AboutSara Bella Expertise I can answer questions about most anything photographic. From film to darkroom to digital photography, from lighting to Photoshop techniques to digital work flow. I also know a great deal about the historical and theoretical contexts of photography. I am most familiar with Mac computers and the Adobe programs (Photoshop) but I can usually help troubleshoot any software and machine as long as I have the right information.
Experience I have been shooting photographs since I was 12 years old. I have a BFA in photography and and I am a current MFA matriculate. I teach photography at a university.
Education/Credentials BFA in Photography/Visual Articulation. In residency to receive MFA in photography in 2008.
Expert: Sara Bella Date: 9/18/2007 Subject: defective SD disk
Question I have what I believe is a defective SD disk. It is made by Digital visions, it is a SD high speed 150 4G memory disk. I used a canon SD900 camera to take the pictures. I could always see all the pictures stored on the disk thru the review feature on the camera. Unfortunately, I did what I know alot of other busy people do, which is to let hundreds of Photos store up in the disk memory. My problem started when i went to retrieve the pictures off the disk, it downloaded 3 photos to my computer, then I got an ERROR message. I then tried to get the pictures off the disk using my printer ( which has a disk slot ) and it gave me an error message, it is NOT the same error you get when you try a blank memory disk. I now can't get the camera to "read" the disk either, it is like it "went bad" during the download process. I took it to a high end camera shop, but I am afraid I didn't get much help there (seems he only sells stuff, he did pop the disk in his computer, got the error message and told me I was S.O.L the pictures could never be retrieved. I admit I am by no means very knowledgeable in this area, but I want to believe the pictures are still on the disk and can be retrieved for a price by someone who does that sort of thing. Any help you could give on directing me to a person or place that specializes in recovering pictures off "defective" disks would be greatly appreciated, If you can't answer this question could you suggest which member of the panel you believe may know. Thank you in advance.
Answer Hi Mindy,
Unfortunately, I don't think I have a much better answer for you, although I will most probably be more polite than the salesperson you dealt with. Digital cards do go bad. I have had the experience of a memory card going bad, but I was lucky enough to catch it early enough to reshoot. How old is the card?? I would certainly get it replaced by the manufacturer or retailer where you purchased it. If you tried accessing the images on numerous computers with different card readers and you still get the same error message, the data is most likely lost forever. But I am not an expert on Digital Visions products. Do you still have the original packaging? I tried to find a customer service number for you, but I couldn't find it online. I recommend that you contact the manufacturer to see if anything can be done to save the data, they would know best as they made the disk. The other option is to contact a local computer shop where they retrieve data from hard drives gone bad...they may be able to help you. The fact that the images were showing up on the camera preview, and now they aren't, indicates very strongly that the card was defective to begin with.
And when you get a new card...next time...shoot a bunch of random images, and download them to your machine...erase the disk...shoot more...repeat...really put it to the test. I know that doesn't help you with your lost images, but it's a good habit to get into.
I'm sorry I don't have better news for you. Good luck.
