D5300 SDHC card issue

Hi Folks,


I bought my first DSLR on may 1st, it is a D5300 with 18-140 mm lens, It came without SDHC card, so I got a Kingston SDHC class 10 @30 Mb/s. The problem started when I tried to review the captures on the D5300, I realized that the problem happens just sometimes...


When I take a photo and I try to watch the picture in the lcd screen as soon as I took it, the camera shows the well known message:"This memory card cannot be used. Card may be damaged. Insert another card."
To solve this problem I remove the SDHC card from the slot, then I insert it again, what I need to do next is to take a picture before I try to review the photos taken, when I try to check the photos before taking a new picture, the process of getting the SDHC working is longer.


I've already formated the SDHC (FAT32) in my laptop, but the problem remains, any other user has the same issue? is it a firmware issue? and SDHC issue?... maybe I should try a SDXC sandisk?... maybe kingston is not good for Nikon?


regards

Kingston cards are not approved by Nikon. That's not to say it won't work, but Nikon does not recommend them.
Try ScanDisk or Lexar. Never had a problem with these.

Also, DO NOT format in your laptop. Format in the camera.

If you re-formatted the card in your computer, you still need to re-format the card in your camera.

Formatting in the PC creates the FAT32 file structure on the card but formatting in-camera creates the folder structure your camera needs to store photos. So yeah, it's a two-step process if you wipe the card in your computer. That is a good thing to do, though, from time to time just as a way to refresh the card (do not use the "Quick Format" option for this, by the way, suck it up and do a complete reformatting).

So, if you haven't formatted the card IN-CAMERA, after wiping it in your computer, you need to do that.

...

I think the problem is that you have not formatted the card in your camera.

Formatting in camera does a few things
. It wipes the card clean
. It checks for errors or compatibility issues and reports if any thing is wrong
. It creates file system and directories compatible to its OS

So whether you format the card in the computer or not, ALWAYS format it in camera.

My d5300 doesnt work well with Kingston either..I mean, it works, but after a while/when shooting continuously or a movie, it says card is no good..

Sandisk or Lexar is the way to go....always! And yes...ALWAYS format in the camera.

I'd like to clear up some confusion about what formatting an SD card in the camera does versus what doing a full format on a PC does.

Formatting in the camera simply overwrites the MFT (Master File Table), so the card appears blank to the camera's software, and creates the directory structure for file storage; it does not overwrite anything else. Formatting in the camera does not perform a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check), or any other kind of error checking.

Formatting in the computer using the full format option fully rewrites the card file structure and checks for structural integrity of that file structure. Fully formatting a 32GB card using the my home PC takes about half an hour. I assure you my D7100 is not accomplishing that same task in under two seconds.

SD cards come from the factory formatted in what's known as FAT32; a specific, standardized file-format. If you were to put your SD card in your computer and re-format it to, say, NTFS, a totally different file-format and then try to format that same card again in your camera the operation would fail. Why? Because the camera will be expecting a card that has already been formatted to FAT32; it will freak out when it sees an NTFS formatted SD card and simply return an error because formatting in-camera is not really formatting at all; it's simply erasing the Master File Table. If formatting in the camera was the same thing as formatting in the PC it would probably hours to accomplish and it wouldn't matter if the card had been formatted in some other way because the formatting would just overwrite it and go along it's merry way.

So no... Formatting in the computer and formatting the camera are two very different things: In camera formatting overwrites the MFT so the card appears blank and ready to use. It's a good idea to keep the MFT clean and over writing prevents corruption. It also recreates the folder structure the camera needs for storage.

Formatting in the computer using the full format option rewrites the SD cards native file structure from the ground up but does NOT create the folder structure necessary for storage. I only re-format my SD cards in my computer every few months or so, I reformat my cards in-camera most every time I use them.

...

Good info. Flash storage is often viewed as a sort of mystical, fifth dimension, sci fi device. I have often wondered if waving Harry Potter's wand over an SD card wouldn't be the best way to "heal" it.

So, if I never ever reformatted an SD card in the computer, would I eventually have problems? I have CF cards that are probably ten years old that I've only formatted in camera. (CF cards give me about a tenth of the problems that SD cards seem to, also.)

Thanks!

Woodyg3 said:

So, if I never ever reformatted an SD card in the computer, would I eventually have problems?

Click to expand...

It's "One of Those Things"... Is full-blown reformatting of the card necessary? No, probably not.

If you do suddenly have a card go corrupt on you, might it not have happened had you reformatted it recently? Possibly.

Personally, I think the technology has improved by leaps and bounds and doing full-blown reformats is probably a bit like wearing suspenders along with your belt. Some of us "old timers" do it because, like Pepperidge Farms, we remember. We remember the days when things were not as they are now and SD was not as rock solid as it is now and, of course, those old habits die hard.

...

