1
\$\begingroup\$

I am using an old Nikon D70 with a 4 GB memory card. It has been working well, with no major errors for over a year now. Today I took ~100 photos, and when I tried to upload them, it only displayed 9 images. However, when I click on the properties of the card, it says there are 3.5 GB of photos, which is about right. I don't usually delete old photos. So where are the rest of the photos? They're on the card somewhere. I checked to see if somehow they were all changed to the "hidden" setting, but they were not. Any thoughts?

Improve this question
\$\endgroup\$
7
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ What is "it" in "it only displayed 9 images"? The camera, or some sort of computer software? What are you uploading with? When you say you don't usually delete old photos, do you mean you expect them to accumulate on the card? \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Nov 24, 2012 at 15:47
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm confused by the "I don't usually delete old photos" line. I would not be using the card as a long-term storage medium. Search the site for backup strategies that people use to protect your images. \$\endgroup\$
    – Joanne C
    Commented Nov 24, 2012 at 16:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ JoanneC - Good point. Unfortunately I know some very successful photographers that run their own studios that do that. Guess if you are used to keeping films in a vault, it is an easy transition to do the same with SD card. They might degrade faster though depending on storage conditions. \$\endgroup\$
    – Itai
    Commented Nov 24, 2012 at 17:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ I mean, of course they do accumulate on the card. It's just normal to download, reformat, and reuse. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Nov 24, 2012 at 17:48
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ The reason I stress the importance of the "it" is because it really matters what method you're using to look. Different interfaces (memory reader vs. camera USB connection) and different software will show you different things. \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Commented Nov 25, 2012 at 17:02

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
6
\$\begingroup\$

When you take more than 1000 photos on a D70, it changes the folder name. Most likely you have rolled over the folder name. Once that happens you will only see photos in the current folder.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ I had a similar problem with my Canon 500D after 10000 photos, it didn't show all of them when importing into Aperture. \$\endgroup\$
    – Pete
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 16:30
3
\$\begingroup\$

There are plenty of reasons why you would only see some images and we cannot tell you why without more information.

However, you can simply get around those by accessing the card directly from the operating system. That means Windows Explorer (Not to be confused with Internet Explorer) on Windows. For Linux, Dolphin on KDE and Nautilus on Gnome or simply any command shell.

Apparently it is called Finder on a Mac (If anyone knows better please correct this).

Just open the card (on Windows it will have a drive letter, say G:) with the file manager and you will see a directory called DCIM, your photos are below there. Under that one you will see one or more directories which have the images. They should ALL be there and you can use the file manager to copy them yourself.

Your program to show the images may simply be showing you only a few because it only looks at one directory (you will have more than one if you used multiple cameras or took more than a certain number of images, somewhere between 500 and 9999, depending on the camera) or it may incorrectly (or correctly) assume that the other images were already copies so it does not show them to you as a feature.

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
2
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Yep, Finder is the name :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Nippysaurus
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 5:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm pretty sure some (especially older) digital cameras grouped images into blocks of 100. \$\endgroup\$
    – user
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 8:57
0
\$\begingroup\$

Try formatting the card (either using your camera menu or a computer).

WARNING (just in case) : formatting will destroy all existing data in the card. make sure you have a copy of everything you want from it first.

What has most likely happened is that you have either taken some photos using a different camera, or put some other files on the card which are not visible by your camera (or the software you are using to view/import the photos).

Improve this answer
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Warning : doing this will lose your images. You should recover them first, following the other answers. Do not format unless you''re fine with losing the data on your card. \$\endgroup\$
    – Francesco
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 7:02

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.