# If you use a digital camera, READ THIS!



## 480sparky (Dec 29, 2013)

Just a heads-up for anyone who uses *any* sort of digital  camera:  It's a fact of life you will, at some time or other, find  yourself needing to recover images from a corrupt or reformatted memory  card.

DO NOT wait until you need to recover lost images before you look for a solution.

It's  frustrating as all get-out to lose digital files.  But to jump through  all the hoops, trying this software and that software, some free, some  costing good money, spending the time, pulling out your hair, learning  each software from scratch, wondering if you'll ever see those files  again..........

*BE PRO-ACTIVE and find a solution NOW.... before the need arises!*

When  I got my first DSLR (Nikon D60), I made d***ed sure I had software that  could recover not only JPEGs, but NEFs and video files as well (not all  software is up-to-date, and not all .NEFs are the same, you know!).  I  also figured out how to use it. When I upgraded to the D7000, one of my  first tasks what to verify that the same software could recover the  D7000 images.  Fortunately, it could.

However, when I upped to  the D600, the old software just wasn't up to the task of recovering  .NEFs.  And with no updates for it on the horizon, I ended up searching  for a solution.  Having found one after a couple weeks, I can now go  forth into the field with solid confidence that any lost files can be  recovered.  Having the software in place, and knowing how to use it, is  cheap insurance.


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## The_Traveler (Dec 29, 2013)

There is no one quite as fervent as a recent convert.


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## robbins.photo (Dec 29, 2013)

The_Traveler said:


> There is no one quite as fervent as a recent convert.



Hi there.  You have reached the church of the divine backup.  All of out representatives are currently busy assisting other converts. Your newfound devotion is very important to us, please stay on the line and you're prayer will be answered in the order in which it was received.

Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk


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## baturn (Dec 29, 2013)

None so pure as the purified.


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## Overread (Dec 29, 2013)

*don't mind me I'm just here to keep an eye for software recovery spambots*


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## KmH (Dec 29, 2013)

I have never needed to recover photos from a memory card.

There are several best practices one can adopt when handling and using flash memory cards that pretty much eliminate the chance of there ever being a problem.

However, it is wise to:



> Plan for the worst. Hope for the best.


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## limr (Dec 29, 2013)

Just out of curiosity, is it true that it's better to delete pictures after transferring to the computer rather than in camera? Is this true for any digital camera?

As for the software. Meh. Maybe I'm too trained by film - if the negative is ruined and there's no print, then the image is gone. Period. Nothing to be done except for being more careful in the future. With my digital camera, if I lose an image, then I lose an image. It might be a bummer sometimes but it doesn't seem worth it go jump through hoops to get the picture back.


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## 480sparky (Dec 29, 2013)

limr said:


> Just out of curiosity, is it true that it's better to delete pictures after transferring to the computer rather than in camera? Is this true for any digital camera?........



You should reformat using the camera.

I have dozens of memory cards, and do not reformat them for months.  Not until they are rotated back into the camera are they reformatted.  So I can easily go back 10-12 months to recover an image.  But that's just me.



limr said:


> .........As for the software. Meh. Maybe I'm too trained by film - if the negative is ruined and there's no print, then the image is gone. Period. Nothing to be done except for being more careful in the future. With my digital camera, if I lose an image, then I lose an image. It might be a bummer sometimes but it doesn't seem worth it go jump through hoops to get the picture back.



Well, for some of us, losing an image is the same as losing money.


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## Derrel (Dec 29, 2013)

So, what kind of recovery software do you have that can recover your D600's .NEFs?


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## limr (Dec 29, 2013)

480sparky said:


> limr said:
> 
> 
> > Just out of curiosity, is it true that it's better to delete pictures after transferring to the computer rather than in camera? Is this true for any digital camera?........
> ...



So that means, transfer all photos to the computer and do any deleting there, and then reformat the card in the camera?



limr said:


> .........As for the software. Meh. Maybe I'm too trained by film - if the negative is ruined and there's no print, then the image is gone. Period. Nothing to be done except for being more careful in the future. With my digital camera, if I lose an image, then I lose an image. It might be a bummer sometimes but it doesn't seem worth it go jump through hoops to get the picture back.



Well, for some of us, losing an image is the same as losing money.[/QUOTE]

I have no doubt that the software is useful to many and didn't mean to imply that it wasn't. It just isn't anything I would use myself.


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## 480sparky (Dec 29, 2013)

Derrel said:


> So, what kind of recovery software do you have that can recover your D600's .NEFs?



R-Studio 32.


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## 480sparky (Dec 29, 2013)

limr said:


> So that means, transfer all photos to the computer and do any deleting there, and then reformat the card in the camera?..........



I never delete in-camera.  I always ingest all images into the computer, then delete the images deemed Trash-Worthy from the directory on the computer.  The originals stay on the card.

I then set the card back, only to be reformatted (in the camera, of course) months later.




limr said:


> .........I have no doubt that the software is useful to many and didn't mean to  imply that it wasn't. It just isn't anything I would use myself.



So you're willing to accept losing images, regardless of their value both in money and sentiment?


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## limr (Dec 29, 2013)

480sparky said:


> limr said:
> 
> 
> > .........I have no doubt that the software is useful to many and didn't mean to  imply that it wasn't. It just isn't anything I would use myself.
> ...



With my digital camera? I don't make money from my pictures and they don't cost me any money to take on the digital. As for sentiment, I don't take pictures that I am emotionally invested in with that camera. Okay, there are a lot of pictures of my cats, but if I lose a few of them, I've got thousands others that aren't lost, so no, I don't mind missing a few. Will any of this change if I ever get a better digital camera? Anything is possible, but I don't see it changing drastically.

