K-1 and SD card issues

npc · 05-11-2016, 01:34 PM

Just received my K-1 yestarday - took the card off my K-3 and put it in K-1 and got "Card not formatted" error. Put it back in K-3 - no problem there. The card itsef was recently formated from the K-3 menu which apparently formats it as exfat. The other card I tried so far is working fine on K-1.
I guess it is just a matter of reformating that particular card, but i have some stuff on it so I'll do it later. Still, it seems K-1 is more picky about sd cards than K-3 and K-5IIs (which are also more picky than sony cameras in general).

**mtngal** · 05-27-2016, 06:36 AM

Last weekend I spent a little time talking to a rep from SanDisk at a photography show. I mentioned that I had just bought a new camera and that I had used a card from a different camera when I first got it. He said that using cards between different cameras can end up causing card errors and that it was best to have dedicated cards for each camera. I know I've switched cards between various Pentax cameras, always reformatting the card in each camera, and have not had a problem. But I haven't tried taking one from a completely different camera manufacturer, I wonder if that can be the cause of issues and why he gave that warning?

funktionsfrei · 05-27-2016, 08:31 AM - **1 Like**

This sounds as if the SD card reader used in the PC isn't compatible with SDXC cards, that is, cards, that have larger capacity than 32 GB.

Have you verified that your card reader is compatible with the SDXC specification? Have you tested it with another SDXC card?

(FYI Some background on the various SD card formats:

Cards with capacities of up to (and including) 2 GB are standard SD cards, sometimes named SDSC cards.

Cards with capacities higher than 2 GB and up to (and including) 32 GB are SDHC cards.

There used to be SD-card lookalikes with a capacity of 4 GB that weren't SDHC cards, these were not conformant to the specification and hence a source of various "interesting" problems. Avoid.

And cards with even higher capacities, that is, everything larger than 32 GB are SDXC cards.

The SD card specification clearly states the file system to be used with each generation of cards:
FAT16 with SD(SC) cards, FAT32 with SDHC cards and exFAT with SDXC cards.

When USB card readers are used, device driver upgrades won't work, since the different handling between these cards is done at firmware level in the card reader's circuitry. There are some notebooks that utilize built-in card readers that are not connected via USB, in these few cases there might be an upgrade path.

In all other cases it means: Get a new card reader.

Instead of attempting to format the card in the card reader, I recommend doing so via the camera. The camera's firmware is constructed to be standard-compliant, and it is thus well abled to format a memory card.

By the way:
You already have a compatible USB SDXC card reader - your K-1. No, I won't recommend using it for that purpose on a day-by-day basis, but to verify that your card works correctly, it's the perfect choice.

Format the card in the camera, fill it up by taking images worthy to be taken by a K-1 and then connect your K-1 to your computer.

Do what you normally do with your card reader ... and report the results.

Good luck!

FtYoU · 05-27-2016, 10:03 AM

Originally posted by mtngal

But I haven't tried taking one from a completely different camera manufacturer, I wonder if that can be the cause of issues and why he gave that warning?

Yes I was aware of this. I used sony camera before and sony install a database in the SD card to keep track of multiple things. I always format my card when switching to different systems.

Originally posted by funktionsfrei

This sounds as if the SD card reader used in the PC isn't compatible with SDXC cards

My card reader is compatible.

Originally posted by funktionsfrei

Instead of attempting to format the card in the card reader, I recommend doing so via the camera. The camera's firmware is constructed to be standard-compliant, and it is thus well abled to format a memory card.

Actually that's not such a good idea. I used to do it all the time because I was assuming manufacturer of camera know what they are doing internally to the card and should be fully compatible. When my K-1 format cards it render them useless, like I explained in my original post. I also have the firmware up to date.

Only workaround I found is to format on my computer (running archlinux), and to never ever format card in my K-1, I proceed to just "delete all images" in camera. I have had no problem since then.

swartzfeger · 05-28-2016, 02:33 AM

If i don't properly eject the SD card from my Mac (50% of the time) and then put it back in the K-1, I get the 'card is not formatted' error. PITA. I'll eventually learn my lesson and eject properly.

rawr · 05-28-2016, 04:40 AM

Originally posted by swartzfeger

I'll eventually learn my lesson and eject properly.

Computers/cameras [same thing nowadays] require safe handling like that. SD cards - with all their formatting and speed standards, and mega capacity - are not simple devices.

focusian · 05-30-2016, 02:21 AM

Originally posted by FtYoU

I have a problem with my SD card "pro master 128GB SDXC", the card is really expensive and I bought it for my 4K videos. When I use it in my K-1 I need to let the camera format it as I get the message "Card not formatted" and I can't take any shot.

