Corrupt images from 6D camera and 32GB SDHC Memory cards

[cheefster]

I wanted to know if anyone was experiencing image corruption issues with their SD card and the Canon 6D. I bought my 6D last July and have shot over 2000 photos with it on a Lexar 32GB SDHC Class 10 600x card. I got error rates at about a 1 in 50 rate. I thought it might have been the Lexar card, so I sent the card back to Lexar for warranty replacement. They replaced the card, but I ended up getting similar image corruption issues on a shoot afterward. I have transferred images both directly from the SD card to my computer, and through the camera plugged via USB to my computer. I have tried loading the images on other people's computers, used iPhoto, Aperture, and Lightroom to try to read the formats - all with no luck.

Before I go out and spend money on different SD cards, I would like to determine if it might just be my camera. Has anyone ever encountered these kinds of write issues with Lexar Cards? Has anyone ever seen similar issues with cards of a different brand? I noticed someone with a post about 7D Mk II and Lexar cards as well. Is this a Lexar or Canon problem?

I have attached four photos below that illustrate the problem. The appear as banding or solid colours where there shouldn't be any. These corruption problems happen to both JPG and Raw files.

 

[Bennymiata]

If this banding is happening with other cards as well, then it's your camera that is doing it.
Try updating the firmware on your camera as the card you returned could have done something to the software in the camera when it became corrupted.

I had a similar thing happen to an android phone.
A Sandisk card in the phone got corrupted. Nothing on the card was damaged, but the phone went wacky, rebooting itself all the time, freezing as well as other faults.
I took the phone back to get it exchanged and the expert in the shop checked it out and mentioned to me that the memory card might be at fault.
I didn't believe him but shortly after putting the card into the new phone, it began acting up too.

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi cheefster.
Just studying the images, it looks like the first and second images are amalgams of more than one image, the trollies, flag poles cut and shifted and the scooter wheel seem to be from a different angle outside the frame of the main shot, and the wheel on the statue / carving seems to be interlaced, I'm wondering if this could be a camera issue, not clearing down the buffer properly?
My concern with doing a firmware upgrade is, it is done from the card, if the card is now corrupted this could lead to missing bits and possibly worsen the situation with a bricking?
I don't know if my reasoning is flawed as it comes from the mechanical world, alternator failed, corrupted the battery, new alternator corrupted by bad battery, new battery corrupted by alternator, changed both simultaneously all ok!

Cheers, Graham.

 

[RayL]

Are you formatting the card in the camera? I format the card every time after downloading my images to the computer.
Always format a new card in the camera, not in your computer.

Formatting the card will ensure that any file written to the card, will not be written to the corupted portion of the card.

 

[Marsu42]

Are you formatting the card in the camera? I format the card every time after downloading my images to the computer. Always format a new card in the camera, not in your computer.

I dunno, does that really make a difference?

I just had file corruption on some cr2s on my 32gb sandisk extreme (non-pro) and was unable to recover them. I've formated the card from Win7 (non quick format) and checked the free space with "chdsk /r". Today, I've filled the card again and all files are fine, so whatever was the problem obviously got solved by my procedure.

 

[tolusina]

Any time I experience corrupt files on a card, that becomes the absolute last time I'll use that card.

Replacements are not at all that expensive, the super duper highest speed cards are overkill with a 6D anyway.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ns=p_POPULARITY|1&ci=1097&setNs=p_POPULARITY|1&N=4037060554+4264330179+4291236412&srtclk=sort

 

[RayL]

I agree with tolusina. I would do the same. But I think the OP is having issues with 2 new cards so a third probably isn't going to help.

Per Lexar's site... http://www.lexar.com/content/lexar-memory-card-tips They recomend formatting in the camera as does Canon. I think Sandisk states something similar.
The difference being is whether it gets formatted for FAT 16 or Fat 32 which of course you can do in the computer but it's really quick to access the format option in the camera's menu. And the camera knows how to format the card properly.

 

[cheefster]

Hi cheefster.
Just studying the images, it looks like the first and second images are amalgams of more than one image, the trollies, flag poles cut and shifted and the scooter wheel seem to be from a different angle outside the frame of the main shot, and the wheel on the statue / carving seems to be interlaced, I'm wondering if this could be a camera issue, not clearing down the buffer properly?
My concern with doing a firmware upgrade is, it is done from the card, if the card is now corrupted this could lead to missing bits and possibly worsen the situation with a bricking?
I don't know if my reasoning is flawed as it comes from the mechanical world, alternator failed, corrupted the battery, new alternator corrupted by bad battery, new battery corrupted by alternator, changed both simultaneously all ok!

Cheers, Graham.

Hello Graham, actually the first photo is the same frame, but shifted. The bottom of the wheel on the left actually comes from the scooter on the right. The 2nd and 4th photos show considerable banding, and I don't know where that banding comes from. I have no idea as to whether it is a buffer clearing issue or not.

The firmware I have on my camera is 1.1.4. I have not updated to the latest 1.1.6, but don't know if that is going to change much since Canon did not mention fixing any SD card writing issues. I will eventually get around to updating the firmware.

 

[cheefster]

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions. I have indeed formatted the card using the in-camera format function. I always do this. However, I will try shooting with a different branded card to see whether the issue reappears. I will keep everyone posted.

Cheefster

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions. I have indeed formatted the card using the in-camera format function. I always do this. However, I will try shooting with a different branded card to see whether the issue reappears. I will keep everyone posted.

Cheefster

There are two formatting functions in the camera. Regular format revises the fat table to show that files are available for over writing, but the low level format clears the card. That's the one to use if you are seeing card issues. Occasionally there is a camera issue, but it is usually the card.