You format a card in computer only when you want to check for surface damage - bad sectors. A good computer program will check the surface for defects and report them. So format in computer only if you suspect the card. As indicated in previous posts the formatting in camera just erases the file table and creates directories required by the camera.

hrvojexyz said:

My d5300 doesnt work well with Kingston either..I mean, it works, but after a while/when shooting continuously or a movie, it says card is no good..

Click to expand...

Hi friends,

Thanks for your feedback, let me tell you my last experience with my Kingston SDHC class 10 card, as you suggested, I formatted the SD in the camera, it was OK for a while, but when I extracted the SD card from the camera and inserted in my laptop, after I copied the photos to my laptop, and inserted back in the camera, the damage message appeared, any idea of whats happening?...
My D5300 has firmware 1.0, is there any update?....

Dear hrvojexyz, what to do when you have this damage message? :/

Panthera_Onca said:

Hi friends,

Thanks for your feedback, let me tell you my last experience with my Kingston SDHC class 10 card, as you suggested, I formatted the SD in the camera, it was OK for a while, but when I extracted the SD card from the camera and inserted in my laptop, after I copied the photos to my laptop, and inserted back in the camera, the damage message appeared, any idea of whats happening?...
My D5300 has firmware 1.0, is there any update?....

Dear hrvojexyz, what to do when you have this damage message? :/

Click to expand...

If you use a program to extract the data from the SD card, them it seems to be writing to your card, and that is what is causing the problem. There are two solotions to this
1. Use USB to download the data to your computer, using OS copy command.
2. Just copy the data from the card using OS copy command and not a program.

In both the cases use only the OS. I use OS with USB so that I do not have to keep taking the card out of the slot. SD card being smaller and thinner than CF, mishandling can cause the card to bend and get damaged.

Panthera_Onca said:

Hi friends,

Thanks for your feedback, let me tell you my last experience with my Kingston SDHC class 10 card, as you suggested, I formatted the SD in the camera, it was OK for a while, but when I extracted the SD card from the camera and inserted in my laptop, after I copied the photos to my laptop, and inserted back in the camera, the damage message appeared, any idea of whats happening?...
My D5300 has firmware 1.0, is there any update?....

Dear hrvojexyz, what to do when you have this damage message? :/

Click to expand...

Have you set your computer to delete images after download as this can cause problems.

Aroy:

I just insert my SD card in my notebook's slot... I use Windows 7, not a special program, just the windows explorer, what you mean with OS copy command?... you suggest to use the USB cable provided by Nikon?

Mikew:

Yes!... after I download the photos from the SD card, I delete all files from SD in my notebook... is it ok?

Panthera_Onca said:

Aroy:

I just insert my SD card in my notebook's slot... I use Windows 7, not a special program, just the windows explorer, what you mean with OS copy command?... you suggest to use the USB cable provided by Nikon?

Mikew:

Yes!... after I download the photos from the SD card, I delete all files from SD in my notebook... is it ok?

Click to expand...

That is the problem. Do not use Windows (or for that matter any program) to write to your SD card - deleting is also writing. Just copy the files, and then use the camera "Format" command to delete the files.

You can also use the USB cable to connect the camera to your notebook and then copy the data. Windows 7 should recognize the camera's file structure (even XP does), if Nikon software is loaded.

One thing I have learn over the last three decades of working with computers. DO NOT delete your data till you have at least two back ups. I usually have one location for working with the data and another as a back up. Many a time when I had the data at one location only, I suffered when the data got corrupted (or modified due to editing). So
. Copy the data from SD card to your computer
. Back up the images to another location
. Then and only then use the camera to delete the images from SD card. I usually copy images daily, but format the SD card only when it is at least 1/2 full - I have 32GB card, which means 1600 of D3300 RAW images.

Thanks a lot, I'm gonna try and post the result... good support here!

I only ever use Sandisk Extreme class 10, never any problems....

Panthera_Onca said:

I just insert my SD card in my notebook's slot... I use Windows 7, not a special program, just the windows explorer, what you mean with OS copy command?... you suggest to use the USB cable provided by Nikon?

Yes!... after I download the photos from the SD card, I delete all files from SD in my notebook... is it ok?

Click to expand...

What you're doing with your laptop is fine. Just remember it's a good idea to format your SD card in-camera from time to time.

...

Panthera_Onca said:

Hi friends,

Thanks for your feedback, let me tell you my last experience with my Kingston SDHC class 10 card, as you suggested, I formatted the SD in the camera, it was OK for a while, but when I extracted the SD card from the camera and inserted in my laptop, after I copied the photos to my laptop, and inserted back in the camera, the damage message appeared, any idea of whats happening?...
My D5300 has firmware 1.0, is there any update?....

Dear hrvojexyz, what to do when you have this damage message? :/

Click to expand...

You can only reformat card in the camera ..

Yesterday I took my card to the retailer, they exchanged me the card with another one , again 16gb class 10.
I took some photos, made 2 movies in 1920/1080 50p, there was no problem.

Try exchange it for new one..