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I have a Canon 5D mark II. The weirdest thing happened today. I was shooting with a 4 GB memory in Raw and Jpeg and was only able to shoot 34 pics. I looked at my settings and couldn't figure out what I was overlooking. I usually can get close to 150 t0 200 pics. Please Help...

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1 Answer

up vote 14 down vote

Did you use the CF card in your computer and either store non-picture files on it, or delete the files without emptying the trash / recycle bin when you were done? A bunch of hidden files can fill up the card's space pretty quickly (happened to me a couple weekends ago; luckily I always carry a spare).

It could also be a corrupted card, and some sectors have been marked as bad.

If you're sure there's nothing important on the card you could format it from the camera's menu, which will remove any undeleted or non-picture files.

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Ohhh my Gosh yes I did delete the files without emptying my trash/recycle bin. Do you think the best thing to do from now on is to just delete pics from card via camera rather than computer? I don't want to run into this again. I'm going to format the card and see if that fixes it. Thank you so much drewbenn... – Teresa Dec 6 '11 at 5:01
I bet that it's the hidden file issues. I always format my card through the in camera menu once all the photos are safely on my computer. – Vian Esterhuizen Dec 6 '11 at 5:08
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If the card is already in your computer, and you won't forget to empty the trash before removing the card, it's probably much faster to delete from the computer. Formatting your card every time as Vian Esterhuizen suggested is generally considered to be a good practice (although I have to admit I never do that). Once you're in the field and have started to take pictures, though, there's not much you can do, so pick a process that will ensure you've always cleared your card before you head out! – drewbenn Dec 6 '11 at 6:37
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I always format the card in the camera. That way, there's just one device writing to the card, which seems to make it less likely for problems to occur - especially if the camera has any low-level ideosyncracies. – AJ Finch Dec 6 '11 at 15:59
Thank you for all the input... – Teresa Dec 7 '11 at 1:47

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