Problems with recording photos in Nikon D7000

[sirishbc]

I use Nikon D7000 camera and I never have problem with my 8 GB SDHC cards. I had the same problems with SanDisk 16 GB SDHC cards in the past and recently with 128 GB SDXC cards; I had found some of my photographs were not recorded/ saved in those memory cards so I lost my important clicks. I need to go to some really remote places of Himalayas for taking pictures for many days, so I always need memory cards with higher capacities. Is this the problem with my camera hardware/ software or with memory cards or my camera not supporting higher capacity memory cards? Up to which highest capacity of SDXC memory cards can I use in my camera? I have never updated firmware/ software after buying my camera in 2010. Do I need to update them to resolve this problem? Can I do the updates by myself? Sorry for too many questions and thank you so very much in advance for your kind and valuable feedback.

[mike_halliwell]

Does this happen in BOTH SD slots?

 

Firmware update is probably a good idea and is very straightforward. Instructions are on Nikon website..here

 

Nikon | Download center | D7000 Firmware

[sirishbc]

Than

Does this happen in BOTH SD slots?

 

Firmware update is probably a good idea and is very straightforward. Instructions are on Nikon website..here

 

Nikon | Download center | D7000 Firmware

Thank you so very much for your valuable feedback :) I will try with your suggestions.

[ShunCheung]

Can’t remember whether the D7000’s initial firmware was compatible with 128G cards. Year 2010 was in the era when a 32G SD card used to cost $100.

 

For any important capture, definitely use the backup mode to write your RAW files onto both SD cards.

[sirishbc]

Can’t remember whether the D7000’s initial firmware was compatible with 128G cards. Year 2010 was in the era when a 32G SD card used to cost $100.

 

For any important capture, definitely use the backup mode to write your RAW files onto both SD cards.

Thank you so very much for your valuable feedback :)

[erichsande]

Here are the card capacities approved for the D7000 from the owners manual:

 

[ShunCheung]

Here are the card capacities approved for the D7000 from the owners manual:

 

[ATTACH=full]1287993[/ATTACH]

The problem is that Nikon doesn't update the owner's manual, either in printed form or as an electronic PDF. Meanwhile, memory card technology is changing rapidly. Typically Nikon would provide firmware updates to deal with new memory cards. For example, Nikon has already announced that they will provide new firmware for the D5, D500, D850, Z6, and Z7 to use CFX cards, which are still not on the market today and obviously are not mentioned in any one of those owner's manuals.

 

I bought my D7000 shortly after it was introduced in late 2010. That was my first camera that uses SD cards, and I bought three 32G SD cards for like $100 each. (Of course a few years before that, I paid $200 for a 1G CF card in 2004.) Needless to say 128G SD would have cost a fortune back then. However, if the D7000 could use 64G cards from the beginning, and that is SDXC, it should be able to work with 128G also.

 

In any case, I am not sure whether the OP's issue is due to defective SD cards or some camera issue. In 17 years using digital cameras, I don't think I have had one issue that the camera is unable to write onto a good memory card. At most I have had a few corrupted images over the years.

[BeBu Lamar]

My rule is to use memory cards just large enough to hold images that can be taken with one battery charge. If I need to swap batteries or charge battery I would change the card.

[rodeo_joe1]

so I always need memory cards with higher capacities.

 

What! The size and weight of a few SD cards will make such a big difference? It takes only a few seconds to change a card, not long enough to invite frostbite by removing a glove.

 

My D7200 stores about 24 RAW+Jpeg pictures per Gigabyte. That's roughly 1500 pix on one very affordable 64GB card. So I find no need for cards with a larger capacity. I've never lost a shot to a bad memory card either.

 

The point about the number of batteries needed to fill a 128GB card is well made, and battery capacity diminishes quite significantly at low temperatures.

[ShunCheung]

I know there are reasons that I still have my D7000 around. Just to confirm things, I inserted a SanDisk Extreme Pro, 128G, 95MB/sec SD card and took some test images. The D7000 takes the 128G SD just fine.

