Lost Photos; Memory card - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Methanolic · 09-01-2009, 09:13 PM

My Bro. Inlaw just came back from a Vegas-Palm Springs trip, was viewing his 150+ pics on his camera the night before the flight back to Calgary.

Poor bugger gets home and his Memory card tells him he's only got 71 pics!!!

I tried his Mem. card on my PC card reader and it crashed my PC!....X..2!

He took the card to Costco to get the Img's put on disc and they said they could not read the card!......No Pics!!

The card was brand new, 2GB SD Card...

I did some research on the "Interwebs" and found several testimonials saying that going through AIRPORT X-rays....or Metal Detectors can actually erase these things!!

Anyone ever heard of this??

Also did some research re: recovery software,,,,,,,,,

Anyone ever hear of this approach actually working?

BlackArcher101 · 09-01-2009, 09:22 PM

Recovery software can work... used it before. But only if the card is readable in the first place. If you need to format it in order to be able to read it, be sure you do a quick format only.

jar_e · 09-01-2009, 09:46 PM

I highly doubt its an xray scanner...I've done dozens of trips with high end cameras and cards and its never been an issue.

Methanolic · 09-01-2009, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jar_e

I highly doubt its an xray scanner...I've done dozens of trips with high end cameras and cards and its never been an issue.

I assumed the same, But after reseaching this issue and reading several posts on many forums, by many posters...... I've concluded that just might be possible.

The fact that the images were viewed prior to the visit to the airport, and then no longer viewable after, makes me think that it is possible, however slim.

jar_e · 09-01-2009, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methanolic

I assumed the same, But after reseaching this issue and reading several posts on many forums, by many posters...... I've concluded that just might be possible.

The fact that the images were viewed prior to the visit to the airport, and then no longer viewable after, makes me think that it is possible, however slim.

I'd agree...slim to nil. But who knows...crazier things have happened.

GoinAllTheWay · 09-01-2009, 10:03 PM

I've been through airport metal detectors numerous times with a few different cameras and cards. Even laptops, never once have I lost anything.

Have you tried the card in a different camera?

Methanolic · 09-01-2009, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jar_e

I'd agree...slim to nil. But who knows...crazier things have happened.

Yeah, Exactly....Crazier things have happened.
.
.
....But my Bro. Inlaw is really hoping I'm right!!!...
....and that I can recover the pics of the ELVIS house he spent an hour taking pics of.

Methanolic · 09-01-2009, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

I've been through airport metal detectors numerous times with a few different cameras and cards. Even laptops, never once have I lost anything.

Have you tried the card in a different camera?

I've been able to retrieve pics via a camera, but not via a card reader or PC...weird.

Jimmy Stang · 09-01-2009, 10:36 PM

Do a Google search for "PC Inspector". I have had moderate success getting data off of a memory card on two separate occasions. It is free. Take a long time though.

Also - it is VERY important that you don't write anything to the card (new photo, etc.). The data might be there but inaccessible, and adding anything to the card will reduce your chance of recovery.

I had to travel from London two days after that plot was uncovered to blow up some trans-Atlantic airliners back in 2006. I was unable to carry on anything except a passport in a clear plastic bag - seriously - not even a magazine. I had to decide whether to put my camera in the checked baggage, or ship it home to myself. I bubble-wrapped everything, and then bubble-wrapped my entire bag and put as much around it in my suitcase as I could to reinforce it. Not recommended, but I had little choice. The good news was that nothing was damaged or stolen. The better news was that my memory cards (which I also couldn't carry on) were fine, and that was after going through the checked baggage scanners which are a heck of a lot stronger. Of course, I made backups of everything on my last night there and mailed them to myself, just in case.

Dion · 09-01-2009, 10:41 PM

I highly doubt that airport xrays erased his pictures. My camera and it's pictures have gone through those xrays without any problems. Maybe the SD card is defective.