Any money that I have made from prints were from my film pictures, and if I mess up the negative then yes, that's money lost - the money that I spent on that roll of film. It's also very rare that I mess up negatives, so the amount of money it costs is very small. I would be more upset at losing my film pictures because I am more emotionally invested, but if I do lose them, there's nothing I can do about it. And if I lose all of the digital versions that I made when I scanned the film into my computer? Well, I just rescan the negatives.


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## 480sparky (Dec 29, 2013)

limr said:


> With my digital camera? I don't make money from my pictures and they don't cost me any money to take on the digital. ....



Sorry, but digital images still cost money. (unless you get cameras, lenses, scanners, software, computers, etc. all for free)




limr said:


> .......... And if I lose all of the digital versions that I made when I scanned the film into my computer? Well, I just rescan the negatives.



So in short, your time has no value either?


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## limr (Dec 29, 2013)

480sparky said:


> limr said:
> 
> 
> > With my digital camera? I don't make money from my pictures and they don't cost me any money to take on the digital. ....
> ...



Yes, my time has value. In the event that my digitized photos are lost, I would certainly balance the value I put on my time and the value I put on the photos and rescan only those that I am invested in. I would not see that as a waste of my time, but as a way to use my time to regain something I also value. 

Yes, I paid money to buy my digital camera, but I'm not paying any _more_ money by taking pictures with it. It does not have interchangeable lenses and I've never bought any accessories for it. My computer is several years old and I'm not sure it should be figured into photography costs because I would have had it anyway. My scanner has already paid for itself in the money I save by not paying a lab to scan my photos.

I'm not entirely sure why it matters whether or not I want picture recovery software. I am more interested in ways I can _prevent_ the loss of my photos. That is why I asked about how the SD card should be used.


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## 480sparky (Dec 29, 2013)

limr said:


> ..........I'm not entirely sure why it matters whether or not I want picture recovery software.........



What do you do when a card becomes corrupt before you ingest the images into your computer?  The images only reside on the card at that point.  For whatever reason, the card becomes corrupt (or someone accidently reformats your card).

*That* is the point of this thread.  Have a plan in place _before _this happens.


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## limr (Dec 29, 2013)

480sparky said:


> limr said:
> 
> 
> > ..........I'm not entirely sure why it matters whether or not I want picture recovery software.........
> ...



I meant, what does it matter if *I* personally don't feel that the software is useful to *me*? I understand that it is good to have a plan in place beforehand. I get it, I do, I do, I do. I was never implying that this isn't a good, logical option. *For me*, it's just overkill (for* my own *purposes)because I don't rely on the pictures on my SD card for either money or sentiment. My reason for asking the question was to find out if there were non-software-buying options for preventing the loss of images from an SD card.


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## vintagesnaps (Dec 29, 2013)

My negatives are usually my backup... lol I'm only on my third media card, if I have to buy more eventually maybe I'll need to back up more. Now I do take out the media card and get copies of the photos onto my computer after I'm done shooting for the day or after a series of shots. And actually got an external hard drive. You're probably right Sparky if you shoot anything you want to be sure to save it's probably important to back up.

I did take one series of photos of an abandoned building that I did in B&W versions and had one accepted into a juried exhibit. Those are the ones that besides making prints of them, prompted me to start backing up. And I wanted to go back sometime and shoot it on B&W film and discovered the building was torn down so I'm glad I made sure I have copies. Now I want to learn how to make digital negatives of about 4 of that series...

My prints are another back up of sorts for me too, if I have certain photos saved in more than one way I'll have copies of what's important to me. Much of what I've shot digitally isn't anything that I'd be too concerned about losing, most of it was at first learning how to use the camera and later has been a good bit of playing around with the camera or taking pictures of something that's local and I could reshoot if I had to. I usually take along a film camera so that's more or less a back up. Select photos I print and have on the computer and still on the original media card.


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## gsgary (Dec 29, 2013)

I use my digital cameras to hold doors open, my negs are in a fire proof cabinet


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## gsgary (Dec 29, 2013)

480sparky said:


> limr said:
> 
> 
> > ..........I'm not entirely sure why it matters whether or not I want picture recovery software.........
> ...



Ive got CF cards that are 10 years old and never had a problem


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## 480sparky (Dec 29, 2013)

gsgary said:


> Ive got CF cards that are 10 years old and never had a problem



A scientific survey of one is hardly useful.




gsgary said:


> I use my digital cameras to hold doors open, my negs are in a fire proof cabinet



Which will only prevent _fire_. 

*Heat* will kill them, though.


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## pgriz (Dec 29, 2013)

Sparky - it's really not a problem.  I've got the Delorean parked in the garage in case the images go bad.  And IT has a second SD card.  Not taking responsibility for screwed-up timelines tho.


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## Dliwevad (Dec 29, 2013)

I've had SD cards go bad on me. As in they worked fine, worked fine, then all the sudden camera can't write to it, computer can't read or see it. (Twice this has happened to me). 

I tend to be more proactive on image storing. Soon as I take images off my camera or SD card and it's on my hard drive, it's auto synced/copied to a second drive off premise. Routine backups of this means I keep 4 copies of everything rather than relying on the SD card image.   I use a revision system for different versions or tweaks of my images which also get mirrored and backed up.  Various crc checks will prevent corruption from being replicated out. 

Just another opinion...


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## gsgary (Dec 30, 2013)

480sparky said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > Ive got CF cards that are 10 years old and never had a problem
> ...



To be honest i couldnt care less if one failed i would just go and buy another

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