Weird new memory card issue

James J · 3 Sep 2011 at 17:52

Just got a 16gb SDHC 30mb/s card earlier for my D5100 and it keeps saying "no SD card inserted" after taking photos fine on it for a few minutes. Any idea what could be causing this or is it just a duff card?

A.N.Other · 3 Sep 2011 at 18:32

I'm guessing at dodgy connection somewhere. Did you get the card from a reputable source?

James J · 3 Sep 2011 at 18:36

Yeah from a Jessops store this afternoon. Looks like I'll have to take it back in -.-

ElDude · 3 Sep 2011 at 19:30

Sure it's not firmware related? It may have only been Canon that had the issue, but what you just described sounds familiar.

BusError · 3 Sep 2011 at 19:55

Careful these cards suck quite a bit of power, and it might be that they brown out and 'disconnect'.

And a 30gb card from Jessie's, must be gold plated :-)

James J · 3 Sep 2011 at 21:04

BusError said:
Careful these cards suck quite a bit of power, and it might be that they brown out and 'disconnect'.

And a 30gb card from Jessie's, must be gold plated

There's no firmware update for my D5100 and the card is a 16gb one

James J · 3 Sep 2011 at 22:20

I can't even find my memory card anywhere online, nor on the sandisk website :S

Mine quite clearly says 30mb/s on the card and the packaging yet the SDSDH-016G-u46 code on the back of the packaging corrisponds to the 15mb/s version. Amazingly confusing!

Reckon this could be a fake card? :S

Ksanti · 3 Sep 2011 at 23:04

Check the "CE" Logo to see if it's the "Chinese Export" logo knockoff that generally marks a fake?

There was a thread on it around here somewhere...

James J · 4 Sep 2011 at 00:43

Ksanti said:
Check the "CE" Logo to see if it's the "Chinese Export" logo knockoff that generally marks a fake?

There was a thread on it around here somewhere...

First thing i checked and the C E is properly spaced.

James J · 4 Sep 2011 at 21:05

Well I've managed to try the sd card on a pc and used hdtune to check if its healthy or not and that says it is. I took about 120 photos with it earlier then it stopped working as soon as I started using a flash, although it also wasn't initially detected by the camera. I'm gonna take it into the store either tomorrow or mid week to see what can be done as it appears my camera just hates the thing. I've got an 8gb extreme pro 45mb/s card which has absolutely no problems with the camera or flash, also from sandisk and is vastly faster, so guessing its not a voltage issue. Very confusing :s

BusError · 4 Sep 2011 at 21:11

I tell you, it's a brown out. A brown out is the power supply of something dipping to a voltage that the device (in this instance, your card) doesn't like and is insufficient to continue working... So it shuts down.. The card /has/ a controller, and it will NOT like unsteady voltage supply

Thats why using the flash triggered it, for example. You put extra load on the battery, the voltage dips. the card shutdown.

James J · 4 Sep 2011 at 21:22

BusError said:
I tell you, it's a brown out. A brown out is the power supply of something dipping to a voltage that the device (in this instance, your card) doesn't like and is insufficient to continue working... So it shuts down.. The card /has/ a controller, and it will NOT like unsteady voltage supply

Thats why using the flash triggered it, for example. You put extra load on the battery, the voltage dips. the card shutdown.

But how does that explain inserting the card into the camera with no flash attached and still not being read? Also what do I actually do about it, if anything?

BusError · 4 Sep 2011 at 21:27

Is your battery old? if so, change it to a new one... If it's not old. I'd say you will not be able to use that card reliably in that camera... exchange it for one that is not UDMA (x100, x133 for example)

James J · 4 Sep 2011 at 22:27

Battery is less than 2 months old and I have a spare. Same issue with both. Also I own an 8gb extreme pro card which is x300 and thats completely fine, so sure that I should be looking at a slower card?

James J · 5 Sep 2011 at 15:15

Took the memory card back due to sandisk and jessops both telling me over the phone that the card I had was counterfeit. No such product exists! Got the card I actually paid for (same SKU and barcode) which is a 15mb/s 16gb sandisk card which works fine + a 52mm circular polariser filter for my trouble.