On Kauai now -- "memory card error" ALL photos gone -- help!
 

Hi Fodorites,

DH and I are in Kauai now. We were on the BI last week. I had about 400 photos that are irreplacable...of our 3rd anniversary, turtles we can upon sunning themselves on A-Bay, us spelling out a message in white coral on Highway 19 on the BI, and just this morning, tons of priceless photos of a monk seal on Shipwreck Beach. All of a sudden tonight, my digital camera read "memory card error", and ALL the photos are gone :( I am heartbroken to lose these memories, and have been crying all night. DH is at a loss to console me, AND it's my birthday today! Anyways, the concierge here at the Hyatt gave us some photo recs for stores that might be able to help. A couple didn't answer as it's almost 9 p.m. here, but Photo Spectrum said to bring the card in tomorrow and they'd see if they could retrieve anything. They said it's 50/50.

I'm posting for 3 reasons:
1.) Has anyone had this happen, and what was your outcome?
2.) Any more specific recs of digital camera places I could look into on Kauai?
3.) To tell you all to DOWNLOAD YOUR PHOTOS EVERYDAY IF POSSIBLE! I am sick that I didn't do this, since we have our laptop with us. I am so distraught over losing all these photos.

Anyways, any help/advice/similar experiences is much appreciated. Mahalo!

yeppers, hopefully it's the camera and not the mem card, that's the 50/50. i've gone to photo spec in lihue, they're good.

i've learned to upload pics to pc every time as soon. it's tedious but even fuji cam acts up now and then. i also bought a usb cardreader shaped like a jump drive. i keep on my keyring.

best of luck

Thanks for responding.

It's not the camera, it's definitely the memory card. I have 2 cameras with me, so I know that for a fact. Hopefully Photo Spec. can still help. I'm heartbroken over this. These photos/memories can never be replaced, even though we come to Hawaii every summer.

Thanks for the tips, too. Looks like I'll be someone who uploads every time from now on, too.

is it upload from pc and download to? whatever.

it's a sick feeling. so don't worry too much, wait to see what they say.

hope you had good time anyway...

It just happened on the camera all of a sudden when I turned it on at dinner tonight. I noticed a few of my monk seal photos were missing, and I turned it off, then back on again. More were missing, and then all of them....Now, when I turn the camera on, it just reads "memory card error" no matter what camera the memory card is in. I was hoping it was the camera, but it's definitely the card. I've never had this happen before, and I just couldn't keep from crying!

You're right, all we can do is hope that Photo Spectrum can help, and learn from this if they can't. And, yes, we've had a fabulous time on this trip. That's why it's so heartbreaking -- the thought of all these great photos from our memories being gone is just terrible. Photos aren't something that can be replaced.

Thanks again for your help!

Hi Beachgirl86;

There is software called RescuePro that should help you recover the data on the memory card. You can download a free demo at www .lc-tech.co.uk and then click on "recovery software"

Good luck -- I haven't used it myself but have heard stories of miraculous recovery of photos.

msf

Can't help you, but I wish you luck in getting the pictures back.

I had this happen with some skating competition photos. I first thought I had somehow erased them. I downloaded what was still on the card when I got home. I then used the card on a trip to FL a couple of weeks later. Everything was fine until I got an error message after about 20-30 pictures. I didn't lose anything already taken but did not use that card for the remainder of the trip. Always good to have a spare card!

A friend is a wiz at computers but we never did recover the lost skating pictures/video clips.

Good luck!

just to offer you some hope...the way the camera reads the card, it has some kind of index or table of contents that tells the camera where a picture starts on the card, and where the next one is.

There is a good chance, if the memory has been damaged, that it is the index that is messed up, and maybe some of the data but not ALL of the data. its actually pretty difficult to literally erase all the memory. There are very good software programs out there that will figure out where the pictures are on the card and recover them for you,at least most of them. so don't loose hope!

I know that you are really really upset. We lost an entire night of my niece's wedding ceremony and reception.

Until 6 months ago, these things really upset me and freaked me out. I had a serious cancer scare and thank goodness everything was benign and I am healthy. I don't know if this will make you feel any better but you still have your memories burned in your brain. Yes, you will not be able to physically share this experience with your friends and family. You will be able to verbally describe this incredible adventure to them.

I am not religious and usually I do not preach. IMHO do not let it ruin your vacation especially what is left of it. Try to focus on the positive and what is really important. I am generally a very negative person. But think about this as one event in this in scope of your life.

I will understand if you tell me to go to h=ll.

Debsnj, just curious but what does having a cancer scare have to do with losing photos ?

Seriously, Rusty ----

PERSPECTIVE on how to view one of life's bumps in the road.

Oh beachgirl, that is so awful!! :(

I have lost photos, too. On my last trip, part of my My Pictures folder got corrupted with an entire day's worth of irreplaceable photos; luckily someone was able to recover them for me...

After that, I started doubly backing them up: downloaded them to the PC, then burned them onto DVD or CD! You could also join a photo site like Flickr and upload them there for backup. (You can make them private if you don't want the photo-sharing aspect.)

I also ended up purchasing an external hard drive. (I was in China and it wasn't expensive.) I found one that both connects to the computer via USB, and has slots to download memory cards directly to it without needing the computer - very handy when you don't want to lug the laptop around! (I have to say, though, since the external hard drive doesn't have a way to review files stored on it, I was rather nervous that somehow the copying would be messed up, but it was fine.)

The device I purchased isn't available for purchase in the US. But for explanation's sake, this one is very similar: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita.../dp/B0001EQN6A
Look for reviews of storage devices on sites like dpreview.com.

Now I prefer having the external hard drive to those really large memory cards. The more photos they store, the more we're capable of losing! :(

GOOD LUCK with your photos!!! Please let us know how it goes...

Just keep in mind - hard drives get corrupted and die, too, so upload the photos to an internet-based photo-sharing site. There are many, and most are free (at least for a certain amount of storage).

goodluck at the photo store!

Happy Birthday to your husband!

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions...I greatly appreciate it!

We are headed to the Photo Spectrum now, so I will let you know how it all turns out. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

(And iamq -- it was my birthday yesterday when it happened at The Beach House, not DH's! What a crappy night it was for me...)

so what did they say?

Oh, bless your heart; I hope they are able to recover them for you. That would have made me so mad. I love my photos and preserving all the memories. Best of luck - let us know how it goes.

Oops. I thought I read that it was your husband's birthday. Sorry. Hope it all worked out okay.