Z8 – Delkin Black Card Issue

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JoeM

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I am having a big problem with the FAT table getting corrupted on a Delkin memory card and my Z8. When I go to import the pictures into LR, I get a corrupted file statement. Pictures look fine when viewing them on the camera LCD. Delkin cannot figure it out and they are sending me a 3rd replacement card. I really do not want to use it until figure out the issue.

I do not know if it is Windows (v11 Home), Lightroom Classic (v12.4 when problem occurred now v12.5), Delkin Card Reader 54, Delkin Black card or the camera.
  • Cards have only been formatted in the camera (full format)
  • SD card and SD card reader allows import to LR. XQD card and XQD card reader allows import to LR. CF Express Sandisk card and the Delkin card reader allows import to LR.
  • I tried all the same imports from pictures shot on my D500. All worked but the Delkin card.
  • I tried importing on NX Studio and as I recall I had problems but the card could have been corrupted before I tried.
Possible causes:
  • Did I pull card out with camera still on? I am not sure but I doubt it would have happened with both Delkin cards.
  • Card speed differences in CF cards – Sandisk (Read 1500 / Write 800) and Delkin 325GB (Read 1725 / Write 1530).
  • Delkin Card Reader 54 has a FIXED and REMOVABLE setting. It is currently set at fixed. This might be the problem but the Delkin support folks said it still should work at fixed. Also since the Sandisk card works on fixed I really did not want to change it. I do all my edits after the files are loaded in LR. Delkin states:
FIXED

In order to maximize performance, this Reader is factory set as a Fixed device. This setting is an industry standard to maximize Write and Read speed to and from the CFexpress™ Type B memory card. This setting requires images to be transferred from your card to your computer prior to editing or importing into other Applications. In some programs (for example the Adobe family) it is not possible to edit a file on a card in your Device with the Reader in this Fixed mode. It is only possible to work on files in these programs after the files have been transferred to your PC or Mac via File Explorer or Finder.

REMOVABLE

Delkin Devices offers a utility to convert your DDREADER-54 to a Removable device. If you choose to do this you will be able to modify files using Adobe and various other programs direct on the card while it is in the reader. Please note however that in performing this conversion the Read speeds from your Reader will be reduced by half, and Write speeds to the device will be reduced by 20%.
If your workflow requires editing/transferring images while still on a card in the Reader through third party programs such as Adobe Lightroom or Apple Photos, you might consider downloading the utility to switch your reader from Fixed to Removable at delkindevices.com/support
If your workflow requires importing your images from the card in the reader direct to your PC/MAC HDD before editing them, then you will experience the full performance capability of this reader and no changes need to be made.



Currently - Only current work around doing a copy/paste in Explorer of the Delkin card data to my computer then import to LR.

All of this seems very unstable for me. Yesterday the card reader did not even show up as a drive in Explorer. It showed up today. Delkin is sending me another reader. I have never had a memory card failure.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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I have a Z9 and I use Delkin Black 325Gb and 650Gb CFe cards. I've also used Delkin Black 325Gb cards in a Z7II. Never had a problem. Like you, I format them only in camera and I use a Delkin card reader set to FIXED. My workflow is to copy from the cards to a folder on my laptop and import to LR / PS from that folder. I know there are some who import directly to LR from the card, but since they are your original files, that may be putting them at risk.

Getting replacement cards and reader from Delkin is good because if the problem recurs it's more likely to be caused by the camera. I doubt, though, that the camera is the problem here.
 
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When I get a new card I do low level format on the MBP and then put the card in the camera and format it. Probably not a good plan for a card with images on it though.
 
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I forgot to ask, if I am copying pictures from multiple shoots into one particular folder do I also copy the DAT file for each shoot into that folder? Not sure what the DAT file does. If I do this won't Explorer want to replace any previous DAT file so I'm not sure how to handle this file.
 
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JoeM said:
I forgot to ask, if I am copying pictures from multiple shoots into one particular folder do I also copy the DAT file for each shoot into that folder? Not sure what the DAT file does. If I do this won't Explorer want to replace any previous DAT file so I'm not sure how to handle this file.
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I copy only raw (or jpg) files into the folder on my laptop. I’m not sure what’s in the DAT file and I’ve never concerned myself with it. I think it’s used by the camera’s file management system, so don’t delete it or try to edit it on the card.
 
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Is your reader plugged directly into the computer or through a hub? Directly to the computer is recommended. Have you replaced the cable from the reader to your computer? Delkin makes great cards and their reader is solid but I doubt they make the cables. You may want to try swapping those out. My work computer, a large PC tower with multiple drives used for digital forensic investigations, once had a drive that kept failing. But then any drive connected failed. After a lot of back and forth, turned out to be the SATA cable. Since that experience, I always test the cables first since they are the cheapest link in the chain.
 
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I had tried another cable but no luck. I was connecting through a hub and tried directly to the laptop and no luck. This morning the Delkin card reader is not even showing up as a drive in Explorer. Disk Manager said Not Initialized / Media is write protected. My SD card reader will show up as a drive and works fine. When I get a replacement drive next week I will try again. TO BE CONTINUED :mad:
 
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I would start by using a file manager to move the files from the card reader to your computer and then check the files. I have had problems over the years with memory card readers and with Nikon Transfer with moving files to the computer.

I have had a total of 3 memory cards (CF, SD, XQD) over the past 20 years that have had problems. I always format the cards rather than deleting the files one by one and this also clears the FAT table completely. The memory cards were replaced by their manufacturers with no difficulty.

With the faster write speeds of each new generation of camera there are more likely to be timing issues for the writes on the memory card. I pay more for the top tier and more commonly used memory cards to minimize problems but I know that they can still occur and so I test new cards by loading them with image files and then uploading them to a new folder and then opening them with a program that creates new thumbnails instead of pulling in the embedded thumbnail. Easy to spot a corrupted file with this approach.
 
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