[byngmeister]

I am having problems with compact flash cards in my 5D Mk II, I have a 8GB 133x and 2 16GB 133x non-branded compact flash cards purchased from Micro SD Cards, Compact Flash, SanDisk Memory Cards, SD Cards, SSD, M2 Memory Stick Micro, SDHC - MyMemory The 2 16GB cards have never worked in the camera (The camera says Error 80 when turned on) the 8GB card has worked fine in the camera since I purchase it, but has now stopped working I have a very old Lexar 1GB 8x card which still works fine so I can only assume it's the cards that don't work. All the cards work fine in my computer and in a digital photo frame I have I have already had a replacement camera from Jessops because I thought the camera was broken the first time I saw the error message, but the second camera does exactly the same thing, I am worried that there is an inherit problem with the compact flash interface on the 5D Mk II has anybody else come across this?

I am looking to purchase 2 sandisk extreme III 16GB cards but am annoyed that I have paid out £45 on the 2 16GB cheap cards that don't work I doubt I can send them back to mymemory.co.uk as they will just return the cards to me at my expense because they will rightly test them as working (due to the fact they work fine in the computer)

[Markulous]

Lighting Mods: Canon 5D MarkII - The Grip Errors

Relevant para:

After a group investigation with some of other fellow photographers, here in Portugal, that have the same camera but not use the grip or not have the double batteries, I concluded that the problem is the grip with 2 batteries

Worth trying each/all cards without the grip

Reason it would maybe be OK with a slower card is that the power requirements for writing slowly to a card would be less

If it is a prob with the attachment of the grip and power, it may be worth removing and thoroughly cleaning the grip/camera contact points - it's amazing how only a small amount of dirt/oxidisation will reduce the power throughput

[Dave Canon]

I can only repeat that I surveyed the members of the Club's Digital Imaging Group and the only members who had ever had any CF card problems had bought low cost versions. I have a 5D Mk II but bought two 8Gbyte Scandisk III cards from a reputable dealer. They work fine as do my older 1 GByte Scandisk II cards.

Dave

[byngmeister]

Originally Posted by Markulous

Worth trying each/all cards without the grip.

I don't have a grip for the camera (yet)

Originally Posted by Dave Canon

The only members who had ever had any CF card problems had bought low cost versions.

Looks like it's the purchase of the Sandisk that will fix it then.

[JMitchell]

Probably best not to use unbranded cards anyway, just as a precaution against corruption etc. Another thing I'd say is it might be better (and possibly cheaper) to use a larger number of 4GB cards rather than one 16GB, cos if that one corrupts then you've lost all your images, whereas the other way you've still got whatever's on the other cards...

[sickboyblue]

Could it be the fact that you're using 16gb cards? I'm pretty sure i've read somewhere that some cameras can't take such high capacity cards..

[JMitchell]

SBB: That's true, but it's usually the older cameras that can't, not the brand new ones like the 5D MkII

[byngmeister]

I have purchased a Sandisk extreme III 8GB card form Jessops today which seems to work fine, I can get back to photographing

[jsavage21]

I am using 8gb sandisk III and on occasion have been getting error 80 message. Battery must be removed to continue operation.

[Markulous]

Originally Posted by sickboyblue

Could it be the fact that you're using 16gb cards? I'm pretty sure i've read somewhere that some cameras can't take such high capacity cards..

As Jack suggests, this is an 'older vs newer' problem; older cameras could only read/write FAT whereas newer use FAT32

The whole thing sounds reminiscent of a power thing (from the early days of dSLRs) - dSLRs demand a large (relatively) power drain per shot and anything preventing this (dirt, oxidisation, poor contacts) will cause problems. Be interesting to see what Canon suggests as that'd be a hardware fault with difficulty to fix and they can hardly suggest that their write design/procedures are so iffy that only "good" cards should be used (even if that is the workaround)