# HELP: corrupt/unrecognizable CF card, need photo recovery advice, for MAC



## OXX

Hi,

Awful, awful problem. Wife just started photo business, shot her first wedding Saturday for my cousin. Reviewing pictures on our Canon Rebel XT afterward, and the card seems to have screwed up terribly. Other cards work both in our camera and in our card reader plugged into our Mac, so neither of those are the problem.

The card is a Kodak CompactFlash 512 MB. The computer does not even recognize that a card has been plugged in. The camera says busy forever, but eventually pops up in iPhoto and says no images are on it. 

I would like to try a software recovery, but if the computer can't even see a card plugged in, I don't know how that would help any. ANY and all help and advice is appreciated.


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## usayit

This recovered pictures of the actual birth of my first born son from a corrupted card...  seriously... this grown man was in tears.  (Stellar Phoenix Recovery)

Mac Photo Recovery Software Recovers Images, Pictures, Memory Card from Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony

You can download and try it out for free (it puts a banner across photos).  Lets you confirm that the photos can be recovered with the software before actually paying for it.


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## OXX

Thanks for the link. It did recover probably 60-75% of the photos, including the actual wedding ceremony and most of the posed after shots. Trying a couple different programs still to hope to get the reception cake, toast, etc shots still.


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## Flash Harry

Yeah its a bummer and also the reason why a pro has two cameras at these events, shoot important shots on both cameras or at least keep exchanging cams throughout the "do" so even if recovery doesn't work you at least have some shots. H


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## JR Davis

Have had similiar problems with my cf card, read thru several fixes from online resources and never did get it to work consistantly again.  Had to replace it unfortunatly.


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## JackAlexander

Yeah, have suffered similar experience with you. I ever had a read problem with my Samsung digital camera. But I changed a OS platform and it worked normally again. I guess there must be some uncompatibilities between your camera memory card and Mac. So how about turn to another OS and have a try.

As with photo recovery. glad to hear you have got back the majority of your lost ones with that recovery program. I also know a place where you could find many free photo recovery programs. You may get helpful info. thanks


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## Garbz

Assuming you're not afraid of anything that requires actual typing, PhotoRec is an OpenSource program that has been cross compiled onto every available platform. Though I'm not sure if either OS/2 or DOS have USB support 

/edit: Duh, link: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step


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## mnro

I'm curious, (and desperate) ...  How exactly did you use the software to recover, when you said your card was not recognized by the computer?  
I'm trying to do the same thing you mentioned, but Stellar software (and all the other photo recovery software out there) requires that I point it to the CF card, which the computer will not recognize, so it doesn't show up as a volume.


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## Garbz

Cards should normally detect but come up with a corrupted filesystem or unformatted filesystem. There's something very wrong if you can't even point the software to an unformatted drive. If the drive letter itself doesn't even show up you may have a completely screwed controller on the card.


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## janav2

i guess will help you to  recover your deleted,lost pictures,photos from formatted memory card and  so on..


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## JackAlexander

Since you lost pictures on Mac, I find this place talking about the Top 10 Mac Photo Recovery Software. But they are all shareware. I can't find freeware about recovering lost pictures on Mac. Don't know if there will be any help to you.


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## Idahophoto

Lexar and I think San Disk also have data recovery software you can buy alone or get for free with the purchase of one of there premium memory cards. I think I still have the one here but fortunately have never needed it.


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## macilaci

My 32 GB SD card with my 1300 photos from my holiday was death. It was not possible to recognize in any reader or camera. As possible solution I found Recoverfab WEB page  http://card-recovery.biz/us/service.phpfix repair corrupt CF xD MSPD SDHC SD Memory Card error not formatted  they rescued all of my photos


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## UUilliam

Nice advert....

Recuva from piriform is better and free...

Also, who uses a 32 SD card? maximum cameras support is 16gb...
 unless you ment Compact flash, in which case, who uses a 32 gb compactflash...

more cards, smaller quantities, that way if 1 goes, you still have the others!


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## FSPhoto

Hi OXX,

Sorry about your CF card setback. As a pro, it's one of the worst feelings you can experience when you go to download your files only to see "No Photos on Card". 

As some of the other members posted, there are several options for recovery out there. Here's one thing to keep in mind. If your wife is a professional photographer or aspiring to be one, don't bother with hunting down freeware. As a pro, you need to be willing to pay for a good recovery software. You WILL need it in the future. Trust me. 

I use PhotoRecovery for my Mac and Nikon combo with great success, and if I remember correctly, it only cost me $39. Well worth it, if you consider what we charge for a wedding. 

Another note. Usually, a card gets corrupt when it is taken out of the camera while the camera is still on, being accessed or in use. It can also go corrupt if you take it out of your card reader without selecting "remove safely" on windows OR "ejecting" with a mac. So be sure the little green light on the back of the camera is not glowing and that your wife turns the camera off prior to taking the card out.

I hope this info is helpful and hope that it never happens again... to either one of us!


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## Malin Akerman

Hi Folks.......
I would like to suggest you using  which is quite easy to use and recovers your precious photos and videos from memory cards,Flash drives,digital cameras.The software has a free trial version which will show you the recoverable photos on preview if you find your photos on preview then go for the download otherwise not..


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## johnmichle515

Hi !

You can use a data recovery software to recover you deleted photos.One i have used and suggest you  data recovery software because it recovers ata from corrupted, deleted, formatted partitions and from crashed drives where Macintosh based file system are installed.
Thanks


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## Astrid-Bernhard

Of course. If you need a storng platform for foto recovery from mac you can use


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## cyberwasp

Also what some people don't take into account is the contacts in the camera or usually the card itself. popping them in and out of the camera reader causes wear. Also more important, the contacts themselves get dirty. 

I've rescued a few peoples photos by just cleaning the cards contacts with a pink pearl eraser and  qtip.. Just food for thought


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## Aladeptus

I tried a few programs and most worked the same. It was all about the extra bells and whistles. The one I liked the best is from  Works with Mac and PC (although I can only attest to the PC since I don't have a Mac).

Anyways, I'm a newb at photography so most of my photos aren't worth saving at this point


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## sadajaaliza

Hi
Recently one of the pins of my cf card reader broke off and a few were  also bent. I purchased the camera from Adorama a couple months ago. So  can I send it back to them and have them repair it without cost? I also  read that pins will break in CF card reader. Is it possible to replace  the CF card reader with an SD one instead?


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## thomas30

you should try to format the card in Dos prompt, once. If you are unable to format it in Dos prompt also then consult a technician who has experience handling this types of electronic gadgets.

If it is under warranty then send it in service center.


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## KmH

The thread that can't die.


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## cgipson1

Looks like SPAM to me!


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## KmH

How many new members are here today touting this 3rd party software?


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## 480sparky

Is it a law that card recovery companies must routinely register here just so they can advertise their services?


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## Overread

KmH said:


> The thread that can't die.



Oh yes it can


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