The problem is that when I take the card out and I plug it to my computer and take the pictures, when I put the card back to my camera, I need to format it again. Worst, if I remove the card and put it back (without going through the computer) the camera needs to format it again !

Anyone experience this issue ? And if not could you tell me what card do you guys have ?

What will happen if you use usb cable instead of removing card ?.

redpit · 05-30-2016, 03:06 AM

Originally posted by focusian

What will happen if you use usb cable instead of removing card ?.

I also use the USB cable to transfer the pics to my PC.

Do you people know how large SD cards can the K-1 handle? I plan to buy a Sandisk 256GB SDXC card for a long journey I'm going next month. Have you used cards with 256GB or more with the K-1?

joergens.mi · 05-30-2016, 03:26 AM

I've used up to 128 GB without any problems (Volume: RAW+ Pentax says 1260 pictures - very conservative -, with my pictures I'll get roundabout 2300 pictures on the card) .

I don't want start the discussion, but do you make a backup during the journey?
Isn't it better to use several samaller cards not to loose all because of one fault?

redpit · 05-30-2016, 03:46 AM

Originally posted by joergens.mi

I've used up to 128 GB without any problems (Volume: RAW+ Pentax says 1260 pictures - very conservative -, with my pictures I'll get roundabout 2300 pictures on the card) .

I don't want start the discussion, but do you make a backup during the journey?
Isn't it better to use several smaller cards not to loose all because of one fault?

You're right about smaller cards and back up. But as I have a 3-days event that I will take many pics and also some from sightseeing and landscapes I want as much capacity as I can have. I will also have my K-5IIs with me and last time I did this journey I used more or less 150GB (using the K-5IIs only). So I guess I will need roughly 3 times more space to be sure that I won't run out of memory space...

uwilli · 05-30-2016, 06:36 AM

I have more or less the same issue with a 64 GB LEXAR SD XC II. The camera formats the card, the picture files are saved on the card, but my Mac (El Capitan) does't accept the card ("not readable on this computer"). The LEXAR website says you have to format this type of SD card with their special piece of software, which works fine, but then the card is not recognized by the camera which wants to format it, and everything is starting over. Firmware update to 1.10 did not help.
Any ideas ?

---------- Post added 05-30-16 at 06:54 AM ----------

The same thing happens when the card is formatted in the 645z and the SONY A7R.
Not a particular K-1 problem, then.
Sorry !

pete-tarmigan · 05-30-2016, 07:05 AM

Originally posted by FtYoU

When my K-1 format cards it render them useless, like I explained in my original post.

Judging by the wording of the original post, I think it is perfectly understandable that those who replied to the post were unable to derive that meaning from the wording of the original post.

Sgtsween · 06-28-2016, 06:30 AM

Originally posted by swartzfeger

If i don't properly eject the SD card from my Mac (50% of the time) and then put it back in the K-1, I get the 'card is not formatted' error. PITA. I'll eventually learn my lesson and eject properly.

I have been having these errors as well. I read your post and tried to properly eject from my mac a couple of times and things seem to work fine now. Have you still been having issues?

swartzfeger · 06-29-2016, 04:48 PM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by Sgtsween

I have been having these errors as well. I read your post and tried to properly eject from my mac a couple of times and things seem to work fine now. Have you still been having issues?

No, but I've been ejecting the card properly since I discovered the issue. The one or two times I forget to unmount properly, I put the SD card *back* into my Mac, ejected it properly, then back into the K-1, and then the card is read fine... so no need to re-format.

**monochrome** · 06-29-2016, 05:20 PM

Originally posted by aikilink

On the SD Card topic, but slightly off topic, have people researched what the optimum speed is of cards for the K-1 without spending extra money on speed features that the K-1 can't handle?

Adam said 95Mb/s SD/XC UHS-3 Class 10 is the optimal card for the K-1 hardware. I use multiple 64GB cards (rather than 1 giant card per slot) that I buy when they're on sale in the 2-packs. I use SanDisk Extreme Pro, but my dealer gave me a 64GB Lexar when I bought the K-1 that works fine.

FWIW I've never encountered any Card Format Issues in the camera or the computer.

