cameras, but I could see others using it. Their website is pretty lame, but why not try asking at the [manufacturer’s website](http://www.shopezonics.com)? ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401/25 "2009-04-08T23:40:51Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > Their website is pretty lame, but why not try asking at the [manufacturer’s website](http://www.shopezonics.com)? Lame! It’s positively quadriplegic! Seriously, none of the support links work. I suspect they are actually gone and the current website is getting rid of their inventory. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401/26 "2009-04-09T03:03:22Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > I’ve absolutely seen bargain-basement no-name cameras use volatile memory for images; it’s standard on the early keychain cameras, but I could see others using it. I stand corrected. This camera is really several steps removed from the common cameras on the market. ---
**Author:** ![Bewildebeest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bewildebeest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bewildebeest)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401/27 "2009-04-09T12:16:57Z")
Thank-you all for your help. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-camera-woes/492401.md?page=1)