pbphoto

I will pre-empt this post with a brief summary - I am a professional wedding photographer of 20+ years experience (both film and digital) and always with Canon equipment. I am meticulous in my prep for and execution of a wedding shoot. I have now come across an issue that quite frankly has me stumped.

I recently (pre CoVid-19 lockdown) shot a wedding with 2 bodies as I always do (5D4 and 6D) and used Transcend SD cards which I rotate regularly and always format to the camera before each shoot. The cards are less than a year old and probably only covered half a dozen or so weddings (I don't clear my cards until my Clients receive their Album.)

I downloaded the cards after the wedding and subsequently when going through them to prepare proofs for viewing I discovered I was missing group shots I'd taken mid way through the shoot. I have the shots from before that point in the day and I have shots from after but not the group shots.

The confusing thing is that (i) I recall checking the back of the camera that the shots were okay, and (ii) there are no missing file numbers when I check through the files I have. My cameras are set (with differing prefixes) to record images in consecutive order.

My initial thought was that the missing files ight still be somewhere on the card but having run the card through 5 seperate and different recovery programs there are nowhere to be found.

I can only surmise that I have a faulty card . . . or do I?

Thoughtful and appropriate responses sought. Thank you in advance.

pbphoto

Sorry missed out the important part that the images were shot on the 6D which of course only has 1 card slot so I wouldn't have been able to save a back up on a seperate card.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If there's not a break in the sequence numbers, it's going to be hard to investigate further. You mention prefixes, so I assume that assures the two cameras cannot collide on the same file name / sequence number? Do these images happen to overlap with a card change? Have you misplaced a card? Stepping away from the sequence numbers, can you see a break in the timestamps?

Your 5DIV uses two card slots, CF and SD. Does this issue mean it's isolated to the SD card in the 6D?

BebuLamar

I don't know but perhaps the card came loose or some how the camera thought you have removed the card. I don't know but my Nikon still show me the picture on the back when I chimp but doesn't record anything.

pbphoto

Thank you for your response. Yes the issue relates only to the 6D. I mentioned the 5D4 only to show that I use more than one body at a wedding and don't try to catch everything on 1 camera or 1 card. There is no great break in the timeline other than would be moving between shots or cameras. The card wasn't removed from the 6D during the relevant time period.

rond-photography Loc: Connecticut

That is a good possibility. I shoot a different brand (Oly) but have hit that problem. As you still have the cards, re-import the 6D photos to a different folder so there will be no collision. I have had to do that and it works.
Another thing I wondered about is video. On my Oly, it is very easy to hit the video button by mistake once in a while. If you did that and somehow got back to stills without noticing, maybe the videos don't show up in your import?

In any case, you can just look on the cards directly. If the shots are not there, you are SOL. Won't likely figure out what happened, but if not on the card, they are, unfortunately gone.

Good luck!

pbphoto

I use different prefixes with different bodies in order that there is no chance of an 'overlap' with similar numbered files. The occasion hasn't arisen but the prefixes would ensure that there would be no confusion. I merge all my downloaded files in Bridge sorting by time/date created and I have checked only the files from the 6D and can see no 'break' or loss of files in sequence. It's stumping me BIG time as to where these files have gone so the only answer I have come up with is that it was a faulty card. Worse case scenario is that there is an issue with the 6D but that's not something I can check during the current lockdown, hence my approach to this forum.

Guyserman Loc: Benton, AR

Is there any chance you could have accidentally deleted them when doing your after shot review?

ELNikkor

Scary to think that the files are nowhere, with no explanation as to why. Since the cards have functioned well before, it is a mystery as to why those images would be gone. That said, many years ago, I do remember something flukey going on with a card, and yes it was a Transcend. I have never used them since; Sandisk all the way.

pbphoto

I can't imagine that I have deleted them as there are no file numbers missing (I checked and the numebrs are still in sequential order including the images taken after the group shots). I have used Transcend exclusively for several years starting with CF cards, following a bad experience with a Lexar card, before moving on to SD cards with the advent of SD slots as they became 'standard' in the 5D series along with CF card slots. I have on occasion used the CF card slot to create a 'back up' to the SD cards but I don't have that facility with the 6D body.

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

You shouldn't rule out user error - the possibility that you may have accidentally deleted those files while reviewing them. Although many photographers like to blame their equipment for every problem (blurry images, missing files, inappropriate exposure, etc.), oftentimes it is photographer's fault, not the equipment.

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

But the catch here is file numbers do not indicate deleted files. As far as I know, Canon cameras do not reuse a file name when files are deleted in camera, they increment up.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

The fact that no file numbers are missing indicates that not only were no files saved to the card, but also that the camera didn't think that it saved any files to the card. I am assuming that the camera also did not give you any sort of warning or error message at the time of exposure. In my mind, this points most strongly to some sort of problem with the camera or with the operating software (firmware).

Did you power the camera off and back on during the time this was happening? Especially right before everything started working again? If so, something weird might have happened with the camera operating system. If not, I'd be inclined to suspect an intermittent hardware problem. Could be the camera or could be the memory card.

Finally...do you have your camera set to allow shutter release when there is no card? If so, I'd inspecr and clean the contacts on the card and reseat it.

This may be a tough one to track down, and maybe a tough one to fix.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

This is a nightmare! As long time wedding photographers, we all take so many pecautions- going back to the film days, issues like out of synch flash, failure to remove a dark slide, actually losing a roll of film among other unforeseeable glitches always loomed like the Sword of Damocles. Since I have been on digital, of course, there are new dangers to avoid- lost or defective cards, etc., accidental deletion in the camera or in editing. Knock on wood- nothing yet!

This one stumps me because I am sure that in the case of formal group shots, you would have taken several backup shots of each group, did a bit of chimping now and again to verify and would have not disbanded the groups until you knew you have what you needed. Another question is why are just the groups missing and nothing else adjacent to that time sequence? Is it possible that you changed cards for a formal sequence? Seems that a defect in the card would not be confined to one set of images and is more likely to cause intermittent problems throughout.

If you had chimped to verify, you would have noticed a synch failure, any serious underexposure, a shutter failure, etc. If there are no numbers missing- that assumes there are no deleted frames.

I wish I could be of more assistance. By this time I would have pulled my cases apart, looked in every crevis in my car, gone through all my pockets, and shaken my assistant upside down in search of a lost card.

Let us know if you find anything. I am usually a good "detective" but his one escapes me.

BebuLamar

I would try a blank card. Take some pictures. Remove the card Takes some pictures. Install the card. Take some pictures. Do that and see if that is what the OP found. If it is then I know that the OP didn't remove the card but there is possible failure of the contacts either on the card or camera that makes the camera at those time think it didn't have a card.