[james_k_p]

Hi,

New user here. I just recently finally bought a dslr after being a long time K-1000 user that I had inherited from my father.

So last month before our annual trek to Disneyworld, I decided to buy the K-X.

I bought it off of Newegg with the 200mm extra lense kit.

Anyways, when I'm copying photos/videos off of the memory card using the usb mem card reader that came with it, it will error out in the middle of the copy and then won't allow me to read the card until I pull the usb reader out and re-insert it.

This has happened with both 8gig sdhc cards I'm using. So I must keep keep copying the pictures in small segments and eventually get through it all.

Is this just cheap memory cards or a bad card reader? It's VERY annoying.

Thanks for your input to this newbie here.

James

[sterretje]

Have you tried to connect the camera directly to the PC with the provided USB cable? See page 263 and up of your manual.

Note: without telling us which memory cards your using, we don't know if they are a possible cause.

[Ben_Edict]

I had a similar problem with cheap SD cards in the past. There was always 1 image corrupted, right in the middle of the memory space. I could copy the images up to the corrupted file, but nothing beyond it. A Windows PC kept crashing, whenever I attempted tp copy anything beyond the corruptes file. On a Mac I was able to retrieve the images finally (except that 1 corrupted file).

So I guessed, there was a problem with bank switching in the card. Since I got rid of all cheap cards (bin not ebay), and completely switched to SanDisk Ultras and Extremes I never had a single problem.

Ben

[JeffJS]

Have you tried to connect the camera directly to the PC with the provided USB cable? See page 263 and up of your manual.

Note: without telling us which memory cards your using, we don't know if they are a possible cause.

What he said....

[blackcloudbrew]

Regardless of card type (I believe), you will need to periodically reformat your SD cards. This should help avoid other card problems.

It could also be your card reader. I had an old USB v1 reader (make that a cheap old reader) that was p a i n f u l l y slow reading anyone's type of cards CF etc. In the short term your USB cable between your camera and compute might be the best bet. On the other had, I had a laptop that wouldn't read SDHD cards over 2gb until I did a driver update.

[james_k_p]

One mem card is a Transcent, this is the actual one I bought from newegg:

Newegg.com - Transcend 8GB Micro SDHC Flash Card with SD Adapter Model TS8GUSDHC2 - Flash Memory

The other was from Walmart in orlando that I'll have to check out when I get home as the Transcent ran out of memory and I didn't want to delete anything.

What you described Ben_Edict is exactly what is happening. Certain images or videos are corrupted.

I have not attempted to reformat with camera before taking more pictures. I'll do that next. I have no attached the camera to the pc yet. I was finding it easier to just use the card, but I may end up just hooking it directly up to avoid issues.

I have a printer that can read these cards as well that I plan on using to test it out, but I wanted to see if this was a common issue with K-X users here, or if I was an oddball.

[JeffJS]

I would before doing a format, connecting the camera via USB and see if you can get the files on each side of the corrupted file(s)..

[Marc Sabatella]

Also relevant is what software you are using to do the transfer= - it's possible that's actually where your problem is. Some older programs don't know how to drive the larger SDHC cards, or there might be other problems.

[noblepa]

Also relevant is what software you are using to do the transfer= - it's possible that's actually where your problem is. Some older programs don't know how to drive the larger SDHC cards, or there might be other problems.

That's why I don't use any special software, not even the image loader that came with Photoshop Elements 7. I just pop the memory card from my K10D into the built-in memory card reader on my PC. I then just use Windows Explorer to do a copy/paste, as if it was any other folder or removeable drive on my system.

I have used Transcend cards, as well as other cheap cards, such as A-Data. I've never had a bit of trouble with any of them. After I upload all the images from the card to PC, I usually reformat the card, in the camera.

[hcc]

I agree with all earlier posts, and there are a lot of good advices. It may be worth to re-cap for the benefits of everyone:

* You can transfer the photographs either using the USB cable directly connected to the camera, or by inserting the card into an USB reader. Both method are equally good and sound. The use of a USB 2.0 card reader tend to allow some faster transfer rate, subject to a good quality card and card reader.

* The quality of the SD card is very important. There have been many problems reported with cheap, low-quality cards. It is worth to invest in a good quality card; the Sandisk cards are regarded as the better ones, possibly the best cards.
A backup card is also worth to consider, when your card starts to be full and you need to continue some shooting.

* It is important to reformat regularly the card. For example, it is necessary to re-format the card everytime you update the firmware of the camera. In addition, the card can be reformatted at regular interval.
I would add that it is important to backup your photographs on other supports at regular intervals. I always empty my card after a long days of shooting, and I reformat it every month at least.

* The USB card reader must compatible 2.0 for a better transfer rate and to avoid any compatibility issue.

I hope that the comment wil assist some ...

[sterretje]

For example, it is necessary to re-format the card everytime you update the firmware of the camera

And why would that be

[hcc]

And why would that be

The Pentax website {Latest K-7 Firmware Update : Software Downloads : PENTAX} states clearly that :
*the card must me a "Blank, formatted SD/SDHC card",

and Pentax follows on:
* "After formatting the SD/SDHC card,.." .


In practice, the simplest way to erase the card is to reformat it. Hope that the comment will assist...

[marianne718]

Are there any differences in IQ or other issues related to the means of transferring photos from the camera to the PC?

99% of the time, I shoot in RAW/PEF on a K20D, and use the method described by noblepa above: SDHC card into slot on laptop, Windows to copy files into "Pictures" folder, then import into Lightroom for post processing. After a few days, when I'm confident that all is saved, backed up and OK, I reformat the SDHC in camera before using it again.

What, if any, are the advantages of transferring image files via the camera's USB connection
over removing the SDHC card? For instance, am I needlessly "wearing out" the cards?

I'm not experiencing any problems with my current system -- just wondering if there's a better way.

Thanks.

[JeffJS]

Are there any differences in IQ or other issues related to the means of transferring photos from the camera to the PC?

99% of the time, I shoot in RAW/PEF on a K20D, and use the method described by noblepa above: SDHC card into slot on laptop, Windows to copy files into "Pictures" folder, then import into Lightroom for post processing. After a few days, when I'm confident that all is saved, backed up and OK, I reformat the SDHC in camera before using it again.

What, if any, are the advantages of transferring image files via the camera's USB connection
over removing the SDHC card? For instance, am I needlessly "wearing out" the cards?

I'm not experiencing any problems with my current system -- just wondering if there's a better way.

Thanks.

No difference at all. Same files. I typically use the USB cable so I don't forget to put the card back in the camera ..

[sterretje]

The only problem with USB might be that it drains the battery a bit quicker so you need to recharge earlier.

I don't have card readers so use USB all the time.