 

My D7000 has these firmware versions:

• A 1.02
  
• B 1.03
  
• L 1.002
  

[sirishbc]

Here are the card capacities approved for the D7000 from the owners manual:

 

[ATTACH=full]1287993[/ATTACH]

Thank you :) Yes, I have the same manual printed in 2010.

[sirishbc]

My rule is to use memory cards just large enough to hold images that can be taken with one battery charge. If I need to swap batteries or charge battery I would change the card.

Thank you so very much for your valuable feedback :)

[sirishbc]

What! The size and weight of a few SD cards will make such a big difference? It takes only a few seconds to change a card, not long enough to invite frostbite by removing a glove.

 

My D7200 stores about 24 RAW+Jpeg pictures per Gigabyte. That's roughly 1500 pix on one very affordable 64GB card. So I find no need for cards with a larger capacity. I've never lost a shot to a bad memory card either.

 

The point about the number of batteries needed to fill a 128GB card is well made, and battery capacity diminishes quite significantly at low temperatures.

 

Thank you so very much for your valuable feedback :) Yes, I think I will go with 4 units of 64 GB cards this time. I am from Nepal; I have limited budget; here there's not much big difference in prices of 64 and 128GB cards; I am upgrading my camera also in near future; but I need to go for assignments soon with D7000 haha this life is complicated...

[sirishbc]

The problem is that Nikon doesn't update the owner's manual, either in printed form or as an electronic PDF. Meanwhile, memory card technology is changing rapidly. Typically Nikon would provide firmware updates to deal with new memory cards. For example, Nikon has already announced that they will provide new firmware for the D5, D500, D850, Z6, and Z7 to use CFX cards, which are still not on the market today and obviously are not mentioned in any one of those owner's manuals.

 

I bought my D7000 shortly after it was introduced in late 2010. That was my first camera that uses SD cards, and I bought three 32G SD cards for like $100 each. (Of course a few years before that, I paid $200 for a 1G CF card in 2004.) Needless to say 128G SD would have cost a fortune back then. However, if the D7000 could use 64G cards from the beginning, and that is SDXC, it should be able to work with 128G also.

 

In any case, I am not sure whether the OP's issue is due to defective SD cards or some camera issue. In 17 years using digital cameras, I don't think I have had one issue that the camera is unable to write onto a good memory card. At most I have had a few corrupted images over the years.

Thank you so very much for your valuable info :) In my 128 GB card, there were all the photos but some of the photos were missing...

[sirishbc]

I know there are reasons that I still have my D7000 around. Just to confirm things, I inserted a SanDisk Extreme Pro, 128G, 95MB/sec SD card and took some test images. The D7000 takes the 128G SD just fine.

 

My D7000 has these firmware versions:

• A 1.02
  
• B 1.03
  
• L 1.002
  

Thank you so very much for your valuable feedback :) I also have no problem with taking pictures with 128 GB card, but here in Kathmandu no problem but when I go to the mountains area for a month plus time, I need to take a lot of photos and I can not take a risk. It happened when my 128 GB card was almost full and there were some (may be less than 5 percent) missing photos on my PC after copying. I had the same kind of problem with my 16 GB card in the past, I never had problem with my 8 GB cards so far.

My D7000 has these firmware versions:

• A 1.02
  
• B 1.02
  
• L 1.002 Do you think it's a good idea to update the firmware? Can I do the update by myself with following the instructions of Nikon website? Is there any sort of risk on updating? or it is not necessary to update the firmware? Please kindly suggest.
  

I think I will go with 4 units of 64 GB cards this time. I am from Nepal; I have limited budget; here there's not much big difference in prices of 64 and 128GB cards; I am upgrading my camera also in near future; but I need to go for assignments soon with D7000 haha this life is complicated...

[Andrew Garrard]

I don't believe firmware update is difficult, although to be honest I've always let Nikon do it when I've got them to clean my sensor - but I work five miles from Nikon UK headquarters, not it Nepal, so I appreciate that you might have to do it yourself! For what it's worth, Nikon's documentation page says:

 

Modifications enabled with B firmware Ver. 1.03

• An error where the card may not have been recognized when some memory cards were used has been addressed.
  
