Losing pictures when changing batteries!!!

[DaveV]

I have a Sony DSC-W300 and my wife has a DSC-W170.

We are both really happy with what these 2 cameras can do but have both experienced (fortunately only once for each of us) a loss of pictures when changing batteries.

My wife had it first when she changed a battery over for another and found the message "No Images" when reviewing the shots she had taken at our wedding. It appeared that we had lost all the photos on the 4GB Sony Pro Duo memory stick that we had taken in the week leading up to our wedding on the wedding day itself. I have since heard that it can be possible to retrieve pictures form memory cards but we flew out on Honeymoon the day after and she used the same card to take honeymoon photos which might mean we cannot retrieve any of the lost images.

I also had the same problem on Honeymoon but fortunately I had been creating new record folders each day and so when it happened to me I only lost the photos from the last record folder. However, I then proceeded to continue to take photos for the rest of the honeymoon which may have overwritten any lost data.

Is this a recognised Sony problem as it has occurred on both of our cameras? Is there anything we can do to get these images back or are they lost for good?

[NoKnees]

This is a fairly generic problem that affects all camera and card types. I've never heard anything specific to Sony on this.

There are times when memory cards fail, and it is often related to low battery conditions. Basically, they say you really need to swap out batteries well before you hit absolute zero power. The reason is, writing takes power, and the last step of writing usually involves updating the basic file directory. If this last step doesn't complete correctly, you can run into the problems you saw. Normally it's just a single file here and there, but it can be a complete failure to update the file directory.

The good news is, that yes, normally you have a good chance at recovering those missing photos, assuming you don't take any more photos once you discover the problem. Once you start shooting again on that memory card, you significantly decrease your chances of recovering anything.

I know Sandisk gives away basic recovery software with many of their memory cards, but there are some free software packages on the web that you should be able to try out too.

I'm sorry to hear about all the photo's lost though. That really does stink.

[DaveV]

It looks like we got the photos back from one card. They didn't show up on the camera but when we downloaded the files they appeared on our computer. The other card didn't respond in the same way so we don't seem to be able to get those pics back.

[SmartWombat]

Don't give up yet.
Image recovery software is cheap, around $30-50
I use a few:
- Image Rescue 3 (came with Lexar card)
- RescuePRO (came with Sandisk card)
- Don't Panic 2 ... bought it myself

Just put that card away and don't use it, while you try out recovery options.