Please help - SD card data retrieval

[Edward the Nth]

Hi everyone - I'm looking for recommendations on where or how to retrieve the photos from a seemingly dead SD card.

I've shot a lot of headshots, portraits and events over the years. I shot my first wedding the other night, using an Angelbird AV Pro SD card in my Nikon Z8. About two hours in, I got a sudden warning/error message on the camera that the card was unreadable/inaccessible. I swapped cards (noticed that the card was a pretty warm to the touch) and continued shooting, with no further issues.

Later, went to mount that first error card on my iMac, but it would not appear. Tried different cables, different reader, even tried it on my laptop, and still the card would not mount, not in the finder, not in disk utility, not in safe mode, etc. Other cards working fine, and I was able to access them.

Again, I've been shooting for over a decade and never ran across this problem. I do swap and reformat cards periodically to avoid overusing them.

I fear this card is totally dead. Really stressed that I may have lost a significant portion of my photos for this wedding. So does anyone have any serious recommendations on how to retrieve those "lost" photos? Thanks for any insights you may have!

 

[Woolsocks]

A dead card.... Hrmm.... Have you tried the card on a windows machine? Do you have a card to usb reader?

If it's dead it's dead. I believe if you contacted the manufacturer they might offer data recovery.

Insult await after this so don't read it unless you have a thick skin.

Are the pins bent in any way on the card? Is it missing any pins? Is there any dirt or grime or mold on the contact pins of the card.
Is there any other visible damage on the card itself?

The memory card is plastic case that contains the memory itself inside.

Maybe you can take the card apart and replace it with another new card. I imagine you will need a soldering iron as well.

 

[480sparky]

Does a computer 'recognize' the presence of the card? If so, there's hope.

Try freeware first. If that fails, I recommend R-Studio.

 

[Edward the Nth]

Does a computer 'recognize' the presence of the card? If so, there's hope.

Try freeware first. If that fails, I recommend R-Studio.

It does not recognize the card.

 

[480sparky]

Swapping the innards to a donor card may work. Otherwise, a recovery specialist might work... depending on how valuable the images are to you.

 

[Thiophilos]

Angelbird offers a free data recovery service for cards within 3 years.

Reliable and Compatible SDXC V90 Memory Card | Angelbird

The Angelbird SDXC V90 memory cards are fast, extremely reliable, compatible and developed for recording Full HD, 4K+ and RAW video and photo.

www.angelbird.com

 

[RAZKY]

Hi everyone - I'm looking for recommendations on where or how to retrieve the photos from a seemingly dead SD card.

I've shot a lot of headshots, portraits and events over the years. I shot my first wedding the other night, using an Angelbird AV Pro SD card in my Nikon Z8. About two hours in, I got a sudden warning/error message on the camera that the card was unreadable/inaccessible. I swapped cards (noticed that the card was a pretty warm to the touch) and continued shooting, with no further issues.

Later, went to mount that first error card on my iMac, but it would not appear. Tried different cables, different reader, even tried it on my laptop, and still the card would not mount, not in the finder, not in disk utility, not in safe mode, etc. Other cards working fine, and I was able to access them.

Again, I've been shooting for over a decade and never ran across this problem. I do swap and reformat cards periodically to avoid overusing them.

I fear this card is totally dead. Really stressed that I may have lost a significant portion of my photos for this wedding. So does anyone have any serious recommendations on how to retrieve those "lost" photos? Thanks for any insights you may have!

Since there are no moving parts, it’s difficult to imagine how a card can be “overused.” And since the contacts are much more delicate than those of a cable, constant unplugging and plugging in to off-load files via a reader invites a card failure sooner or later. Since 2005 my wife and I have used 5 digital cameras, 2 of which are used nearly every few days, and the cards have never been touched since they were first plugged in. We have yet to experience a card failure.
Hopefully, the advice given will enable you to recover your files. Good luck!

 

[smoke665]

everyone - I'm looking for recommendations on where or how to retrieve the photos from a seemingly dead SD card.

Had this issue come up recently on a relatively new Lexar card. When I plugged it into the card reader, things went funky, and after that neither camera or computer would recognize the card.

After a lot of reading and gnashing of teeth, I reformatted the card to make it discoverable. I use Lexar cards, which offers a free download recovery tool. Once installed, it found/recovered all but a couple of corrupted files. I think most of the major card manufacturers offer a recovery tool, though not all are free.

Once recovered, I reformatted the card again, in camera, and have been using it without isuue since. I suspect my problem was a bad card reader, and a low camera battery that caused the corruption. I replaced my card reader, and peform card transfers and deletions at the computer, afterwards I reformat the card in camera before use, and always check the battery indicator before using.

 

[480sparky]

Since there are no moving parts, it’s difficult to imagine how a card can be “overused.” .....

Memory chips have a rated lifespan, measured in write cycles. Once the components reach that point and start to fail, it has been 'overused'.

 

[ACS64]

Were you shooting in high humidity conditions? In the old days of digital I lost some files through overheating. I that case the camera had a issue with electrical leakage from the built in flash under high humidity conditions which I believe caused the overheating of the whole camera but especially the CF card. I was able to recover some of the files using a third party file recovery program and a Windows computer. Had the camera repaired as there was a factory recall on that electrical problem and continued to use the card after reformatting. By the way that card was not just warm, it was downright hot. I've never had a failure on any SD/SDXC card even after running them through the laundry. Most of my cards have been Sandisks.

 

[PhotoHobbyist]

First try washing the card contacts with alcohol and cotton swab and try again.

 

[RAZKY]

Memory chips have a rated lifespan, measured in write cycles. Once the components reach that point and start to fail, it has been 'overused'.

I daresay that repeated use of a reader will damage a card long before that rated lifespan is reached. Lets hope the OP is able to recover the files.

 

[Ellinor William]

SD card not showing on a computer can be fixed. The disk management function can help show the files. I think this video may help: