M9 saving empty DNG files?

[mac_kennins]

<p>Good day(or good evening for me) to everyone again,</p>

<p>I know I just posted one question not long ago but I ran into a slight issue. And I tried googling the title with several variations on the words but got no results. I'm not sure what's causing this or if this is an intended feature(perhaps a throwback to the occasional mucked-up frame on film, I'm joking of course).</p>

<p>I've found 4 images out of 200 that didn't appear to save/write. At first I thought it had to do with me turning off the camera immediately after taking a shot. But I've done this many times and no issues there. I'm not sure how to illustrate this, but in the folder when I call it up on my computer, it shows picture, picture, picture and then a file with the DNG icon on it with the appropriate file name(i.e. L1001578.DNG). When I check it's file size, it tells me there's 0kbs on disk. Naturally this file doesn't show up in LR either.</p>

<p>Anyone else encountered this before? And if so, how did you remedy it? Thank you in advance, and let me just ask very kindly that we all be nice and polite.</p>

[charlessalomons]

Maybe you should try to recover the files with Rescue Pro - a piece of software from Sandisk

[kens]

<p>I've never see this before, but it sounds like it didn't finish writing the files, and might have to do with your powering off the camera before it could process and empty the buffer. That it doesn't always happen might depend on how full the buffer is and how much processing has to be done to the image(s). Sometimes it finishes in time before you power off, sometimes not. To be sure, wait until the red light turns off before powering off. <br /> Also, once you download the images off this card, reformat it. I always reformat the card once I've downloaded it just to make sure nothing odd is left in the card index.<br>

Or...you might just have a bad card. They do go bad after while. The contacts on SD cards are pretty thin and fragile.</p>

[berg_na]

<p>On the M8, if you accidentally power off the camera while it's still writing to the card, it will not shut off until the process is completed, the M9 should not be any different, so I don't think that is the problem. You may want to <a href="http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/160805-help-m9-sd-card-problems.html">review this thread </a>which suggests that the M9 may have problems with certain cards.</p>

[mac_kennins]

<p>I use a Sandisk Ultra 16GB which I only recently bought. Give and take two to three months ago. If it's gone and get itself damaged already, I'm about ready to throw a fit. But if contacts on cards wear out or get bent after a while, then perhaps it's better to never take the card out of the camera? As in if I were to always initiate the download with the USB cable. It's a lot more tedious I find but if it's better then perhaps that's what I'll do.</p>

<p>And thank you for the thread, it's been an interesting read, although now I'm paranoid that my card could be counterfeit even though I bought it from a very reputable store.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>To see if it's counterfeit, connect it to your computer, and copy files to it until it's full. Things will go nuts if it isn't really a 16GB card.<br>

I wouldn't expect contact failure to be a problem. The handshake with the card would fail.<br>

But the whole high-density NAND flash technology is pretty shaky. The NAND flash isn't that reliable, has a high error rate, wears out, and forgets in 5-10 years. They hide this behind a controller chip that uses error correcting codes, and has bad block detection and substitution. But there can be software bugs in that controller chips -- there's a small microprocessor in the better ones. So perhaps your file is empty due to an error of that sort.<br>

Better cards have smarter controllers, and have more "overage" in actual NAND flash to handle bad blocks as it rots.</p>

[koray_p]

<blockquote>

<p>But the whole high-density NAND flash technology is pretty shaky. The NAND flash isn't that reliable, has a high error rate, wears out, and forgets in 5-10 years. They hide this behind a controller chip that uses error correcting codes, and has bad block detection and substitution. But there can be software bugs in that controller chips -- there's a small microprocessor in the better ones. So perhaps your file is empty due to an error of that sort.<br /> Better cards have smarter controllers, and have more "overage" in actual NAND flash to handle bad blocks as it rots.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This is very interesting, John! Thanks for the information!</p>

<p>K.</p>

[paolo_fabbri]

<p>My M9 has immediately started to write files with weight equal to zero: each 150 to 200 photos to some were zero. In some SD problem was more pronounced than in others. After 2 months, I had broken the electronics of my M9: the machine is now to repair in Solmes ....<br>

Sorry for my bad English......</p>

[kbg32]

<p>For best SD card performance, I would suggest reformatting the card in the camera after downloading files from it. Do not just delete the files. Fully reformat the card. I would also suggest not using a card larger then 4gb. Less chance of something going wrong and losing lots of files.</p>