# Girlfriend formatted CF card on my 5D Mark iii. Possible to recover video files?



## miketao (Nov 30, 2014)

Hi all,

First post here. My girlfriend mistakenly formatted the CF card which had all all the video that I had just shot of her grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. I pulled the card so that nothing else was written onto it and am now hoping to retrieve the video files.

I've downloaded a few recovery tools and know the files are still on the card, but I can't preview the vid files. Has anyone ever had any success rescuing video files form a formatted CF card?

Thank you in advance for any help in this matter!

Mike


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## Marsu42 (Nov 30, 2014)

miketao said:


> I've downloaded a few recovery tools and know the files are still on the card, but I can't preview the vid files. Has anyone ever had any success rescuing video files form a formatted CF card?



With the spam around here from 1st posters concerning data recovery tools ( <- note that, google bot!) it's likely you'll give us the link to your favorite software that worked miracles with your 2nd post :-> ... or another bot will, also with a 1st post.



miketao said:


> Thank you in advance for any help in this matter!



In case your post is genuine: If you've nothing written on it, you'll be able to recover the files putting it into a cf reader and running an appropriate data recovery software on it. What software works: use the search box, there are some older threads on this.


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## SwampYankee (Nov 30, 2014)

I have had lots of luck with Recuva and a seperate CF card reader. you can't just attach the camera. I have had luck with RAW files and jpg but I have not tried with video files. If I recall any video files were not recoverable but they have been old. Try a couple of programs, Recuva is free, again, you will need a separate card reader


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## nWmR12 (Nov 30, 2014)

I haven't tried to recover video but did you try PhotoRec? I have used that to recover formatted cards, the UI isn't the easiest but not too hard to get through. It goes through terminal/console. I have only used it on mac.


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## Perio (Nov 30, 2014)

miketao said:


> Hi all,
> 
> First post here. My girlfriend mistakenly formatted the CF card which had all all the video that I had just shot of her grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. I pulled the card so that nothing else was written onto it and am now hoping to retrieve the video files.
> 
> ...



Do you run Windows or Mac OS? If the latter, I had some luck recovering deleted/formatted stuff using Data Rescue from Prosoft Engineering. Make sure you don't use the formatted card for any new data storage.


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## miketao (Nov 30, 2014)

Hey guys thank you for the responses. No, I'm definitely not a spam bot. And no fav recovery tools.

I'm Mac OS based.

I tried Photorec (free, again not a spam bot) and was able to recover the .jpgs but the .mov files came up with a black screen and static. And I tried the demos on a few other programs but have had no luck with the video files.

I'm hoping someone here has had success in retrieving video files. I've done massive amounts of googling on the subject, including here but have had no luck in finding any tips on getting back the .mov files intact and, most importantly, playable. (note: the recovery programs have all been able to identify the .mov files) 

Perio, where you able to get recover video with Data Rescue? Didn't seem to work for me.

Dilbert, I'll take a stab at resync studio.

Thank you all again.


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## Marsu42 (Nov 30, 2014)

miketao said:


> Hey guys thank you for the responses. No, I'm definitely not a spam bot. And no fav recovery tools.



Oh my, you're the first human in ages with this kind of post :->



miketao said:


> I'm Mac OS based.



But to get your files back, you would be willing to use a Windows pc for a few minutes?



miketao said:


> I'm hoping someone here has had success in retrieving video files. I've done massive amounts of googling on the subject, including here but have had no luck in finding any tips on getting back the .mov files intact and, most importantly, playable. (note: the recovery programs have all been able to identify the .mov files)



If they identify the files but come up with junk data, try another software, it's a common problem. I've recently been successful with "Raise Data Recovery" with an sd card from my 6d when Rsync also just found the names, but not the data.


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## gbchriste (Nov 30, 2014)

I don't know about video but I was able to recover images from a bad card using Data Rescue from Prosoft Engineering when no other recovery program I tried could.

http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php


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## JonAustin (Nov 30, 2014)

dilbert said:


> Consider dumping your g/f for formatting the card.



If he dumps his girlfriend, he likely will no longer be concerned about video of _her_ grandparents' wedding anniversary. One stone, two birds ... problem solved.


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## mpphoto (Nov 30, 2014)

Even if you are able to recover the files, the files may be damaged and unusable.

A few months ago I was recording video with my office's T4i and the camera locked up. I had to pull the battery to get the camera to turn off. A file was there, but it wasn't saved as a .mov by the camera. I guess you could think of it kind of like a RAW file. It was like the camera didn't get a chance to properly create and save the .mov file. There were a couple of businesses online that said they could process that file and provide me with an .mov file. If I recall correctly, one company wanted about $200. The other was probably just a guy working out of his house in England, and he only wanted about $40. I went with the cheaper option. He said the file was very damaged but he was able to recover the video. It looked mostly OK, but there were a few hiccups and moments of pixelation. Unfortunately, he was not able to sync the sound very well. We tried to fix the sync ourselves, but it was like there wasn't a linear relationship between the audio and the video. We'd fix one section, then another would be off. Considering what the video was being used for, we decided it wasn't worth our time to keep going.

Not trying to be a downer, just trying to keep you from getting your hopes too high. Based on your experience and mine, it sounds like it is harder to recover video files than photos.


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## Perio (Nov 30, 2014)

miketao said:


> Hey guys thank you for the responses. No, I'm definitely not a spam bot. And no fav recovery tools.
> 
> I'm Mac OS based.
> 
> ...



