Kay Clark Loc: Wesley Chapel, Florida

I have recovered all of the images but still have no idea what happened. I deleted the entire file from my PC and reloaded the images via cable from my camera to PC. All of the images were fine. So I must conclude that somehow the transfer using my card reader somehow malfunctioned. I am quite relieved that it was not a camera issue as I have a wedding to shoot next week. Thanks to all for all the great advice. It really helped.
Kay

Bugfan Loc: Toronto, Canada

It's not clear whether your problem has been solved or not. Yes you were successful transferring your images without corruption but will that work the next time?

Since you used your cable, yes there could have been a problem with your card reader and there may still be.

However there could also be a problem with your card. It could have a hairline fracture in it that only causes problems when you extract the card from the camera and insert it into a reader. You could also have a loose pin or a dirty pin on the end of the card which could be causing trouble in the reader but not in the camera.

None of these might be an issue and yet how can you know? All you've learned is to download directly from the camera.

Personally, any time I get any kind of a strange effect with a card, I replace the card. I will troubleshoot it sometimes out of curiosity but never to fix it. They generally can't be fixed so I'd not bother to try.

Knowing the flash memory is not forever, I use a single corruption as the signal that there's something failing on the card and so I replace it immediately with one I can rely on. It's cheaper to buy another card than to lose a shoot in my opinion.

Kay Clark Loc: Wesley Chapel, Florida

Thanks, that is great advice and I will definitely use a new card for my next shoot. I may use that card again with some test shots just to see if the problem still exists on the card. I will also experiment with the card reader to see if that is the issue. It will also be interesting to find out if a new card will have the same issue with the card reader. This may take a little time and testing to see if the problem replicates and by process of elimination determine what the problem was. I was able to retrieve all of the raw images from the card with the cable without any corrupt files. Scary scenario, thank goodness these were just pleasure shots that I took at a zoo and not for a client.

Kay Clark Loc: Wesley Chapel, Florida

Here are 3 of the safely recovered photos that I took on a personal pleasure shoot to the zoo. Sometimes I like to go and just take photos to practice Photoshop on without the pressure of a client shoot.

Kay Clark Loc: Wesley Chapel, Florida

The problem was with my card reader. I dug out my camera to PC cable and they loaded just fine. That card reader is now in the trash. Can anyone recommend a card reader brand that is reliable? I have now gone through 3 of them.