05-30-2016, 03:46 AM	#25
redpit Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Greece Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,857	Originally posted by joergens.mi I've used up to 128 GB without any problems (Volume: RAW+ Pentax says 1260 pictures - very conservative -, with my pictures I'll get roundabout 2300 pictures on the card) . I don't want start the discussion, but do you make a backup during the journey? Isn't it better to use several smaller cards not to loose all because of one fault? You're right about smaller cards and back up. But as I have a 3-days event that I will take many pics and also some from sightseeing and landscapes I want as much capacity as I can have. I will also have my K-5IIs with me and last time I did this journey I used more or less 150GB (using the K-5IIs only). So I guess I will need roughly 3 times more space to be sure that I won't run out of memory space... Last edited by redpit; 05-30-2016 at 07:24 AM.

05-30-2016, 06:36 AM	#26
uwilli New Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Posts: 8	K-1 issue with LEXAR SD XC II I have more or less the same issue with a 64 GB LEXAR SD XC II. The camera formats the card, the picture files are saved on the card, but my Mac (El Capitan) does't accept the card ("not readable on this computer"). The LEXAR website says you have to format this type of SD card with their special piece of software, which works fine, but then the card is not recognized by the camera which wants to format it, and everything is starting over. Firmware update to 1.10 did not help. Any ideas ? ---------- Post added 05-30-16 at 06:54 AM ---------- The same thing happens when the card is formatted in the 645z and the SONY A7R. Not a particular K-1 problem, then. Sorry !

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05-11-2016, 01:34 PM	#16
npc Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 313	Just received my K-1 yestarday - took the card off my K-3 and put it in K-1 and got "Card not formatted" error. Put it back in K-3 - no problem there. The card itsef was recently formated from the K-3 menu which apparently formats it as exfat. The other card I tried so far is working fine on K-1. I guess it is just a matter of reformating that particular card, but i have some stuff on it so I'll do it later. Still, it seems K-1 is more picky about sd cards than K-3 and K-5IIs (which are also more picky than sony cameras in general).

05-27-2016, 06:36 AM	#17
mtngal Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Wherever I’m Parked Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,003	Last weekend I spent a little time talking to a rep from SanDisk at a photography show. I mentioned that I had just bought a new camera and that I had used a card from a different camera when I first got it. He said that using cards between different cameras can end up causing card errors and that it was best to have dedicated cards for each camera. I know I've switched cards between various Pentax cameras, always reformatting the card in each camera, and have not had a problem. But I haven't tried taking one from a completely different camera manufacturer, I wonder if that can be the cause of issues and why he gave that warning?

05-27-2016, 08:31 AM - 1 Like	#18
funktionsfrei Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 183	This sounds as if the SD card reader used in the PC isn't compatible with SDXC cards, that is, cards, that have larger capacity than 32 GB. Have you verified that your card reader is compatible with the SDXC specification? Have you tested it with another SDXC card? (FYI Some background on the various SD card formats: Cards with capacities of up to (and including) 2 GB are standard SD cards, sometimes named SDSC cards. Cards with capacities higher than 2 GB and up to (and including) 32 GB are SDHC cards. There used to be SD-card lookalikes with a capacity of 4 GB that weren't SDHC cards, these were not conformant to the specification and hence a source of various "interesting" problems. Avoid. And cards with even higher capacities, that is, everything larger than 32 GB are SDXC cards. The SD card specification clearly states the file system to be used with each generation of cards: FAT16 with SD(SC) cards, FAT32 with SDHC cards and exFAT with SDXC cards. When USB card readers are used, device driver upgrades won't work, since the different handling between these cards is done at firmware level in the card reader's circuitry. There are some notebooks that utilize built-in card readers that are not connected via USB, in these few cases there might be an upgrade path. In all other cases it means: Get a new card reader. Instead of attempting to format the card in the card reader, I recommend doing so via the camera. The camera's firmware is constructed to be standard-compliant, and it is thus well abled to format a memory card. By the way: You already have a compatible USB SDXC card reader - your K-1. No, I won't recommend using it for that purpose on a day-by-day basis, but to verify that your card works correctly, it's the perfect choice. Format the card in the camera, fill it up by taking images worthy to be taken by a K-1 and then connect your K-1 to your computer. Do what you normally do with your card reader ... and report the results. Good luck!