 

[jhaces]

Definitely looks like a card issue (I've had them rarely) I'd probably toss it or mark it unfit for pro work. Have you checked if the images are corrupted when seen on camera? Perhaps it was an error when transfering them from the card to your computer, you could try that, too.

 

[dolina]

Brand of memory card?

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi dolina.
From second line of original post. "a Lexar 32GB SDHC Class 10 600x card. "

Cheers, Graham.

Brand of memory card?

 

[Valvebounce]

Hi cheefster.
I see that now, I was thrown by the white item shielding it, I now see that is the cladding on the building, I also got suckered in by the wheel in the statue / carving. Oh well.

Cheers, Graham.

Hello Graham, actually the first photo is the same frame, but shifted. The bottom of the wheel on the left actually comes from the scooter on the right. The 2nd and 4th photos show considerable banding, and I don't know where that banding comes from. I have no idea as to whether it is a buffer clearing issue or not.

The firmware I have on my camera is 1.1.4. I have not updated to the latest 1.1.6, but don't know if that is going to change much since Canon did not mention fixing any SD card writing issues. I will eventually get around to updating the firmware.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I'd be inclined to purchase or borrow another card before sending your camera in. Good cards can be purchased for a few dollars from Costco, or B&H / Adorama. Don't buy them from Amazon. Amazon co-mingles inventory, and some sellers have sent counterfeit cards to Amazon where they get placed in the same bin as good ones. You may get good or bad, and no one knows who put it there. Hopefully, Amazon has fixed this, but they have not admitted anything.

I know that you had the original card replaced by Lexar, but it occasionally happens that two cards are corrupted, and defective memory card readers have also corrupted cards.

Do not reuse the card reader with a new card, import images directly from the camera. That eliminates any possibility that you have a card reader that is corrupting your card.

 

[Cwt14]

Additional New INFO: I wasn't get much help from Lexar but another discussion with Canon suggested that the problem could stem from not doing the LOW LEVEL FORMAT on a new card. Canon explained that LOW LEVEL means FULL whereas FORMAT is what most of us think of as the quick, erase file names format. However as I am still hopefully of finding some way of discovering what happened, I have not re-formatted the cards. I did do the LOW LEVEL FORMAT on some new Sandisk cards and they have been flawless.


I just ran into this problem with a two month old 6D and two different 32 GB Lexar cards (600 and 200 MB/s). I CANNOT repeat the following using an 80 MB/s Sandisk card.

On the 600 MB/S Lexar, I get occasional banding on some photos (Playback with tell me that the 6D can not play back the image but I can download the banded image to Aperture) and "missing photos".

On the 200 MB/s Lexar, there is no banding but plenty of "missing photos".

By "missing photos" = shot is taken, shows up on quick view and will show up again using playback. However, if you turn off the camera and turn it back on, any photo that was viewed by playback in the previous shooting session is "missing". You no longer see the photo on the camera or using a card reader. Photos that were not viewed in playback appear ok and the maddening aspect is that if they survive the camera being turned on and off, the act normally as they should.

Lexar's Image Rescue 5 will recovered all the images off the 600 but not all the ones off the 200 (they were not there even though I had seen them on playback before turning off camera). However, two weird things - the recovery program created a folder "recovery from Sandisk SDDR-113" for both cards (I setup separate directories for each card but the recovery program setup the sub folder in each directory). Also, the recovery program recovered two files for each photo labelled differently on the 200 but only a single recovery on the 600.

Canon Support claims it is not the camera or firmware if you use another brand and cannot replicate the problem - as I can not, I have to suspect the Lexar disks. Also Canon Support suggested the speed of the disk should not have anything do do with problem. I must say I struggle with why two different Lexar disks have this issue - I have used Lexar before and never had this type of issue. My next stop is Lexar and my camera shop is willing to test out the 6D on a variety of disks.

 

[Marsu42]

I just ran into this problem with a two month old 6D and two different 32 GB Lexar cards (600 and 200 MB/s). I CANNOT repeat the following using an 80 MB/s Sandisk card.

Just a quick fyi all: The problem with my sd card obviously originated from a defective *reader*, the card works fine. It's quite easy to forget this possibility, esp. as it's awkward to diagnose if you've only got one reader like a built-in slot in a laptop available.

 

[luckydude]

I'm shooting a hockey tournament with the same 32GB 600x lexar cards and I'm seeing the same thing.
5DIII, not the 6D.

I'm shooting the whole thing with small jpeg to SD and large jpeg to CF - haven't had time to look to see if
the CF has the same problem. I thought it was because the foot of my lens got hit with a puck.

My reader is the built in one on a Lenovo x220. I've got a lexar reader, I will try that the next time I see this prob.

I'll save the next one and post it here.

On the in camera format, do you need to do low level or is the default OK?

 

[Antono Refa]

I just ran into this problem with a two month old 6D and two different 32 GB Lexar cards (600 and 200 MB/s). I CANNOT repeat the following using an 80 MB/s Sandisk card.

Just a quick fyi all: The problem with my sd card obviously originated from a defective *reader*, the card works fine. It's quite easy to forget this possibility, esp. as it's awkward to diagnose if you've only got one reader like a built-in slot in a laptop available.

Yes, defective card readers are real. Had one that would drop a 16x16 pixels block every so often, and was the last component I suspected & checked.

Replaced the cheapo brandless <censored> with one by a reputable brand, and never looked back.

 

[grenadilla]

Bought a few Lexar Pro 32GB 600x SDHC in December, and have been having the exact same problem on my 70D. It has occurred on two separate cards so far. Haven't seen the problem appear with my older Lexar 200x cards. I've found the situation difficult to replicate, as I am unsure of the exact sequence of events that causes it.

I've tried Image Rescue 5, and in most cases it returned two images from the card that were both corrupted.