Nikon D50 - SD card locked?

<p>Has anyone else had an issue with SD cards being reported locked by the camera? My D50 is about 5 years old, and it's starting to do this increasingly. Every 20 shots or so, it will lock up with a message on the LCD saying the SD card is locked. The only solution is to turn the camera off, pop the card out, and push it back in. Then it's fine. The card is most definitely <em>not</em> locked. This occurs with several SD cards at about the same rate. Any thoughts? Thanks!</p>

<p>Five years of use: it just might be time for a new camera in your future. Unlike the old film Nikon F bodies...the digital camera bodies do eventually die.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>It could also be the battery getting old and loosing capacaty... this sometimes gives strange effects...</p>

<p>Yes, after a similar time of use, both of my D50s started doing this. It's a rather odd combo of the position of the little 'protection' slider on the card's side-edge being mis-sensed by the camera (Over simplified because this definately has an electronic/power component to the problem). Both the slider and the 'sensor' get worn, resulting in the wrong message. A new card is usually OK, with the old cards being consigned to other P&S's with less 'picky' sensors. However, after more use..... even <em><strong>some</strong></em> new cards are 'locked'</p>

<p>Eventually, as Jerry says, it gets to that point where it's time to move on/up. With mine, I got to that point but found a new card it would recognise as un-locked and effectively sealed the card-slot 'lid' with neat Gaffer-Tape. I used the 4GB card as internal memory and used a cable to download images. Since then, it's never got 'locked'..... Give it a try!!</p>

<p>Of course, you still have a very capable camera for <strong>tethered use</strong> in studio. Given plenty of light, it really is a pretty excellent low-noise chip which is often over-looked as the wish for higher and higher ISOs goes on.</p>

<p>Thanks for everyone's advise. I have a few thoughts:<br /> 1) Would anyone recommend gluing the switch on the SD card in place? Online a few people seem to have tried that with good results. From Mike's post, it seems like this might not be super useful though.<br>

<br /> 2) Does tape work fairly handily? I tried it once and the card read as locked right away. Now, trying it a second time, it seems that it's working okay. Should I bank on my luck with that?<br>

<br /> My main concern is that I have a wedding coming up (that I'm shooting for friends) in about 3 weeks. I'm afraid that the camera will malfunction during a crucial shot. So, I'm kinda in a bind. I'm not being paid for the wedding, so I am loathe to spend a bunch of money on my camera. But I'd also be upset if I missed key shots because my camera went on the fritz. Thanks!</p>

<p>I would not shoot a wedding with a camera in that sort of condition. Can you borrow another Nikon DSLR? </p>

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I thought I would give a response in case any other D50 users read this. The solution ended up being very simple: I just put a touch of super-glue on the sliding lock.</p>

<p>The Nikon repair rep was very certain it was the lock-slider not staying in place as I put the card in the slot. He suggested I find an SD card without a sliding locking mechanism, i.e. that I buy a card without any lock. This would have been fine for me, but I could not find one anywhere on B&H, Amazon, or the Internet in general.</p>

<p>So, I did the next best thing. I took one of my smaller, less important memory cards, slid the lock to the "Locked" position, and put a touch of Krazy glue in the plastic track of the slider. I then slid the lock over to the "Unlocked" position, and put just a dab more in the track on the other side of the slider. (For people doing this at home, be very careful about using just enough glue. The glue is a solvent and it will dissolve the plastic. My first one got a bit smeary and the plastic looks kinda chewed up. It still works, but subsequent jobs look much better.)</p>

<p>At any rate, the gluing has completely worked. I haven't had one "Card is locked" error from the camera since I did this. Additionally, the cards slide in and out much easier. I guess the sensor pin is so narrow that it slips in between the locking mechanism and the plastic shell. (I smeared a tiny, tiny amount of glue in the gap between the slider and plastic body of the card, so there's no real gap between the two now.)</p>

<p>I am going to find a second, back-up camera for the wedding, but I'm feeling good about using the trusty D50.</p>