16GB Sandisk Ultra SD cards

[gib_robinson]

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I have had only one card write failure using Sandisk cards in my M9; it was a 16GB Sandisk Ultra. The other two 16GB Ultras are working fine. Has anyone else had trouble with the Ultra 16GB cards?

 

I have used both 4GB and 8GB Sandisk Extreme cards that seem to have a better build quality than the Ultras but I have no idea whether that's actually true or whether it has any long-term affect on the reliability of the cards.

 

I have not tried the new 16GB Extreme cards. I don't intend to buy one yet if the Ultras are generally reliable.

 

Thanks,

 

--Gib

[jaapv]

4 of them working perfectly. But I did find that I needed to reformat them after the firmware update, otherwise they wrote a black file once in a while.

[gib_robinson]

That's good news, Jaap. I'm hoping one or two more users will say the same. My card stopped writing properly about 1/2-way full this past week. Fortunately, I could read the files when I got home. Now, however, it won't format, so I don't intend to experiment with it. Even if I did get it to format, I wouldn't trust it.

 

It's fairly new. I wonder if Sandisk will provide a replacement.

 

--Gib

[01af]

The only card failure I ever encountered so far was with a SanDisk card—an Extreme III 1 GB CF card five years ago. It failed 15 minutes after starting to use it after opening the blister pack. Since then, I never used a brand-new card for important shots; always test them prior to first use.

 

Memory cards usually will either fail upon first use or be very reliable for several years. After some years of heavy use they will wear out and start losing occasional bits and bytes; then it's time to replace them.

[newtoleica]

Using 16GB ultras -had a few black images before the firmware update. None since (so far).

[gib_robinson]

The only card failure I ever encountered so far was with a SanDisk card—an Extreme III 1 GB CF card five years ago. It failed 15 minutes after starting to use it after opening the blister pack. Since then, I never used a brand-new card for important shots; always test them prior to first use.

 

Memory cards usually will either fail upon first use or be very reliable for several years. After some years of heavy use they will wear out and start losing occasional bits and bytes; then it's time to replace them.

 

Really useful advice. It makes sense to use a card at least once before relying on it. This card may not have been used yet. I bought three 16GB Ultras at the same time (the middle of last month) and didn't make sure all three got a workout before leaving on a trip. I will do that in the future. Happily all the images were readable.

[gib_robinson]

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FYI.

 

I initiated a live chat with Sandisk support. They had me reformat the card on the computer and then reformat the card in the camera. I did that successfully. Then, to their credit, they suggested I test the card with some trial images. I did that and could not reformat the card. I recontacted Sandisk. They suggested I contact the seller since it had been less than 30 days. I have since contacted Amazon and gotten a refund for that card.

 

I'm not sure I will buy another Ultra 16GB card. Once burned, twice shy.

 

I would still like to hear from a few more users of the Ultra cards. Maybe that will reassure me. :-).

[jaapv]

I don't think your experience was typical for Sandisk cards. These are mass-produced items. The chance of getting a dud is small, but always present.

[Viv]

16 gig is too big for me. I use 4 gig cards.

[DerekF]

I've got three SanDisk Ultra 16 GB cards. I purchased two of them around January of this year and recently bought another one (all on sale at a major electronics retailer here in Canada). I've not had any problems with them (yet).

[gravastar]

4 of them working perfectly. But I did find that I needed to reformat them after the firmware update, otherwise they wrote a black file once in a while.

Jaap, did you get the black frames when you used custom white balance? I had that after the last M9 upgrade when I forgot to redo the white balance.

 

Bob.

[jaapv]

probably not; I don't recall but I rarely use a custom white balance.

[scott kirkpatrick]

At last count, I've got four 16 GB Ultras, all less than a year old, and about the same number of 8 GB Extreme III's, about six months older. No problems with any of them. I have seen one corrupted frame (a rectangle of inserted material from the previous exposure) on each of my M9's, in several thousand exposures with each camera. Not since the recent firmware upgrade. I don't think the cards were responsible for the corrupted frames.

 

scott

[wooch]

Hi,

 

I am a long time subscriber and just start posting recently.

 

I just got my M9 for about 2 weeks ago, I really like the camera.

 

I start having some problem with SD cards (2G SanDisk Extreme III.)

The camera fails to detect or read/write to the card intermittently.

My M8 can read and detect the same SD card but not the M9.

 

Occasionally, after failing to read the card and I shut off the system while it is reading.

The camera may not switch on again and you will need to pull the battery out to reset it.

 

As the SD cards are old, I get a Sandisk Extreme 16G card. The camera cannot detact the card right out of the box. It can then format it after I format it in the M8. I try another 16G card (same brand) and this time the M9 can format it.

 

I read from the forum that Sandisk Extreme 16G works well with the M9.

The firmware has been upgraded to 1.138 so it is with the latest software when these happened.

 

I think I should send the camera in for a checkup, but before I do that, I just want to check with everyone and see if anyone experience something similar?

[jaapv]

If you are using cards that have been formatted on the M8, you will have to reformat them in the M9 before using them. If the M9 has trouble reformatting, format in the computer first and then again in the M9.

[Bill W]

I bought two or the 16gb Ultra based on recommendations here. Both have worked flawlessly so far. I also have various 1 and 2gb older Lexar cards and they also work as far as I can see after formsting in the M9. I bought the Ultra's through Amazon.

[Baptiste]

I have 2 16Gb Ultra II cards, one from 2009, and bought the second one a few weeks ago. The "old" one has worked flawlessly until now, while I got a writing error last week on the new one, followed by a suspiciously long format process (upon request, ofc, after having retrieved the pics on my computer). I almost switched off the camera, as it took a few minutes to format.

 

I came back then to the uncompressed RAW format (instead of compress RAW, mode which I switched on as well recently), and performed a stress test with the failing card, with no more issue (took several pics in the different modes, switched off/on while the camera was still saving the pics, changed mode & so on).

 

My problem is that I don't know if I can trust this card, while I'm leaving for holydays in a week.

[wooch]

I format the card in M8 to get the M9 to recognize them so I can format it on the M9.

It seems that cards format on Mac is not recognize by the M9 as well.

 

I did reformat the cards on the M9 and it fails intermittently.

[bman]

I format the card in M8 to get the M9 to recognize them so I can format it on the M9.

It seems that cards format on Mac is not recognize by the M9 as well.

 

I did reformat the cards on the M9 and it fails intermittently.

 

I reformat my cards on the X1 before the M9 could reformat it as well. But that was firmware 1.116, not sure about the new firmware. The Mac will reformat it with FAT, but if you review the card under the disk utility after doing the reformatting, it would still show as Mac OS Extended, although the partition is correctly formatted as FAT.

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[wooch]

I am using 1.138 the latest firmware, so it may be something wrong with my M9.

I will send it back to check as with this firmware, my camera cannot always recognize the SDHC card in the socket. I check and don't see any bent pins in the socket.

 

The Mac's format is a bit strange for FAT file system. I have PC that cannot read a Mac formatted flash as well. It seems related to whether the Mac format it in FAT32 or not, and you cannot chose that...