LEXAR CARDS Failure

<p>I shot a home yesterday and one of my Lexar cards failed completely! Today, I ran out and re-did the property using: 1/7DMkII with 32gb/800x, 11-17 Tamron and 5DmkII w/32gb 1000x 17-40L Canon. <strong>BOTH cards failed.</strong> In both cases an intermittent line and poor exposure was seen near the middle of the cards BOTH! BOTH! Kind of like a double exposure on half of the cards .I normally would have checked it off if just one failed. BUT now, I am nervous of my 20 cards LEXAR that I have. So, I am going to switch to Scandisc immediately and slowly phase out the Lexar cards. I am doing 3x and 7x HDR shooting.<br>

has anyone else seen this issue. BTW: Lexar support is worthless. <strong>They said I need to buy a new card reader.....STUPID!</strong><br>

<strong>Help, please. I am asking as I may be incorrect in my assessment.</strong><br>

Thanks<br>

Ron C</p>

<p>PS: Check my workspace to view image under Lexar failure. At first it was horiz now its vertical.</p>

<p>Two cards failing at the exact same time, in the very exact same way, is very much against the odds. I find the assessment to change the card reader not all that bad - it would explain how both cards fail in the same way. The only other option would be the camera (maybe a compatibility issue of sorts, or a failure).<br>

But the chances that it is actually the cards failing together at the same moment - too unlikely for my taste. So I don't think Lexar's support made such a worthless comment.</p>

<p>Wouter, you may be right. However, I found Lexar support less than acceptable. I had to drive 200 miles to re-shoot and there was no explanation or suggestion from Lexar about this condition. Just "go buy a new reader and email us and we'll see what we can do" How un-responsive can it be? I tried each card on two separate 3.0 readers PLUS my Dell 3.0 built in reader with the same results. I also thought of the camera except the 5DMkii is only 1.5 years old and the 7DMkii is only 1 month old. And, like you said, the odds that the same issue running on two different configurations is unbelievable. Yesterday one card <strong>completely</strong> failed and I lost ALL images. So, now I have to re-shoot tomorrow. Thank goodness it was not a wedding! OUCH!<br>

I am very nervous as I have 4 shoots coming up this week, plus my make-good. So, I'm a little frustrated. :)<br>

Thanks for your thoughts</p>

 

<p>If you're buying these from Amazon, bear in mind that they may in fact not <strong>be</strong> Lexar cards. (Same applies to SanDisk cards and nearly everything else Amazon sells, for that matter.) Amazon started pooling their warehouse inventory a couple years ago. No matter who's selling it or where it came from, it all goes into the same pick bin.</p>

<p>One company ships in a bunch of counterfeits? Now every seller on Amazon, to include Amazon itself, is selling them.</p>

<p>This is the response today from Lexar support. I am going to follow their advice and post my results. I did not realize UDMA 7 was so sensitive. I did format in camera, but that may not have been the real answer:<br>

Thank you for contacting Lexar. We spoke yesterday about your UDMA 7 cards. I have reviewed the picture and have ascertained that yes this is a major side effect of corruption. Basically as I explained yesterday because you<br />used a non UDMA 7 compatible card reader, (an insignia 3.0 reader) the card reader could not keep up with the speed of the card and it forced corruption on the card. The corruption is present until fixed. The only way to fix said corruption since the cards are still working is to obtain a UDMA 7 compatible card reader and do a "Secure Format" using our Image Rescue 5 software. If you feel as though you don't trust the cards due to this reason. We can replace all your UDMA 7 cards for you, however you will still need to get a UDMA 7 card reader or you will have the same issue as before.<br>

I understand that this picture was uploaded using the camera and not the reader which can bypass that for a short time but copy speeds from camera to computer are not consistent enough for a business. So from this point it is<br />how you want to proceed. We can have you do Secure Format using Image Rescue software to fix said corruption while using a UDMA 7 card reader. Or we can replace them all but you still need the UDMA 7 card reader.<br>

If you have further questions, please contact our technical support department. Try our online chat service at http://www.lexar.com/support/. At Lexar, we are committed to providing high-quality products and reliable<br />service and support.</p>

<p>@Colin Mattson:<br>

I'm very interested in your claim. Do you have a source for your info?<br>

I did a quick Google search and found an <a href="http://petapixel.com/2012/12/09/beware-counterfeit-memory-cards-being-shipped-from-amazon-warehouses/">article on Petapixel</a> from 2012 that says, "An important distinction: "Fulfilled by Amazon" means that [Amazon] is managing and shipping products listed by 3rd-party retailers, while "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" means Amazon is selling the product itself. Sticking with the latter is a safe bet if you want to avoid counterfeit goods."</p>

<p>Ron,</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I tried each card on two separate 3.0 readers PLUS my Dell 3.0 built in reader with the same results.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>That was a bit of info missing in your original post, and a rather important bit. So, we can exclude the card reader. Then, still, having two card fail at the same time, in the same way: it remains against the odds to be the cards themselves. Check the camera, and check with Canon if they qualified these Lexar cards, and/or found issues with them, and check which cards they do endorse (probably Sandisk is going to be fine). It's either a compatibility issue, or the camera corrupting the data.</p>

<p>As for the Amazon, there have been quite a number of cases of counterfeit memory cards (and Lexar and Sandisk being the premium brands, they're more likely to be impacted), both on online shops and brick-and-mortar shops. Plenty of threads on it from reliable people with reliable results indicating the cards were fake. It could still be a problem, and it's better to be aware of it.</p>

<p>Wouter,<br>

"<strong><em>So, we can exclude the card reader</em></strong>"<br>

IMHO, no we cannot - the cards could individually well have been damaged at the <strong>first </strong>reading attempt in the first (non-conform) card-reader. Every next time an attempt to read the same card(s) in whatever other reader (be it conform or not) will yield the same bad pictures.<br>

