Canon G10/SD memory card weirdness.

[Acadian]

I recently bought a Canon G10 for a European trip I went on.

before leaving I also went and bought two SanDisk Ultra II 4GB cards and four Ultra II 2GB ones.

during my trip I only used the 2GB ones, which worked fine.

This morning I tried the 4GB ones and they don't seem to work. (need them when I was there)

Symptoms:
1) My G10 lets me format them.
2) My G10 lets me snap pictures and preview them
3) My Mac laptop will not mount for cards (doesn't even see them)
4) My Windows Laptop sees the card, but when I try to open it is says "please insert a disk into drive "X". that's when using the integrated SD card slot reader. When I try using a SD card reader, it doesn't even mount it.
5) I cannot format the card via my computer
6) Canon SD700 doesn't recognize/accept the cards

anyone ever run into this problem?

thanks!

[adina]

i just got the camera, and that card, and haven't had any issues. bad cards, maybe?

[Franglais]

I recently bought a Canon G10 for a European trip I went on.

before leaving I also went and bought two SanDisk Ultra II 4GB cards and four Ultra II 2GB ones.

during my trip I only used the 2GB ones, which worked fine.

This morning I tried the 4GB ones and they don't seem to work. (need them when I was there)

Symptoms:
1) My G10 lets me format them.
2) My G10 lets me snap pictures and preview them
3) My Mac laptop will not mount for cards (doesn't even see them)
4) My Windows Laptop sees the card, but when I try to open it is says "please insert a disk into drive "X". that's when using the integrated SD card slot reader. When I try using a SD card reader, it doesn't even mount it.
5) I cannot format the card via my computer
6) Canon SD700 doesn't recognize/accept the cards

anyone ever run into this problem?

thanks!

As far as I can make out after a quick look round Internet there are two major technical differences between your 2GB and 4GB cards, despite the similar names:

1. Your 2GB cards are SD standard while your 4GB cards are SDHC standard
2. Your 2GB cards are formatted FAT16 whereas your 4GB cards are formatted FAT32

If you're using an older or cheapo card reader - which is what you tend to find built into computers - it's quite possible the reader can't read SDHC cards (mine can't). And it's also possible that your Mac can't read FAT32. And your SD700 isn't compatible SDHC

Simplest solution is to plug the camera into the computer via the USB port with the card mounted in the camera. The camera doesn't seem to have any problems with the cards. (BTW always format the cards with the camera, never with the computer)

[Acadian]

As far as I can make out after a quick look round Internet there are two major technical differences between your 2GB and 4GB cards, despite the similar names:

1. Your 2GB cards are SD standard while your 4GB cards are SDHC standard
2. Your 2GB cards are formatted FAT16 whereas your 4GB cards are formatted FAT32

If you're using an older or cheapo card reader - which is what you tend to find built into computers - it's quite possible the reader can't read SDHC cards (mine can't). And it's also possible that your Mac can't read FAT32. And your SD700 isn't compatible SDHC

Simplest solution is to plug the camera into the computer via the USB port with the card mounted in the camera. The camera doesn't seem to have any problems with the cards. (BTW always format the cards with the camera, never with the computer)

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: I knew someone would help me.

I never noticed but you're right. the 4GB cards are SDHC cards and my reader is indeed pretty old (few years old actually). I think my girlfriend has a proper SDHC card reader, I'll give that a shot later to see if it works.

again thank you very much for taking the time to write all this - really appreciate it!

regards!
- Luc

[another view]

Yes, 4g and higher will always be SDHC by definition. Glad you got it sorted out, just pick up a new SD reader and you'll be all set. Chances are any one you find for sale these days will be SDHC compliant but its best to double check before buying one.

[freygr]

That is strange. I had a Canon Rebel XT and it had a compact flash card and my reader could not open the card with my card reader, I had to down load the Canon Rebel XT USB drivers and install the driver before I could get any photos off the camera's flash drive by using the USB cable. Note I never had to do any of that with my Nikon D-70. But with the SD cards I've always had problems most likely it's the SD card reader.

[SmartWombat]

1) My G9 lets me format them.
2) My G9 lets me snap pictures and preview them
4) My Windows Laptop sees the card, but when I try to open it is says "please insert a disk into drive "X". that's when using the integrated SD card slot reader. When I try using a SD card reader, it doesn't even mount it.

I have exactly the same symptoms, my card readers were too old, and they wouldn't handle SDHC cards, only the 2G SD cards.
So I had to buy a new card reader while I was out in the USA to cover PMA.
Only spent $7 by shopping around