[myrdinn]

Yesterday, I was making a series of photos. Back home I saw that one of the photos was not written on the sd card (Sandisk 64 GB, Extreme Pro 170 MB/s). The photo had a normal number on the card but was entirely black and 0 mb big.

I always take photos in the dng-format. All the photos were made in bracketing modus.

It's the first time that such a thing happens to me. Just before yesterday I updated the camera (K1-II) with the latest software.

Has anyone an idea what might have went wrong?

[jatrax]

I have had that happen once or twice over the years. Could be camera error or card error. I believe if it only happens once do not worry about it. You might consider formatting the card once you have cleared it but otherwise I wouldn't worry.

However, if it happens again I might keep careful track of that card assuming you use more than one and if errors start occurring consider replacing it.

[bwgv001]

reformat the card in the camera and as @jatrax said, watch it. You did not specify your camera., is it a K-30/50? aperture block?

[NoobOnTour]

reformat the card in the camera and as @jatrax said, watch it. You did not specify your camera., is it a K-30/50? aperture block?

I had the k-50 aperture block, my pictures were the normal seize but black.(I could lighten them up using lightroom, focus was spot on etc.)

edit: I would guess its an sd card error, did you change just the sd card?

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Last edited by NoobOnTour; 04-25-2021 at 10:15 AM. Reason: adding info

[jatrax]

edit: I would guess its an sd card error, did you change just the sd card?

Assuming it is an SD card error the next step would be to format the card in camera. That is a good reputable card so I would just put it down to chance cosmic rays and forget it. But if it ever happens on that card again I would toss it and get a new one. If you number your cards make a note someplace which card it was and the date of the error. That way you can refer back if you ever get an error again.

But otherwise, I wouldn't worry. Strange stuff happens sometimes.

[myrdinn]

reformat the card in the camera and as @jatrax said, watch it. You did not specify your camera., is it a K-30/50? aperture block?

The camera is the K1-II.
It was not an aperture block. If it was then the photo would be black indeed but still as big as the other photos. Now it was only 0 mb.
I always format the cards with the SD Card Formatter, using the overwrite option.
Maybe I might change the camera settings, so that each photo is written on two cards. Just for safety.

[jatrax]

Maybe I might change the camera settings, so that each photo is written on two cards. Just for safety.

Seriously think you are over thinking this. One error out of how many pictures have you taken? Worry about being struck by lightening or a meteorite or dropping your camera in a lake. All far more likely things to happen. Just reformat the card.

I have a policy of rotating cards through the camera. I have 4 for the K-1 and when I pull one out it goes into 'reserve'. The one put into the camera is formatted in the camera. That way I rotate cards and also have a temporary backup of images until I have run through the other three cards.

[myrdinn]

Seriously think you are over thinking this. One error out of how many pictures have you taken? Worry about being struck by lightening or a meteorite or dropping your camera in a lake. All far more likely things to happen. Just reformat the card.

I have a policy of rotating cards through the camera. I have 4 for the K-1 and when I pull one out it goes into 'reserve'. The one put into the camera is formatted in the camera. That way I rotate cards and also have a temporary backup of images until I have run through the other three cards.

You are right. It's the first time it happens to me in years. The rotating system is a good idea.
I hope it's just a coincidence that it happened after I installed the new software update.

[jatrax]

I hope it's just a coincidence that it happened after I installed the new software update.

Me too. I haven't updated yet.

How many images on that card after the update? One error out of how many? I remember back with the K-5 such errors were common, especially if the battery got low. Along with flapping shutters, locked up mirrors and all kinds of weird stuff. The K-3 and K-1 have been rock solid for years and any oddity I just mark down to cosmic rays and keep shooting. I think my car has more errors than my cameras..............

[myrdinn]

Me too. I haven't updated yet.

How many images on that card after the update? One error out of how many? I remember back with the K-5 such errors were common, especially if the battery got low. Along with flapping shutters, locked up mirrors and all kinds of weird stuff. The K-3 and K-1 have been rock solid for years and any oddity I just mark down to cosmic rays and keep shooting. I think my car has more errors than my cameras..............

It was 1 error of 280 photos that I took yesterday. And indeed, I had to change the battery. Mayby that was the reason - that the battery wasn't strong enough anymore to write the third of three bracketing photos. Let's hope that's the reason, and not the software update...

[jatrax]

that the battery wasn't strong enough anymore to write the third of three bracketing photos.

That would be my guess. Low battery has been a source of 'weird' occurrences with Pentax as long as I have owned them. And bursts of any kind tend to pull voltage lower than would be the case with slower single shots. Anyway, I don't think it is of any great concern unless it starts to repeat.

[Bob 256]

So was it a DNG file with 0MB (how exactly was the file listed - did you attempt to open it)? Was this the first shot you took after doing the camera update? I would bet that had something to do with this but as others have stated, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it (unless that shot was the only one I had gotten of bigfoot). Next time you update, take a test photo after putting your regular SD card back into the camera and see what happens.

[Bertrand3000]

It could also be a software fault in the file system on the SD card (introduced by camera or computer). And one day I lost a shot and got a corrupted file because (I think) I turned off my K-S2 too quickly after a shot.

I wouldn't worry. Format the SD card. If it happens again, the SD card is probably faulty, get a new one. Quality ones are cheap anyway.

[myrdinn]

Indeed it was a DNG fie with 0 MB. It was listed as all the other photos, with a normal number. But I couldn't open it. Not on the camera itself, not on my computer by using FastStone.
It was the frist time I made photos after the update. But I already had made more almost 200 photos before it happened. So it will be the battery.

[Oldbayrunner]

Sd cards are like any storage disks they have sectors that can go bad and information written to them will trucate a file rendering it useless. Periodically it is good to run a low level format which formats and marks any bad sectors on the disk so that stored information bypasses that portion of the disk. In camera formatting does a quick format which will not alleviate the problem for future use. The SD Association made a formatting software made for SD cards that will do low level formats without destroying the partition information needed for them to work in cameras...

Read how to do a low level using this software....
SD Memory Card Formatter | SD Association