Card readers vs. transferring from camera?

Question

I have a FinePix A-345 camera with an XD 128mb picture card. I've been transferring pictures via USB directly from the camera for months with no problems. A couple of months ago, I started using a card reader on occasion and ever since, I've been getting "bad spots" on the card and have lost numerous pictures and movies. A few days ago, I had a "card error" in the camera, and couldn't access anything on the camera, or even take new ones. I ended up reformatting the picture card using the camera, and all is well again.

I suspect the card reader might be the problem, but I can't find any real information on it, I only have the fact that since I started using the card reader the problems began. Could be coincidence, I guess. Fuji, of course, says I need to bring the camera in for hundreds of dollars in repairs. I doubt it.

Since I've reformatted, I fear the card reader.

Has anyone had this happen, or know if this is a known issue? Do cards "go bad" and need reformatting?

I also use the everliving sh*t out of the camera, I take hundreds of pictures, transfer and delete often. Sometimes transferring things back on to the card to take to Walgreens to get prints...

Answer 1

It could be the card reader. Just don't yank the memory card out of the reader while it's still being accessed (by Windows Explorer or whatever you use). USB drives such as card readers show up on Windows computers as a green icon in the tray next to the clock. By right-clicking it, you can shut it down safely.
I personally copy my files to the computer instead of moving them. When everything is safely on the computer, I do in fact yank the card out and then always reformat it on the camera before shooting again. Reformatting your card every now and then is a good thing.

Answer 2

I haven't had this problem, but I know that storage media can act up at times and the best solution is to reformat. However you may very well have something wrong with your card reader or even the way your reader is configured. Things can get corrupted for different reasons. My suggestion would be to try another card and see if the problem still exists, or even wait first to see if the problem re-emerges after your reformatting.
Sorry I don't have a definite answer for you, but that's how troubleshooting computer errors goes, by process of elimination.

Answer 3

I don't like using my card reader that much because, I bealive taking the card of the camera all the time to transfer them via a reader scratches the card contacts or something ... so just use the usb when possible!!!
cause all the, removing and inserting the card in the camera must cause some damage!!

Answer 4

Am sorry to say that my daughter's MIL just ran into trouble on a "virgin" card (first fill with images), using her HP printer's SD card slot. In her case, I suspect static discharge might have played a part. I'm having hers *disassembled* for evaluation. There's an outfit here in Colorado that (for a price) will actually repair a card sufficiently to retrieve images.

I doubt there's anything wrong with your camera. You can demonstrate that to yourself by continuing to use USB to transfer the images and waiting to see if any new errors crop up. I suspect that they won't.

I'm not also comfortable with installation or removal of SD (or in your case, XD) cards while powered. I've heard of too many cases where, while it appeared that the "file system" of the card had been properly shut down before the card was removed, it evidently had not been, and while the user was only READING data, the card was left in some peculiar state on removal. I'm fuzzy on this, and in the next week or two, plan a concerted effort to understand what they're packing into these SD cards that allows them to be left in these states. One would have thought that removal after only reading would not create these conditions.

Then there's the simple problem of removing a device while it's powered, regardless of the question of the state of the file system when power is dropped...

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ALL of the digital camera manufacturers frown on powered insertion and removal of memory cards -- they explicitly warn against this in their user manuals. Why are "card readers", either connected to a PC or a printer, exempt from this concern? Sounds like a separate question for this forum!
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