I have a good condition Nikon d3300 that randomly started giving me the error "This Card is Not Formatted". Then when I try to format, it says "the option is not available in current settings or in the cameras current state". I checked and the card is not manually locked. No damage has happened that I am aware of. Please help! I have wedding photos from my daughters wedding on this card!
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9\$\begingroup\$ Well, certainly don't format the card! \$\endgroup\$– Philip Kendall ♦Commented Mar 5, 2019 at 16:00
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3\$\begingroup\$ The card is not healthy. Your priority is getting as much data off the card as you can: photo.stackexchange.com/q/40977/31502 photo.stackexchange.com/q/23065/31502 \$\endgroup\$– user31502Commented Mar 5, 2019 at 18:50
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1\$\begingroup\$ How to recover data from a damaged/chewed up SD card? and Is there a way to read or recover corrupted/incomplete photos on CF card? \$\endgroup\$– Michael CCommented Mar 5, 2019 at 21:47
3 Answers
It sounds like some communication or compatibility problem with the card. I would try accessing your photos by putting the card in an external card reader on a computer. The card readers are not expensive. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sd+card+reader
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\$\begingroup\$ I did put in in the computer and it said it could not find any photos on the device to upload \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 5, 2019 at 16:55
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1\$\begingroup\$ Well, not sure of your meaning, but you do have to select the right folder on the card. On a Nikon camera, the first folder name is probably DCIM, and then there will be another folder inside there, which you click to open in the card reader software. It should then show your image files, and the reader can access them. If you have done that, and still found no images, then the problem appears to be the card, and not the camera. Cards can fail, and cards are NOT the best long term archival storage. \$\endgroup\$– WayneFCommented Mar 5, 2019 at 17:07
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\$\begingroup\$ @claramedland - From the comment above, it sounds like you're using image software - perhaps something that's running automatically. Try using your operating system's File Manager to see what's on the card. \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 3, 2020 at 7:00
First use foremost, magic data or any other software for data retrieval and save your photos to your computer. Once you saved your photos format the card. It may be locked or corrupted somehow.
If this is a microSD card, in an adapter to fit an SD slot, then this is classic problem.
If that's your situation, then replace the card with a standard SD card (no adapater), and the problem will go away.
You can also try different card adapters, but it's NOT simply a matter of replacing one bad adapter with ANY other one. It's more like the fussy camera/microSD card combination will only work with one very specific adapter. In my case, I had best luck with adapter cards that came with Samsung microSD cards. Other reliable brands, like SanDisk, did not work.
BTW, this problem showed up for me an a entry-level camcorder (Canon Vixia HF-R800), and no other (out of 8 other cameras/camcorders I've used).