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mollusk · Aug 1, 2004, 11:12 PM

I have a dozen pictures on my 512MB CF card that I use with a Nikon 5700 digital camera. As I was transferring the photos to iphoto with a card reader I got an unreadable message. I can view the pictures on the camera along with several images that say FILE CONTAINS NO IMAGE DATA. I have never run in to this problem. I am able to take more pics on this card and they transfer fine. I tried the Kodak machine at CVS and it can not read the card either. I have tried another reader as well as another computer. I really do want to get these pictures and find out if there is a problem with the card or camera. What troubleshooting steps should I take?

SplijinX · Aug 2, 2004, 07:13 AM

Maybe the files are corrupted in some way that only the camera can interpret them. Have you tried opening up the CF card and copying the files to your harddrive first?

That and maybe connect the camera to the computer to import if you have a cable that will connec the two.

Powaqqatsi · Aug 2, 2004, 07:34 AM

Err just connect the camera to the computer? Don't use the card reader?

thefunkymunky · Aug 2, 2004, 08:21 AM

Have you tried using PhotoRescue if you are having trouble reading images from your CF card.

It might help you.

Nick.

mollusk · Aug 2, 2004, 09:14 AM

I have tried connecting the camera and not using the card reader and also tried to copy the card to my hard drive. Still got gobbly gook. I will try Photo Rescue today.
Pics are in TIFF if that makes any difference.

aaanorton · Aug 2, 2004, 10:10 AM

Originally posted by mollusk:
Pics are in TIFF if that makes any difference.

What camera are you using that shoots TIFFs? Are they RAW files? If they are RAW, what are you using to process them?

Powaqqatsi · Aug 2, 2004, 10:17 AM

Originally posted by aaanorton:
What camera are you using that shoots TIFFs? Are they RAW files? If they are RAW, what are you using to process them?

He uses a Coolpix 5700 and TIFF is not RAW...

aaanorton · Aug 2, 2004, 11:17 AM

Originally posted by Powaqqatsi:
He uses a Coolpix 5700 and TIFF is not RAW...

Woops. You mean kinda like he says in his first sentence?
I would try opening them in other apps like Preview and GraphicConverter, but it sounds like corruption to me. Maybe PhotoRescue can rescue them. And my guess would be it being a card issue. Even really good cards have problems sometimes.

mollusk · Aug 2, 2004, 03:59 PM

Photo Rescue did not work although it recovered 2 pics I didn't know I had! Graphic Converter does not work either. I am not understanding why I can view the pics on the camera when the card is inserted but can not read them otherwise. I am heading to the camera store in a while to see if anyone there can help. Once a card is corrupted is it not usable? This is a new 512MB card I got just 2 months ago. And I am a she. Thanks for trying so far.

SplijinX · Aug 3, 2004, 07:34 AM

Have you tried using the Nikon View/Capture software to see if pictures can be imported with this method? Maybe that batch of pictures were saved in such a way that only the Nikon can interpret.

As far as being corrupted, if you have been able to take and download new pictures, then the worst case scenario is that you will not be able to use the space occupied by the pictures you are having problems with.

You probably won't know until you reformat the card and wipe it clean to see if that space can be used properly. Seeing how you can see them on your camera, I really don't think the memory itself is bad, the camera may have accidently written in some format only it can understand.

Powaqqatsi · Aug 3, 2004, 08:32 AM

Originally posted by aaanorton:
Woops. You mean kinda like he says in his first sentence?

Yep

Any luck mollusk ?

mollusk · Aug 3, 2004, 10:21 PM

You were right Splijinx. I had not tried Nikon View as I had never used it. Always imported in to iphoto. I couldn't find my CD so I downloaded Nikon View/Capture. I was able to transfer the pics to view on my laptop but I am not able to do anything else with them. Photo Elements still can not read them. That will be ok as these were pictures of kids in a summer musical that I had costumed. I really just need a record. Prints came out with strange pixel patterns. I suppose I could take a photo of the lap top screen! Any way, I have reformatted the card and it seems to be working fine now. Not really sure how this happened but I learned in the process. Thanks for the help.

ChrisF · Aug 3, 2004, 11:39 PM

Originally posted by mollusk:
Not really sure how this happened but I learned in the process. Thanks for the help.

Card corruption often happens if the card is removed from the camera while it is still writing or if the card is mounted on the Mac when ejected.

SplijinX · Aug 4, 2004, 01:54 PM

Originally posted by mollusk:
You were right Splijinx. I had not tried Nikon View as I had never used it. Always imported in to iphoto. I couldn't find my CD so I downloaded Nikon View/Capture. I was able to transfer the pics to view on my laptop but I am not able to do anything else with them. Photo Elements still can not read them. That will be ok as these were pictures of kids in a summer musical that I had costumed. I really just need a record. Prints came out with strange pixel patterns. I suppose I could take a photo of the lap top screen! Any way, I have reformatted the card and it seems to be working fine now. Not really sure how this happened but I learned in the process. Thanks for the help.

Glad you were able to retrieve it one way or another. If you can get it to display on the screen, you may be able to do a print screen, crop out the picture and save it into a usable format. Probably won't be as high res as your other pics, but it's better than nothing.

Powaqqatsi · Aug 5, 2004, 12:41 PM

Originally posted by mollusk:
I was able to transfer the pics to view on my laptop but I am not able to do anything else with them.

If you export them say, TIFF, from NikonView the images are "recreated" and "fresh" and they should be usable with any other application.

SplijinX's suggestion with the screenshot is rather bad. You loose everything you're left with pics that are small and with a 72dpi resolution which is unsuited for printing.