• The following issues occurred when the mode dial was rotated from U1 or U2 to another shooting mode or from another shooting mode to U1 or U2 when the power was off or when the exposure meters are off (Auto meter-off). These issues were resolved.
  
  • A new folder is sometimes created despite the fact that the current folder does not yet contain 999 files and none of the files are numbered “9999”.
    
  • The number of remaining exposures may not be displayed as specified in the settings.
    
  • The setting for "Role played by card in Slot 2" may change between "Overflow", "Backup", and "RAW Slot 1- JPEG Slot 2".
    

  [*]An issue where "Battery info" in the setup menu sometimes showed sufficient remaining charge even when the remaining charge for the AA batteries inserted in the MB-D11 battery pack was low has been resolved.

   

  [*]An issue where a saved photo may not have been displayed properly when a movie was displayed in playback mode while saving the photo has been resolved.

   

  [*]An issue where zoom in or zoom out may not have performed properly when the playback zoom in or playback zoom out button was pressed while in Live view has been resolved.

   

  [*]The message displayed when the internal memory of the Wireless Transmitter WT-4 is formatted from the "Format transmitter's memory" under "Device settings" in "Wireless transmitter" of the camera’s setup menu was changed from "Done" to "Built-in memory formatted".

I don't think any of that implies a fix for failing to write images (if it's working at all, I assume you're not hitting the first fix), so I doubt it'll make the problem go away, but you never know. There's something to be said for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - but it seems like your camera isn't working perfectly for some reason. If in doubt, since the camera may not be behaving, I'd use backup mode to write to more than one card if you can, and (despite the effect on battery life) check the images before you move on from a location. It may be a mechanical issue on the camera (a "dry joint" interfering with data), but I'd expect that to show corruption rather than just a missing image. It might be interesting to see whether anyone else has a problem with those memory cards - there are cases of "fake" SD cards which are a smaller capacity than they claim, which might manifest as missing information. (You could try writing 128GB of data to the larger one from the computer and see whether it's correctly stored and intact when you try to read it back.)

 

Also... are you formatting the memory cards on the camera? There shouldn't be any compatibility issues these days, but clearing the file system before each session on the camera (rather than just deleting the files) has historically been good practice just in case there's a problem.

 

Best of luck - and I hope your new camera, when you get it, doesn't have this problem!

[BeBu Lamar]

I don't believe firmware update is difficult, although to be honest I've always let Nikon do it when I've got them to clean my sensor - but I work five miles from Nikon UK headquarters, not it Nepal, so I appreciate that you might have to do it yourself! For what it's worth, Nikon's documentation page says:

 

Modifications enabled with B firmware Ver. 1.03

• An error where the card may not have been recognized when some memory cards were used has been addressed.
  
• The following issues occurred when the mode dial was rotated from U1 or U2 to another shooting mode or from another shooting mode to U1 or U2 when the power was off or when the exposure meters are off (Auto meter-off). These issues were resolved.
  
  • A new folder is sometimes created despite the fact that the current folder does not yet contain 999 files and none of the files are numbered “9999”.
    
  • The number of remaining exposures may not be displayed as specified in the settings.
    
  • The setting for "Role played by card in Slot 2" may change between "Overflow", "Backup", and "RAW Slot 1- JPEG Slot 2".
    

  [*]An issue where "Battery info" in the setup menu sometimes showed sufficient remaining charge even when the remaining charge for the AA batteries inserted in the MB-D11 battery pack was low has been resolved.

   

  [*]An issue where a saved photo may not have been displayed properly when a movie was displayed in playback mode while saving the photo has been resolved.

   

  [*]An issue where zoom in or zoom out may not have performed properly when the playback zoom in or playback zoom out button was pressed while in Live view has been resolved.

   

  [*]The message displayed when the internal memory of the Wireless Transmitter WT-4 is formatted from the "Format transmitter's memory" under "Device settings" in "Wireless transmitter" of the camera’s setup menu was changed from "Done" to "Built-in memory formatted".

