I just took about 40 digital pictures using a Fuji Finepix 2400 camera that I often use, but when I tried to transfer them to my computer, I find there are no files.
I am using a Smartmedia 64MB card. The 40 pix, at ~800K per, should occupy about 36MB. The card has been used before, but I don’t think it is worn out yet.
The camera shows zero images, but space for only 26 pix left on the card. (Capacity at the current resolution/compression is 84 when the card is initialized.) This means to me that the space allocated to the images is still being accounted for. But neither the camera or a Flashpath reader device (it emulates a floppy) show the file names. The camera & Flashpath agree on the 26 pix left on the card and the nominal card size.
Does anyone know of a way I can restore/retrieve the data? I have tried writing more images on the card, and that works fine, so I suspect the lost data may be retrieveable. Using the Flashpath, it looks like a (very large) floppy to the computer – maybe a hex editor could hack into the FAT (or whatever the card uses)?
I found this article touting a product with a free trial download that they claim can often recover files from damaged or corrupted Smart Media and CompactFlash cards.
I have a Fuji Finepix 1400 (and a 2400 on the way) and have had some similar experiences. One thing I have noticed is that it is better to format the smartmedia with an external reader/writer than with the camera because when I format it with the camera the reader sometimes will not read. I have also had a card that just died after a short while. I don’t know how reliable these things are but I don’t have much confidence.
I’m afraid my Fuji has died. It no longer will take pictures, but it will display them, and the selector lever, when set to “take,” only “displays” them. (The “display” setting does nothing at all. ) This happened once before, and went away. Maybe it is time to retire it and upgrade to another defective product.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the link Q.E.D. supplied is looking promising. I downloaded the recovery prog and am running it now. ( With 1MB/minute transfer rate thru the Flashpath pseudo-floppy interface, that will take another hour for my bad card.) But it looks good – the images are showing up as thumbnails. The Photorescue program demo won’t let me save them, just show them – but it looks like a good utility to have. I’ll report back when it is done.
I have a CF card that my computer can see & write to fine but my camera doesn’t recognize it. I went to the website of the camera maker & they suggested that test.
When formatting it on the computer with XP Home I notice it has dos format or NTSF format. Both work fine, but the camera doesn’t recognize it.
That sounds like very simple: probably the electrical switch. I have opened the camera myself and messed with it just because I like to investigate. It should not be difficult to repair.
J.C., I appreciate your attempt at help, but I think I answered all your questions in my very first post in this short thread. And all my cards get formatted frequently.
I have been trying some data recovery programs – shareware, etc., and I am amazed at how different the results can be. First, since I am going thru the floppy interface, it usually takes over an hour for any prg to analyze the card.
Y’all might be interested in some results for specific prgs.[ul][li]Badcopy3: Fatal error after install, during initialization[]Davory: cannot read the card, even the 2 files that the main op sys sees![]Zero Assumption Data Recovery: Assumes (!) that all computers have drive A: as the the only floppy, so I had to flip A/B in my BIOS to even get the prg to work. Lists 24 connected devices, none of which I have active. Big useless program.[]Recover.exe: Doesn’t see the trashed files.[]Demo638.exe (datarescue/photorescue): Aha! This is the prg linked to by Q.E.D., and was able to create thumbnails of ALL missing files, and they look good! However, they want $30 to be able to save the data, so unless I can find a freeware prg, I’ll cough up the dough.[/ul][/li]Sailor, I just might open up the case, as the camera is way out of warranty and factory repair is probably uneconomical. Dunno what I will find. Maybe I can hotwire the switch?
Handy, this card/camera/setup is the same I have been using for 2 years, with minimal errors. Usually if I have difficulty reading a card thru the FlashPath adapter, it means it needs new batteries. I have tried formatting/erasing cards with both the computer or the camera, and haven’t yet found any incompatibilities.
It sounds like the switch may have just rotated or come loose and may be easy to fix provided you are comfortable working with tiny, delicate, things. When I got mine the first thing I did is open it up (and void the warranty). I was considering a connector so I could fire it from a distance. At one point I remmeber thinking I had screwed up and damaged it. be careful because things are tiny and tightly packed but it soulds like an easy thing to repair if you can work carefully.
Cool. If nothing else, you can write to the Photorescue people and show them those results. Maybe they’ll be so grateful they’ll give you a free copy. Heh.
Seriously, I’m glad it worked. Sounds like it’s worth the $30 if 4 other programs failed.
Musiccat You didn’t really answer all my questions in your OP. You said “But neither the camera or a Flashpath reader device (it emulates a floppy) show the file names.” This doesn’t tell me that you can, indeed, see the camera as a drive on your computer. The second post explains that you are using the recovery program on the card in the Flashpath reader; again, no information about viewing the card in the camera as a drive.
And I never suggested that you were careless about reformatting cards - my comments about my stupidity in that area where intended to make you feel less alone in your camera snafu.
I cannot see the camera as a drive from my computer because there is no way to connect said camera to said computer. All data transfer since I got the camera has been thru the Flashpath floppy-emulator. Therefore, any program that came with the camera cannot be used, either (nor is it normally needed).
To recap, this particular card, when inserted in the camera, does not show any images (count=00000), yet the space allocated for them is accounted for in the remaining image space available. Other cards seem to work fine.
Do you know of anyone who has a similar camera that uses the same card? Give the card to them and see if it works in their camera and then upload the photos to their computer. Then they can burn you a disk and be done with it.
Next: Buy new camera.