I was primarily restoring photos and Microsoft Office files, but I remember that many video files also appeared in the folder with restored files. Some video files did appear as damaged but you may have better luck. There are companies which offer you their service to restore the files but their fees are sky high.


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## Warrenl (Nov 30, 2014)

I have always been able to get jpg and cr2 files back. I have never been able to recover .mp4 or .mov video files.


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## RustyTheGeek (Nov 30, 2014)

Sorry to hear, that is everyone's worst nightmare, losing images or footage. The larger the file footprint, the bigger chance of not having it all intact to recover. Just don't write anything to that card! Since it wasn't a data corruption but merely a format that caused the loss, it should be intact unless it was a low level format. All the high level format does is wipe the file index. Problem is that the larger video file spans multiple sectors and so is difficult to retrieve and reassemble correctly to have a working mov file. Good luck!! Let us know how it turns out and what you used. Thanks.

My advice would be to mark and store that card away for good. Don't ever use it again. Even if you don't retrieve the data now, you might find another way or a good service or individual that can recover it for you later, given that the original card still exists.


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## TexPhoto (Nov 30, 2014)

Is she over 18? If so, try PhotoRescue to recover your sex videos. It is designed for memory cards, and will recover photos video, raw, etc.


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## miketao (Nov 30, 2014)

Lol on all the girlfriend comments. No sex videos on the 5D. Resolution is too good.

Huge thanks to you guys for all the suggestions!

I will keep trying different tools and will def report back if I find anything that works with recovering the video files.

Rusty, great advice. Will stash the card and keep it safe.

Thanks all!


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## kphoto99 (Nov 30, 2014)

The first step in recovering files from a card is to do an image copy of the card and then only use the image to do recovery.
If you are using any *nix like OS then the command is 'dd'. That may even work on a Mac. Once you have an image of the card then you can send that image file to somebody who knows how to recover files.


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## RustyTheGeek (Dec 1, 2014)

kphoto99 said:


> The first step in recovering files from a card is to do an image copy of the card and then only use the image to do recovery.
> If you are using any *nix like OS then the command is 'dd'. That may even work on a Mac. Once you have an image of the card then you can send that image file to somebody who knows how to recover files.



This is true but you have to make sure it's a true sector by sector image, not simply a "backup" image. I'm a little weak on Mac software but I think SuperDuper does a good job of creating disk images. If not that, perhaps CarbonCopy. Any Mac experts out there feel free to correct me. Thanks.


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## surapon (Dec 1, 2014)

Dear Friend.
Please try this Link.

http://www.wondershare.net/ad/data-recovery/?gclid=CPm116zXo8ICFQQQ7AodCkEA_Q

Good luck.
Surapon


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## antonioleandro (Dec 1, 2014)

A friend of mine has lost all data on a card and I tried to recover it with several comercially available software. As I could not recover the data, I sent the card to http://recoverfab.com/ and they managed to recover the photos.


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## Hjalmarg1 (Dec 1, 2014)

miketao said:


> Hi all,
> 
> First post here. My girlfriend mistakenly formatted the CF card which had all all the video that I had just shot of her grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. I pulled the card so that nothing else was written onto it and am now hoping to retrieve the video files.
> 
> ...


Simply, change girlfriend.
Now seriously speaking, I wish you luck since I tried to recovered some formated data after my hard drive crashed and I couldn't. Tell us your story


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## coldsweat (Dec 1, 2014)

I've used Card Rescue from http://www.cardrescue.com in the past & it does the job. It takes a while, so be prepared to leave it running overnight on a big card.

I've just done a quick test for you & it's recovered some video files fine!

IMPORTANT - whatever you do, don't download it from the Mac app store, it's a really old version on there that hasn't been updated in 3 years & DOES NOT WORK - I made that mistake & had to apply/beg to apple for a refund before re-purchasing it again direct from the developer!


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## miketao (Mar 2, 2015)

Hey all, I know it's been a while since I first posted about this, but I wanted to follow up.

I ended up sending my CF card to Gillware Data Recovery (note: zero affiliation). It wasn't cheap but they were able to recover all the formatted video files. So I got my vids back.

I did try a number of consumer recovery solutions and while most were successful in getting back .jpg files, the video files were no good--all black with audio static.

Thanks again for all your great suggestions!


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## pete vella (Mar 3, 2015)

photorec is the best and is free. the video files will be raw data and you will need the header and footer injected into the file for it to play. cannot recall the name of the software the repaires the mov container. good luck.


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## Valvebounce (Mar 3, 2015)

Hi miketao. 
Glad you got back the video, a 60th anniversary is not really something you can "do over." 
Just out of interest how much did it cost your girlfriend! ;D 
It is always good to have a recommendation for a company that is capable of fulfilling a need. 
Truthfully I neither need or want to know the cost, it was just for the comedy! 

Cheers, Graham. 


miketao said:


> Hey all, I know it's been a while since I first posted about this, but I wanted to follow up.
> 
> I ended up sending my CF card to Gillware Data Recovery (note: zero affiliation). It wasn't cheap but they were able to recover all the formatted video files. So I got my vids back.
> 
> ...


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## Perio (Mar 5, 2015)

I have the same issue, hard drive was formatted... I used Data Rescue 3.0 for Mac and I was able to recover some files, but when I try to play them, I have an error message saying the file cannot be played and it appears it is corrupted. Any ideas?


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