I don't think any of that implies a fix for failing to write images (if it's working at all, I assume you're not hitting the first fix), so I doubt it'll make the problem go away, but you never know. There's something to be said for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - but it seems like your camera isn't working perfectly for some reason. If in doubt, since the camera may not be behaving, I'd use backup mode to write to more than one card if you can, and (despite the effect on battery life) check the images before you move on from a location. It may be a mechanical issue on the camera (a "dry joint" interfering with data), but I'd expect that to show corruption rather than just a missing image. It might be interesting to see whether anyone else has a problem with those memory cards - there are cases of "fake" SD cards which are a smaller capacity than they claim, which might manifest as missing information. (You could try writing 128GB of data to the larger one from the computer and see whether it's correctly stored and intact when you try to read it back.)

 

Also... are you formatting the memory cards on the camera? There shouldn't be any compatibility issues these days, but clearing the file system before each session on the camera (rather than just deleting the files) has historically been good practice just in case there's a problem.

 

Best of luck - and I hope your new camera, when you get it, doesn't have this problem!

 

I updated the firmware of my Df a few times already. No problem.

[sirishbc]

I don't believe firmware update is difficult, although to be honest I've always let Nikon do it when I've got them to clean my sensor - but I work five miles from Nikon UK headquarters, not it Nepal, so I appreciate that you might have to do it yourself! For what it's worth, Nikon's documentation page says:

 

Modifications enabled with B firmware Ver. 1.03

• An error where the card may not have been recognized when some memory cards were used has been addressed.
  
• The following issues occurred when the mode dial was rotated from U1 or U2 to another shooting mode or from another shooting mode to U1 or U2 when the power was off or when the exposure meters are off (Auto meter-off). These issues were resolved.
  
  • A new folder is sometimes created despite the fact that the current folder does not yet contain 999 files and none of the files are numbered “9999”.
    
  • The number of remaining exposures may not be displayed as specified in the settings.
    
  • The setting for "Role played by card in Slot 2" may change between "Overflow", "Backup", and "RAW Slot 1- JPEG Slot 2".
    

  [*]An issue where "Battery info" in the setup menu sometimes showed sufficient remaining charge even when the remaining charge for the AA batteries inserted in the MB-D11 battery pack was low has been resolved.

   

  [*]An issue where a saved photo may not have been displayed properly when a movie was displayed in playback mode while saving the photo has been resolved.

   

  [*]An issue where zoom in or zoom out may not have performed properly when the playback zoom in or playback zoom out button was pressed while in Live view has been resolved.

   

  [*]The message displayed when the internal memory of the Wireless Transmitter WT-4 is formatted from the "Format transmitter's memory" under "Device settings" in "Wireless transmitter" of the camera’s setup menu was changed from "Done" to "Built-in memory formatted".

I don't think any of that implies a fix for failing to write images (if it's working at all, I assume you're not hitting the first fix), so I doubt it'll make the problem go away, but you never know. There's something to be said for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - but it seems like your camera isn't working perfectly for some reason. If in doubt, since the camera may not be behaving, I'd use backup mode to write to more than one card if you can, and (despite the effect on battery life) check the images before you move on from a location. It may be a mechanical issue on the camera (a "dry joint" interfering with data), but I'd expect that to show corruption rather than just a missing image. It might be interesting to see whether anyone else has a problem with those memory cards - there are cases of "fake" SD cards which are a smaller capacity than they claim, which might manifest as missing information. (You could try writing 128GB of data to the larger one from the computer and see whether it's correctly stored and intact when you try to read it back.)

 

Also... are you formatting the memory cards on the camera? There shouldn't be any compatibility issues these days, but clearing the file system before each session on the camera (rather than just deleting the files) has historically been good practice just in case there's a problem.

 

Best of luck - and I hope your new camera, when you get it, doesn't have this problem!

Thank you so very much for all your valuable info :)

[sirishbc]

I updated the firmware of my Df a few times already. No problem.

Thank you so very much :)

[ShunCheung]

Typically it is a good idea to upgrade to the latest firmware on Nikon DSLRs, unless you use any third-party batteries or lenses. Potentially, a new firmware may disable certain third-party accessories.

