Is Problem the D70 or the Sandisk CF flash card?

I'm trying to figure out if my problem is with my D70, or my Sandisk Extreme III 1 GB Compact Flash card, or both. In the past, I've

experience the Blinking Green Light of Death, so I understand that. Nikon replaced parts of my camera for free after the BGLOD showed

up, and I have had about 2 1/2 years of trouble free experience since the free repair.

I was shooting an assignment recently when the screen gave a "CHA" error, and the camera became non-responsive, couldn't even turn

it off. I took the battery out, put it back in, and it took a few more photos, then locked up again. Not wanting to cause more problems, I

cut things short and went home to download the photos. About half the 130 or so photos were totally missing. There were all kinds of

crazy things with the file names, like switching from 58.jpg 58.NEF to the next image in sequence being 422.jpg and 422.NEF. Also,

crazy file extensions like .JTG and NMF. Some of these files I was able to open in Photoshop by changing the file extensions to jpg and

NEF; others wouldn't open. Some of the files with normal file names wouldn't open. Also had crazy file names for some images like

%56kj18.jpg. Some of these opened, some didn't.

 

I'm not concerned about retrieving the lost photos. I didn't tell the client what had happened, and they were very happy with the

photos I provided. I assumed the problem was with the D70, especially after my past Green Death Light experiences, so I called Nikon

technical support. The guy had me reset the camera using the single button on the base plate. It seemed to operate fine, and I fired off

and reviewed about 1500 test images, including shooting many with the remote control and the same 4 lenses, some manual, I had used

on the assignment when I had the problem. I used the remote, and the same media card as I did on the assignment (the Sandisk IGB),

to see if the problem would recur. It didn't.

 

Then, this week, doing my next "real" (non-test) photography, I took some group portraits. I was able to review the photos on the

camera back, and all seemed fine. A few minutes later I showed some of the subjects the photos using the LCD on the camera back,

and things were still fine. Shut the camera off, and when I went to show the images a third time, all but one of the images were

unreadable, giving me the "IMAGE FILE CONTAINS NO DATA" error message on all images but one.

 

When I returned to my studio, thank God all the images downloaded with no problem. I had been prepared for all of them or all but

one of the images to be gone, and to try using some Rescue techniques.

 

Based on the above, can I know for sure that the problem is with the camera? Or that the problem is the Sandisk CF card?

 

Could a bad card cause my camera to totally freeze up and not even turn off properly as happened on the first assignment?

 

Any help or guidance would be helpful. I'll probably trying not using that Sandisk 1 GB card for the time being and try shooting lots of

photos with other cards. But that is no guarantee, as after the first problem I shot 1500+ photos with the Sandisk card without any

symptoms before a new problem recurred.

 

My other considerations are to send the camera to Nikon repair facility and see if I can get another free repair (or at least get an

estimate), and / or to toss the Sandisk media card. Any thoughts?

I have heard of ribbon connectors coming loose inside the D70, after several years of use, and causing this problem. I had a similar problem but giving the CF card buss a good cleaning fixed the issue. My local pro shop sels a CF slot cleaning kit. It contained a special little do-dad which holds cleaning paper. It slides into the CF slot. The pins pierce the paper and are cleaned. I haven't had any issues for almost a year now.

This doesn't sound like a card problem since you can retrieve the photos from a PC.

Those strange names could be something like temporary PC files, but I am not sure whether the camera uses temporary files on card.

 

You could also try controlling the camera through Nikon Camera Control and even let it fire lots of shots automatically and download them instantly to PC without a card inserted.

 

Your card can easily be checked from a card reader. Run Checkdisk from windows or try writing various things and the formating it a couple of times. If everything is OK there couldn't be a problem with your card.

 

If that thing happens again with the camera don't do anything and take it to the service center as is so they can see what happens...

Thanks, John and Constantinos, for your feedback.

 

I'll try checking with the local camera stores in Seattle and get a compact flash slot cleaning kit, and see if that solves

the problem.

 

I have a Mac G5, not a PC. I wonder if there is a similar Mac program to Windows Checkdisk for checking the flash

card?

 

Also, I've seen people mention formatting the CF card from the computer. I've always used the D70's menu to do it.

What software program is used to format the card? Is the card in the camera and hooked up with the download cables

when you format this way, or do you use a card reader to format the card from a computer?

 

Thanks again, John and Constantinos.

 

Brian

There is no difference whether formatting with the camera hooked to the computer or from a card reader (supposing the camera is in the Mass Storage mode).

 

In Mac you can use the Disk Utility which can be found in /Applications/Utilities/ to format and check the card.

I will bet it is the D70. Do a search on this net for "CHA Error" and you will find several threads. One even has a

description of how to open the camera to fix an intermittent connector within the camera. I would try the contact cleaning

kit first.

 

I have owned a D70 for a few years and haven't had the problem (yet). I always format the card in the camera, not on the

computer.

 

Jack

I recently had a Sandisk Extreme III 4G failure. It first started showing some of those CHA errors and finally died 2, 3 weeks later. I would not depend on a card as soon as it shows the first symptom.

 

In my case it was easy to determine, as that same card showed the same problem on multiple DSLRs. Do you have additional CF cards to test your D70 with?

 

I also had another brand new Lexar CF card that gave me the CHA error as soon as I opened the package.

Brian, I didn't realize you were in Seattle. Glazer's Photo downtown will have the CF buss cleaner and Photo-tronics on Dexter could check out your camera for you. The cleaners were on the spin rack by the door when I bought mine.

Hi Shun,

 

Thanks for the feedback. I am using a variety of cards now to see if the problem recurs. I used a microdrive CF card

yesterday and got a brief CHA error (it flashed and went away). I then shot about 100 photos with no problems.

 

John, thanks again for the info on the cleaning kit. I stopped by Glazers yesterday and talked to all the personnel. They

had never heard of the cleaning kit for the CF buss connector. Darryl even searched the store looking for it.

 

I noticed that there isn't a spin rack by the door at Glazers. Could it possibly have been another store?