It is my understanding the cards can get damaged the very first time reading - see the quoted text from the Lexar representative in the above ... <strong>it forced corruption on the card</strong><br>

"<em><strong>Basically as I explained yesterday because you</strong></em><br /><em><strong>used a non UDMA 7 compatible card reader, (an insignia 3.0 reader) the card reader could not keep up with the speed of the card and it forced corruption on the card</strong></em>"<br>

Agree?<br />Gert</p>

 

<p>True, IF the same card reader was the first one used each time, it could still be true. I am sceptical, as the 'technical explanation' on how a "too slow" device corrupts data on a drive while <em>reading</em> isn't convincing to me at all (it shouldn't write back data while reading, that makes no sense to me) - but it cannot be 100% excluded, for sure.<br>

Easy test: download the photos to the PC directly from the camera - that should be UDMA7 compatible, if the issue still occurs, it really is time to check with Canon instead of lexar.</p>

<p>Yep Wouter, I would agree.<br>

Me too, I have a hard time believing the corruption to be caused by a simple "read", however that's what the Lexar person wrote - in my understanding of it.<br>

Your suggestion of testing the camera plus card would only apply to <em><strong>new</strong></em><strong> </strong>photos taken with a <em><strong>new</strong></em> or <strong><em>reformated </em></strong>card, the old ones being corrupted in some or other manner apparently.<br>

My 2 cents worth of advise for doing the test, if you didn't already mean it this way...</p>

<p>Quite surprised too to learn that reading a CF card can damage it. There is a firmware update for Lexar card readers available though - to deal with 1000x cards: http://www.lexar.com/support/lexar-professional-usb-30-dual-slot-usb-reader-faq</p>

<p>FWIW, I use a lexar USB2.0 card reader and have no encountered any troubles reading SanDisk UMDA 7 cards (don't have lexar ones) - and since USB2.0 is certainly slower than USB3.0, the argument that "too slow" device corrupts data appears a bit far fetched indeed.</p>

<p>Well, unfortunately, time is my enemy this week. I purchased the Lexar reader and should get it tomorrow. In the meantime, I also, and paid through the nose, purchased two SanDisk 32GB cards from the local shop. And, I formatted them in both cameras as I have two shoots tomorrow and three by the week's end.<br>

So, although I would have liked to load directly from the camera to PC, I had already wiped them clean and re-formatted. In my shoot today, the images proved OK. It was a series of portraits and the color/composition and all was ok. Tomorrow is a re-shoot of last week, so we'll see what the verdict is. Maybe the problem came from HDR 3x and 7x shooting???? Maybe the reader could not keep up with 7 images/sec?????<br>

The issue really is, do I trust Lexar in the future. Thank goodness I don't shoot weddings! Thanks to all for responses. Pretty damn smart people on Photo.net!</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The issue really is, do I trust Lexar in the future. </p>

</blockquote>

<p> <br>

Semiconductors are commodities. All major brands use processes and quality control methods that give the same results. I've never seen a statistically meaningful test that shows one brand is better than another when it comes to semiconductors.<br>

<br>

I've been using Lexar and Kingston cards for years and never had a single failure. Of course that's anecdotal and means as little as your failure. And smart wedding photographers use only dual card cameras.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Maybe the reader could not keep up with 7 images/sec?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>No - the reader reads - it doesn't matter how fast the images were written. Those two operations have nothing to do with one another.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>do I trust Lexar in the future</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You could decide not to, and I could sure understand that an experience as this dents your faith in them. There are good alternatives - Sandisk, Kingston - so you've got no reason to stick with Lexar if you don't feel at ease with it. As Jeff, I never saw any solid data that shows me one brand is better than another, but the aspect of feeling OK with the gear and at ease with depending on it is not a rational process. I've got and had a bunch of Sandisk cards, never had a single one failing yet - it sure makes me look for Sandisk first when I need a new one. It's not rational to discard others, but that's how it goes.</p>

<p>Lexar has a serious issue. I searched for "UDMA7 card reader" and found this thread on DP Review:<br>

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3191400<br>

In the future I will be sure to avoid Lexar products. There is no telling when this will get sorted out.</p>

<p>Well, here is what has happened since....<br>

Lexar had me format the card in my PC, then the card reader, and then in the camera. Whew!<br>

I'm really at a loss now: do I trust Lexar when money is riding on the results? I have 22 Lexar cards and am very nervous. Although I don't do weddings (thank goodness), I am shooting for $$$ and have purchased two Extreme pro cards that Im using as my primary. To go through the formatting thing that Lexar had me do, tells me there is a lack of confidence by Lexar......I wonder if Lexar has gone too fast to gain the edge with speed, and forgot about quality.....Never had an issue before I went to 1066x. Going to return that card.. Cannot trust it.</p>

<p>I have three different Lexar Professional CF cards (16GB 600x UDMA, a 32GB 1066x UDMA7, and another 32GB 1066x UDMA7 of a different lot) that have gone corrupt at different times in the last 15 or so months. Each of the 32GB cards were bought as part of a 2-pack from B&H, and their "sibling" cards are okay.<br>

All shooting with a Nikon D800, reading in a Lexar Professional 3.0 reader, but on an older iMac with only USB 2.0. If speed is the reason for the corruption, that means I don't need a new reader, I need a new computer!?<br>

Now none of the corrupt cards will format in the reader here at work - even with licensed Image Rescue 5 - or the reader on my home Windows PC with USB 3, the Nikon D800 at work, or my Canon 7D2 at home. The computers both show the card as being 32 MEG while they're supposed to have been 32 GIG each.<br /><br />I'm about to contact Lexar, but I'm not anticipating much.</p>