Help needed; corrupt DNG files

[GinaJ]

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Looking for some help with my CL......I bought a used one 3 months ago and have been loving it ever since I got it.  I've historically shot just RAW for photo edits so I did not discover this weird quirk until lately.  Was taking portraits of a friend of mine at a local arboretum and set the picture mode to RAW + JPEG (large) so that I could directly share the JPEGs with her for social media reasons.  When I got home, to download the DNG files, they were all 2MB and could not be opened in LR.  The JPEGs were just fine.

I did a factory reset, and if I shoot only RAW the camera is fine.  I did some additional testing....If I do any mode with DNG combined with JPEGs, the JPEGs turn out fine, but the DNGs are not available.  

Would like to know if anybody has had this experience and if they have suggestions how to fix it.  

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[wda]

Gina, welcome. That is very strange, certainly not within my experience with the CL. My first thought is, try a newly formatted new card to eliminate that possibility. Next, I would try a new battery, fully charged. The fault could be related to damaged or worn-out accessories.

I always record DNG plus jpeg (low-resolution), the latter for quick use if needed.

[GinaJ]

Thanks!  I always carry about 2 fully charged batteries on me, but to rule it out I will try a new card and format it to the camera.  I appreciate the suggestion!

I've not ever experienced this with any camera, coming from the Olympus EM10, EM5, PEN-F, EM1ii, and the Leica M9 and Q2....Though most of the time I shot RAW.  With the M9 I did shoot RAW + BW JPEG, and never encountered this before either.

[Anbaric]

Are you using Lightroom for the file transfer, or the Mac Finder / Windows File Explorer? Are you copying directly from the camera, or using a card reader?

[wda]

Have you checked the firmware status?  Also, make sure your memory cards are not too advanced for the camera.

[GinaJ]

Firmware is up to date....Leica Fotos app does direct file transfer from camera to LR rather quickly, even RAW files to my surprise.  Like I said, RAW files are perfectly fine as long as I don't shoot combined with JPEG.  The SD card is the same one I use in my Q2 and I've never had this issue with my Q2.  It's a SanDisk Extreme PRO, 300MB/S.  Never thought to check if that might be too advanced for the camera.  

 

[LocalHero1953]

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I used those same cards (64Gb) without problems in a CL, when I had one.

You could try reading the card in a reader device, rather than Fotos. Fotos was rather primitive in the time of the CL, and I wonder if recent updates to it mean it has lost some backwards compatibility.

[tommonego@gmail.com]

Welcome, I am using SanDisk Extreme Pro 64 and 32 gb cards, butthey are 90-95 mb/sec. These are the cards Ibought with my CL in late 2018. I only use DNG and have never had a problem. I agree with using a card reader, I find FOTOS to be a little buggy with the CL. I also wonder if the 300 mb/sec might be too fast for the CL. Are you formating the cards with the CL? If not that could be a problem. Hope you work it out.

[GinaJ]

This SD card was formatted to the camera.  I'll try a new one and format it again and hopefully that works.  If not, I'll try a card reader.  It's not a super catastrophic issue for me since I mostly shoot raw and don't use JPEG unless my friends are wanting files for social media reasons.  But I would like to get to the bottom of this, so I appreciate all the helpful comments!

 

[RM8]

Clearly a camera malfunction IMHO. CL Manual (English) p.58 explicitly states DNG =RAW is always stored in max resolution if, and no matter what, JPG resolution is chosen. Using my CL for 5 years now, never encountered the reported issue

[jaapv]

Maybe but using the same card in two different cameras often leads to problems. 

[GinaJ]

I should have clarified, it's the same type of card I used in my Q2 but I did not use a single card in both cameras.  

A brand new card reformatted to the camera didn't solve the problem, and neither did the card reader.  It's going back to the distributor, for an attempt at repair, since it's within their 180 day warranty.  

In the meantime I have my Q2 but I have to admit it hasn't gotten much use since I got the CL.  It creates beautiful images but I feel like the CL is just more fun to use.  

[Shirick]

Hello, Did you solve the problem with 2mb DNG files with JPG+DNG combination? I have similar problem with my CL.