[keithg59]

I have a K-r DSLR that has developed a frustrating problem in that the memory card will not latch in place. I usually consider myself to be a reasonably practical person and wondered if it was feasible to attempt to fix it myself and what would be involved.

Any help/advice/suggestions would be gratefully received!

Thanks

[Ontarian50]

This issue with SD slots has been discussed a few times on this forum.

But 8 times out of 10, the culprit is a tiny plastic "fin" that has broken off one of your cards and wedged itself into the card locking mechanism.

Getting a good look at it can be tricky, especially if the plastic bit is camouflaged black. If you're lucky it broke off one of your bright orange cards.

But if you can see if there's a bit stuck in there, and you have the dexterity and a fine enough tool, you might be able to pry it out.

But if you get too vigorous, you can mangle the entire mechanism. The best way to deal with it is to get a repair tech to remove the board from the camera and work with it that way.

[keithg59]

Thanks, I will try and have a look. I know that 2 cards have now broken, so it might well be that a piece has become stuck.

[Adam]

Going to go ahead and throw in a recommendation for future cards- Sandisk Extreme / Pro cards have an excellent build quality that will last you much, much longer than your average transcend or other generic card. I've had plenty of those break on me even after fairly light use, whereas all my sandisk cards are still going strong. Good luck with finding the piece!

Adam
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[35mmfilmfan]

But if you can see if there's a bit stuck in there, and you have the dexterity and a fine enough tool, you might be able to pry it out.

One way I have found for this kind of delicate operation is to use a small piece of BluTak (or local equivalent) on the end of a toothpick or similar slim non-destructive implement.

[keithg59]

Having had a peer into the slot and identified the fact that there was a 'foreign body' inside, I managed to remove it and the card now locks in place. I also pushed the boat out and purchase a Sandisk extreme card as suggested above, but the camera now simply tells me that there is no card in the slot, so for some reason, it isn't seeing the card. Does anyone have any further suggestions please?

[Ontarian50]

When it's not recognizing a card, that's usually because one of the contact prongs has been bent out of position to properly contact the card - or it's bent into a position where it's shorting out.

As the card slot on the K-r is on the main processor board, it's not a cheap fix to replace. Best bet is to get a repair tech to remove the board and see if there's a contact prong issue that can be sorted out without requiring replacement.

[keithg59]

Thank you.