 

However, while 128G SD cards were uncommon back in 2010, since the D7000 was initially compatible with the SDXC 64G cards, 128G cards are unlikely an issue anyway, with or without any firmware upgrade. I would make sure that your 128G cards are good before you depend on them. If the cards are good, this could be a camera body issue.

 

I don't have any 256G cards yet, since they are expensive. On bodies with dual card slots, I would typically put a 128G card in one slot so that it can last for days. I shoot a lot of action and have seen people run out of card space at some critical moment. I tend to replace batteries and cards at my leisure, long before they run out of capacity.

[sirishbc]

Typically it is a good idea to upgrade to the latest firmware on Nikon DSLRs, unless you use any third-party batteries or lenses. Potentially, a new firmware may disable certain third-party accessories.

 

However, while 128G SD cards were uncommon back in 2010, since the D7000 was initially compatible with the SDXC 64G cards, 128G cards are unlikely an issue anyway, with or without any firmware upgrade. I would make sure that your 128G cards are good before you depend on them. If the cards are good, this could be a camera body issue.

 

I don't have any 256G cards yet, since they are expensive. On bodies with dual card slots, I would typically put a 128G card in one slot so that it can last for days. I shoot a lot of action and have seen people run out of card space at some critical moment. I tend to replace batteries and cards at my leisure, long before they run out of capacity.

One last question, while transferring data from memory card to laptop, what should I use? Data transferring cable from camera to laptop or USB3 card reader? If not data transferring cable then which one is better option between inbuilt card reading port of laptop and external card reader? Pls advice. Thank you so very much for all your valuable advice...You are the best :)

[ShunCheung]

If your laptop has an SD card slot built in, I would just use that.

 

I mainly use XQD cards and I use a card reader.

[sirishbc]

If your laptop has an SD card slot built in, I would just use that.

 

I mainly use XQD cards and I use a card reader.

Thank you so very much...really appreciate.

[Andrew Garrard]

FWIW, I use a dedicated reader if I have one with me (which I often do if I'm also transferring data off a CF card or XQD card - my readers do both), on the basis that it's usually faster than an internal reader (once I finally found a good one - several recommended USB 3 readers have turned out not to be very fast or very compatible). If I don't have one with me, I just use the reader on my laptop. A long time ago there were readers that had problems with newer versions of the SD card standard, but hopefully we're some years past that being a major issue.

 

I don't use the cable to the camera. Partly the camera looks like an MTP device rather than simple storage, and I've been known to trip over appropriate software for this on the computer side; I just want to treat it as a mass storage device, generally. More relevantly, I've lost count of the number of times I've been transferring files from a reader and moved slightly such that the reader falls off a table, or the cable gets tugged, or something else happens to it. This isn't catastrophic if what's falling is a lightweight card reader. If you do that with a camera on the other end of the cable, you'll likely hurt both the camera and the USB port of the computer - I prefer to juggle only one heavy and expensive piece of electronics at a time. The thing about failing in as many interesting ways as I have is that you get to spot some mistakes coming...

[sirishbc]

FWIW, I use a dedicated reader if I have one with me (which I often do if I'm also transferring data off a CF card or XQD card - my readers do both), on the basis that it's usually faster than an internal reader (once I finally found a good one - several recommended USB 3 readers have turned out not to be very fast or very compatible). If I don't have one with me, I just use the reader on my laptop. A long time ago there were readers that had problems with newer versions of the SD card standard, but hopefully we're some years past that being a major issue.

 

I don't use the cable to the camera. Partly the camera looks like an MTP device rather than simple storage, and I've been known to trip over appropriate software for this on the computer side; I just want to treat it as a mass storage device, generally. More relevantly, I've lost count of the number of times I've been transferring files from a reader and moved slightly such that the reader falls off a table, or the cable gets tugged, or something else happens to it. This isn't catastrophic if what's falling is a lightweight card reader. If you do that with a camera on the other end of the cable, you'll likely hurt both the camera and the USB port of the computer - I prefer to juggle only one heavy and expensive piece of electronics at a time. The thing about failing in as many interesting ways as I have is that you get to spot some mistakes coming...

Thank you so very much for your valuable advice...Really appreciate:)