LR Issue with CF Cards?

[matcam]

I just got off the phone with a senior tech rep at adobe who told me, reluctantly but unambigiously, that CC LR had a "known issue" with CF cards importing corrupt files. I had spent 3 hours on the phone a few days ago with a support rep who tried to convince me that 3 separate CF cards of mine we tested together were faulty. I suggested the chances of that were vanishingly small but apparently that didn't translate all that well. She kicked me upstairs to a "senior technician" who called back 4 days (2 business days) later. In the meantime, I had tried out 3 separate SD cards of the same size and manufacturer and all worked exactly as expected. When I gave this info to the senior guy, he again suggested it was a problem with the CF cards. I finally began to understand that he may have been talking about CF cards in general and not just mine, so I asked him point blank if there were problems in general with CF cards in LR and whether it was a "known issue". He said yes, a number of people had called in with similar issues and that they "might" fix it in the next release. They were "working on it". Just to be certain, I had him repeat that CC LR had a known issue with CF cards importing corrupt images. He confirmed.

Is it just me or is the fact that CC LR can't import images taken from a CF card more than a little troublesome? I mean, it's not like CF cards are a new technology and having a known issue in that regard seems remarkable. I have to acknowledge the possibility that he told me this just to get me off the phone and walk away from my thorny issue (in sum, that ALL attempts at importing to LR from multiple CF cards failed and NONE did so from SD cards), but that's a pretty disturbing conclusion as well.

In short, has anyone else experienced repeatable, consistent failures importing to LR from CF cards but not from SD cards?

TIA

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[Bob Somrak]

I have no problem importing from CF cards, either in-camera or using a card reader.

[bob frost]

Not all CF cards are equal! What make are you using? Nor are all card readers equal! Have you tried different brands of cards or readers?

Bob Frost

[matcam]

Bob, all my cards (CF & SD) are SanDisk. The CF cards are the Extreme Pro line as are the SD cards. The SD cards go into a slot in my new PC and I have been using a USB 3.0 CF card reader called Pixel Flash purchased from the former (at least in my area) Calumet.. Good idea to try a different CF card reader and I'll do so when I get home from work.

One additional piece of information I probably should have noted in the OP - I had used the CF cards and reader described above for many months in LR with no issues up until say late November 2016, at which point for no particular reason I happened to start using  only SD cards. Last week was the first time I had a shoot using a CF card. My new PC purchase occurred during the period of exclusive SD card use.

[matcam]

Thanks Bob S.. I'm not surprised you have no problems as I would have thought an issue like this would have long ago been recognized and discussed. That's why, at least in part, I'm not discounting the possibility that the Adobe support person told me what he did just to get rid of me and my irksome problem.

[Michael J. Hoffman · Accepted solution]

I also would be more suspicious of the reader than of the card. I've used CF cards almost exclusively with Lightroom since day 1, and haven't had a problem related to the cards. I have had several readers go bad. Check the cables and the readers, and try a different reader with the same CF card to validate.

Mike

[matcam]

Thanks Mike, that's the plan for this evening. I will report the results.

[matcam]

Folks, all of you who suggested it was the card readers vs. the cards were, wait for it, absolutely correct! I'm a bit chagrined not to have thought of it myself but maybe I was fixated by those 3 hours on the phone with the first tech rep who kept telling me things I knew not to be true and sounding like all her advice was coming from a script. Good news is the world has been restored to its rightful order. Bad news is Adobe's tech support needs some serious work. Maybe they'll fix it in the next release.

Thanks to all.

[F. McLion]

Add my voice

Never had any issue with CF-cards in camera connected by USB nor using a card reader.

[DoloresLowe]

matcam,

I have the same problem as you. It started as soon as I updated some PC hardware.  I realized that my LR was responding so slowly that it was driving me mad. I replace my old GPU w/a new speedy one (EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3) and added a new internal SSD to my PC desktop computer to use exclusively for photo storage ( Samsung 860 PRO 4TB 2.5 Inch SATA III.) Previously, I was storing all my files on an external HD connected to my computer by a USB 3, and it was super slow. I also added 2 new HD monitors (I had previously been working on only one monitor and it was not designed specifically for photography.)

