# Faulty CF card? Advice needed...



## luciolepri (Oct 9, 2013)

I just bought a new CF to use it with a 5D MKIII. As usual, I ran some tests to be sure everything was OK, I shot H264/RAW video untill the card was full, checked the footage, everything was fine. Yesterday, I used this card for a "Trash the dress" and when I came home 30% of the footage was corrupted (see attached frame). I can't even open some files. (BTW: my collegues got stuck in an accident on the highway, so I was the only video operator. That was one lucky day.)
Do you think I can give for granted that's a CF failure and the camera is fine?


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 9, 2013)

I'd say your CF card did a great and creative job of trashing the dress all on its own! 

What brand of card, out of curiosity?


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## luciolepri (Oct 9, 2013)

neuroanatomist said:


> I'd say your CF card did a great and creative job of trashing the dress all on its own!


Yeah...



neuroanatomist said:


> What brand of card, out of curiosity?



[guiltily] I didn't mention it on purpose... [slighty emphatic] In my defence, I have to say I read so many good reviews about this cards... [emphatic] and I even used them for a couple of short movies, without experiencing any issue... [very emphatic] I just wanted to believe that something "too good to be true" could be true!
Ok, here it is: Komputerbay - 64GB - 1000X - 108 € - Amazon. Guilty as charged.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 9, 2013)

Sorry!

Like the MasterCard commercials... Lexar 1000x 64 GB, twice the cost of Komputerbay. Not losing 30% of your footage to a corrupt card when you're the only video shooter, priceless.

SanDisk or Lexar. Only from a reputable seller - B&H, Adorama, Amazon (Ships from and sold by Amazon, not a 3rd party seller), since there are lots of counterfeit cards out there. 

Lesson learned, 'nuf said.


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## jdramirez (Oct 9, 2013)

a long time ago I bought an sd card off eBay and it was so slow to write... and while it technically worked, it was a piece of trash. so that was the last time I got a memory card from any other place than a gold standard. Heck... I don't even trust transcend unless it is free and even then... it doesn't ever see the light of day.


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## luciolepri (Oct 9, 2013)

Yes, I guess I had to learn it the hard way...

Now I just hope I'll still be able to get a nice editing. After a fast look at the footage, I think I will, but it will definitely cost me more, in terms of time and headaches, than what I tried to save buiyng that @#?!* card.

The fact is just that it really annoys me to pay 300 € (that's price of a Lexa 1000x, here in Europe) for a memory card. Just like when I pay 50 € for a 67mm filter to put it in front of an L lens with 15 optics, AF, IS and wheather sealing and costs 1000 €! There's no proportion.

I guess I'll just have to deal with that...

P.S.= thank you, Neuro, for the advice about "reputable sellers", I rarely think about that.


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## paul13walnut5 (Oct 9, 2013)

Cheap card probably the root of it...

I had a problem with my 7D used with expensive Sandisk UDMA cards. It wasn't a problem canon told me, and all the other folk who were dropping video files all over the place. 

It wasn't a problem right up until their firmware fix that fixed the problem.

By which time I had bought a T2i for DSLR video and left my 7D for stills.

You tried data recovery?


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## luciolepri (Oct 9, 2013)

paul13walnut5 said:


> You tried data recovery?



Actually I didn't. Which software would you suggest?


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Oct 10, 2013)

luciolepri said:


> [guiltily] I didn't mention it on purpose... [slighty emphatic] In my defence, I have to say I read so many good reviews about this cards... [emphatic] and I even used them for a couple of short movies, without experiencing any issue... [very emphatic] I just wanted to believe that something "too good to be true" could be true!
> Ok, here it is: Komputerbay - 64GB - 1000X - 108 € - Amazon. Guilty as charged.


\
Actually, they rebrand cheap Chinese cards and have a horrible reputation. Every once in a while, someone gets lucky and their card works, so they sing praises to it.

Try searching for Komputerbay counterfeit to see what experiences others have claimed.


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## paul13walnut5 (Oct 10, 2013)

luciolepri said:


> paul13walnut5 said:
> 
> 
> > You tried data recovery?
> ...



Treat yourself to a sandisk extreme. You'll also get a years license for their recovery software.


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## luciolepri (Oct 10, 2013)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Try searching for Komputerbay counterfeit to see what experiences others have claimed.



Just did it... it gives you picture of what kind of company you're dealing with.
At least, I bought the card through Amazon, to get a refund should be painful.



paul13walnut5 said:


> You tried data recovery?
> 
> Treat yourself to a sandisk extreme. You'll also get a years license for their recovery software.



I attempted a recovery with a couple of softwares I have, but it was not helpful and I soon gave up, I prefer to use this time to get out the best from the footage I have.
Yes, I'm obviously back to the "reliable cards exclusively" mode...


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## jdramirez (Oct 10, 2013)

I have the Lexar 8GB CompactFlash Memory Card Professional 800x UDMA
800x Speed Rating
Max. Read Speed: 120MB/s
Max. Write Speed: 45MB/s
UDMA 7 Compliant

and I'd like to upgrade to the 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1003353-REG/sandisk_sdcfxs_016g_a46_16gb_extreme_compact_flash.html

or the 

SanDisk 16GB Extreme Pro CompactFlash Memory Card (160MB/s)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1000361-REG/sandisk_sdcfxps_016g_a46_16gb_extrm_pro_compact.html

but I'm cheap... and so my problem is determining whether it is actually worth it for me to upgrade... and I keep leaning towards no... 

So I'm kinda the same way about wanting to save money... but I buy the cards that I trust... but I also don't buy the card because I'm cheap.


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