05-27-2016, 10:03 AM	#19
FtYoU Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Photos: Gallery Posts: 43 Original Poster	Originally posted by mtngal But I haven't tried taking one from a completely different camera manufacturer, I wonder if that can be the cause of issues and why he gave that warning? Yes I was aware of this. I used sony camera before and sony install a database in the SD card to keep track of multiple things. I always format my card when switching to different systems. Originally posted by funktionsfrei This sounds as if the SD card reader used in the PC isn't compatible with SDXC cards My card reader is compatible. Originally posted by funktionsfrei Instead of attempting to format the card in the card reader, I recommend doing so via the camera. The camera's firmware is constructed to be standard-compliant, and it is thus well abled to format a memory card. Actually that's not such a good idea. I used to do it all the time because I was assuming manufacturer of camera know what they are doing internally to the card and should be fully compatible. When my K-1 format cards it render them useless, like I explained in my original post. I also have the firmware up to date. Only workaround I found is to format on my computer (running archlinux), and to never ever format card in my K-1, I proceed to just "delete all images" in camera. I have had no problem since then.

05-28-2016, 02:33 AM	#20
swartzfeger New Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 16	If i don't properly eject the SD card from my Mac (50% of the time) and then put it back in the K-1, I get the 'card is not formatted' error. PITA. I'll eventually learn my lesson and eject properly.

05-28-2016, 04:40 AM	#21
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913	Originally posted by swartzfeger I'll eventually learn my lesson and eject properly. Computers/cameras [same thing nowadays] require safe handling like that. SD cards - with all their formatting and speed standards, and mega capacity - are not simple devices.

05-30-2016, 02:21 AM	#22
focusian Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 42	Originally posted by FtYoU I have a problem with my SD card "pro master 128GB SDXC", the card is really expensive and I bought it for my 4K videos. When I use it in my K-1 I need to let the camera format it as I get the message "Card not formatted" and I can't take any shot. The problem is that when I take the card out and I plug it to my computer and take the pictures, when I put the card back to my camera, I need to format it again. Worst, if I remove the card and put it back (without going through the computer) the camera needs to format it again ! Anyone experience this issue ? And if not could you tell me what card do you guys have ? What will happen if you use usb cable instead of removing card ?.

05-30-2016, 03:06 AM	#23
redpit Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Greece Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,857	Originally posted by focusian What will happen if you use usb cable instead of removing card ?. I also use the USB cable to transfer the pics to my PC. Do you people know how large SD cards can the K-1 handle? I plan to buy a Sandisk 256GB SDXC card for a long journey I'm going next month. Have you used cards with 256GB or more with the K-1?

05-30-2016, 03:26 AM	#24
joergens.mi Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 408	I've used up to 128 GB without any problems (Volume: RAW+ Pentax says 1260 pictures - very conservative -, with my pictures I'll get roundabout 2300 pictures on the card) . I don't want start the discussion, but do you make a backup during the journey? Isn't it better to use several samaller cards not to loose all because of one fault?

05-30-2016, 07:05 AM	#27
pete-tarmigan Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Conception Bay South, New-fun-land Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,272	Originally posted by FtYoU When my K-1 format cards it render them useless, like I explained in my original post. Judging by the wording of the original post, I think it is perfectly understandable that those who replied to the post were unable to derive that meaning from the wording of the original post.

06-28-2016, 06:30 AM	#28
Sgtsween Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Photos: Gallery Posts: 41	Originally posted by swartzfeger If i don't properly eject the SD card from my Mac (50% of the time) and then put it back in the K-1, I get the 'card is not formatted' error. PITA. I'll eventually learn my lesson and eject properly. I have been having these errors as well. I read your post and tried to properly eject from my mac a couple of times and things seem to work fine now. Have you still been having issues?

06-29-2016, 04:48 PM - 1 Like	#29
swartzfeger New Member Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 16	Originally posted by Sgtsween I have been having these errors as well. I read your post and tried to properly eject from my mac a couple of times and things seem to work fine now. Have you still been having issues? No, but I've been ejecting the card properly since I discovered the issue. The one or two times I forget to unmount properly, I put the SD card back into my Mac, ejected it properly, then back into the K-1, and then the card is read fine... so no need to re-format.

06-29-2016, 05:20 PM	#30
monochrome Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Working From Home Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 26,276	Originally posted by aikilink On the SD Card topic, but slightly off topic, have people researched what the optimum speed is of cards for the K-1 without spending extra money on speed features that the K-1 can't handle? Adam said 95Mb/s SD/XC UHS-3 Class 10 is the optimal card for the K-1 hardware. I use multiple 64GB cards (rather than 1 giant card per slot) that I buy when they're on sale in the 2-packs. I use SanDisk Extreme Pro, but my dealer gave me a 64GB Lexar when I bought the K-1 that works fine. FWIW I've never encountered any Card Format Issues in the camera or the computer.