Immediately upon making these changes, I had my first issue. Even tho I had changed 3 components, I assumed it was the CF card that was corrupt.  I shoot both CR and jpg images, and I usually record to both CF and SD, but this time I managed not to record to the SD card as a backup file. Some, but not all, of the jpg reference photos appeared ok, but all the CR images were all wonky. My computer guy did not think it would be the monitors, hard drive or the GPU.  I checked with him just to make sure (and he's checked it all out and they seem to be working fine) - and he also thought the CF card as the most likely culprit. I replaced it when my recovered images still appeared corrupted.

The next shoot, I used both a new, formatted CF card and an SD card, recording both raw and jpg to both cards. My SD card photos were all fine, the CF card photos yielded the same corrupt looking results. This time, I decided to check the CF card on my Surface, where I also run LR classic CC to edit when I am not at home. I use the same card reader for both my PC and my surface. The CF files that were corrupt appearing on my PC all looked PERFECT on my surface!! Additionally, I zipped the same CR files off of the CF card from the Surface and emailed them to myself so I could open them on the PC. When I unzipped, saved and opened the same files in LR on the PC, all of a sudden they were fine!

My conclusion is that this is happening somewhere along the process of importing  and opening the files, specifically to my PC (card ---> reader ----> import ----> open in LR.) It has to be some kind of problem with communication along that chain, and I'm thinking it's a LR issue. I am totally not computer savvy enough to figure out where. I've searched to see if it is a GPU problem (and tried turning off the GPU when importing) but I still have the same corruption issue, so I don't think it's strictly a GPU problem. My LR is up to date, my camera is up to date, my drivers on the computer are all up to date.  It's just SO weird that it happened immediately after I changed hardware (my old GPU was marginal and at least 5 years old...) My computer guy agrees that it's most likely a LR communication issue (or "bug" as he calls it.) He's researching it too, as he's not familiar with LR, but he thinks there is something that's not updated in the way LR works. Hopefully, he can communicate with the tech ppl at Adobe and glean something more.

At least I have a work around until it's resolved on Adobe's end or Canon gets rid of the outdated CF card and adds a second SD slot to it's camera. Fingers crossed for that change! It's a pain to edit on the Surface when I have my great new set up on desktop, so I won't be using files off the CF card unless I have to, since I need to go through my Surface to make those images usable. My CF will now be a backup and I will use the SD on PC. If I have an SD failure, I can still get the CF files intact to my PC, albeit painfully.

I will let you know if I find out anything else, and look forward to seeing if anyone else can shed any more light on the situation.

[DoloresLowe]

PS, I have also ordered a new card reader that will be an internal install on my PC and I will let you know if that corrects the problem.

[dj_paige]

My conclusion is that this is happening somewhere along the process of importing  and opening the files, specifically to my PC (card ---> reader ----> import ----> open in LR.) It has to be some kind of problem with communication along that chain, and I'm thinking it's a LR issue.

Lightroom has nothing to do with the chain of data movement from card to computer to Lightroom. All of this is done via operating system calls. In addition, hardware handles the image and if the hardware is malfunctioning, then the image could be corrupted. Eventually, Lightroom displays the image that the disk sends to the computer's memory, so if Lightroom is displaying a corrupted image, then the image was corrupted before LR ever got it's hands on the image.

[BraceFace]

I realize that this is an old post but I am having the exact same problem.  i can download photos from my SD card but not from the CF card.  I called Adobe support and they said it was a problem on their end and they are working on it.  Mine started after I upgraded my Mac to Catalina so I thought that was the problem but I am not sure what is going on.  I am so frustrated b/c I have photos on my CF card and I can't download them anywhere except Photos. I can't get them to download onto my computer either.  Have you figured out a solution?

[richardw17441914]

I am having the same problem. Wondering about the Catalina upgrade, which I just did. Still working on other possibilities.

[DdeGannes]

Raising a question in an old thread, especially one that has already been marked as answered is normally not a good idea. Because it is already been marked as answered will cause users to bypass the thread so you will likely see less responses. You will notice the last post was in Jan 2020 and there were no responses. I for one have not had a camera that uses CF cards for well over 10 years.

It's far better to begin a new thread to highlife your issue.