Jimmy Stang · 09-01-2009, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dion

I highly doubt that airport xrays erased his pictures. My camera and it's pictures have gone through those xrays without any problems. Maybe the SD card is defective.

I agree. It is purely anecdotal on my part, but I have fallen victim to a dying card and a premature ejection on a Mac that caused corruption. But never airport scanners.

My camera and a whole schwack of memory cards have gone through airport security countless times and not once did anything seem amiss.

Flash memory does fail. Even my trusty little USB thing died a few months ago, but I did get quite a bit of heavy use out of it. Recovery didn't go so well on that one though...

Jayems · 09-01-2009, 11:53 PM

My brother was working a trip as a doc at a hospital in Israel when one of the children accidentally deleted his photos (or at least some of them). He brought the card back home and managed to recover almost all of them somehow. I'll ask where he took the card to.

Wookie · 09-02-2009, 12:01 AM

weird, having the same problem on sunday. Went to wallmart, left it there for "data recovery" at the photolab. Will consult here upon returning and try some suggestions.

mykalberta · 09-02-2009, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methanolic

I assumed the same, But after reseaching this issue and reading several posts on many forums, by many posters...... I've concluded that just might be possible.

The fact that the images were viewed prior to the visit to the airport, and then no longer viewable after, makes me think that it is possible, however slim.

Its only a problem if he left the card in the camera going through the X ray. My parents had a similar problem. Cards not in the camera have always been fine, cards in the camera are hit and miss.

Low pass format with recover software might work - is he still able to see the images left on his camera? Does it crash when you put the card in a card reader and attach to pc, or when you connect camera to pc?

mots · 09-02-2009, 10:16 AM

yeah last time i went to vegas, i took about 600 pictures, but when my girlfriend was looking through them, only 20 appeared.

Its not the card, its Vegas.

Jayems · 09-02-2009, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mots

yeah last time i went to vegas, i took about 600 pictures, but when my girlfriend was looking through them, only 20 appeared.

Its not the card, its Vegas.

Apparently what happens in vegas does STAY in vegas.

Jesus. That was lame. My apologies.

My brother says he bought a program (for mac) that recovered the files. He's trying to find out what it was called.

Methanolic · 09-02-2009, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Its only a problem if he left the card in the camera going through the X ray.

is he still able to see the images left on his camera?

Does it crash when you put the card in a card reader and attach to pc

or when you connect camera to pc?

Yes, the card was in the camera when his bags went through.

Yes, You can view the pics (1/2 of what he took) in the camera.

Yes it crashes the PC when using card reader.

No it does not crash the PC when using the camera.

Fozzie_DeBear · 09-02-2009, 12:14 PM

...maybe the metals in the camera tweak the xrays enough to cause irregular problems with the memory?

One a different note...my wife took our baby monitor in her checked baggage and when she came back the LCD displays on the two units were screwed. I have wondered if security saw the baby monitor on initial xrays and didn't know what it was and ran it through another high-powered scan to be sure...and that scan f-ed it up. Probably not...but I wonder

mykalberta · 09-02-2009, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methanolic

Yes, the card was in the camera when his bags went through.

Yes, You can view the pics (1/2 of what he took) in the camera.

Yes it crashes the PC when using card reader.

No it does not crash the PC when using the camera.

Can you not plug your camera into the computer insted of using a card reader?

mykalberta · 09-02-2009, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

...maybe the metals in the camera tweak the xrays enough to cause irregular problems with the memory?

One a different note...my wife took our baby monitor in her checked baggage and when she came back the LCD displays on the two units were screwed. I have wondered if security saw the baby monitor on initial xrays and didn't know what it was and ran it through another high-powered scan to be sure...and that scan f-ed it up. Probably not...but I wonder

Alot of people I know have mentioned this, cards are fine when not in camera, but its something about when its in the camera.

I know (not including CP) 4 people this has happened to, 2 cannon, 1 HP , 1 nikon camera.

This should be in Tech Talk area.