Error on memory card

[sazzysue]

I was taking pics with my TZ7 panasonic camera when it stop with a message saying error on memory card, I put my spare card in & this time it said memory card locked.

I'm not sure if its the memory cards or my camera that has the problem?

does anyone have any experience of this?

[JohnMcL7]

Have you tried reading the first card on a PC?  On the second card, was the switch on the side in the unlocked position?  I've found on some SD cards the switch can  become loose which means when you put it into the camera the switch moves over to the locked position which prevents the camera from writing to it. 

For the first memory card, when you have filled it up how do you wipe it to start taking photos again, do you just delete all photos or do you format the card?  Getting a memory error is not unusual if the card hasn't been formatted before taking a new set of photos so the two errors may be a coincidence but it could be a flaw in the camera unfortunately.

John

[cangrejo]

I had this while on holiday in Florida, I was fuming that my pictures had been lost. In the end I managed to retrieve them using a card reader on my laptop. I ditched the card after that.

[sazzysue]

Have you tried reading the first card on a PC?  On the second card, was the switch on the side in the unlocked position?  I've found on some SD cards the switch can  become loose which means when you put it into the camera the switch moves over to the locked position which prevents the camera from writing to it. 

For the first memory card, when you have filled it up how do you wipe it to start taking photos again, do you just delete all photos or do you format the card?  Getting a memory error is not unusual if the card hasn't been formatted before taking a new set of photos so the two errors may be a coincidence but it could be a flaw in the camera unfortunately.

John

Thanks John 
I hadn't realized that the card had a lock on it, this solved the problem on one of the cards & I'm please to say that my camera in full working order again 

unfortunately the other card is still not working, this one has lost its tab on the lock, and this one is saying the card is locked. I've tried putting tape on it as suggested by another website, but still not working, I do save the pics onto my computer so it will only be a few pics that have been lost, so the outcome is not a big lost.

I've never formatted the cards, & the cards are a few years old, is this something that should have been done?
I just delete them once I have saved onto the computer & then start using them again.

[Petepreston]

As well as formatting the cards every so often, you should delete the pics from the card while it's in the camera. if you clear the card on your pc, you should format it anyway.

Memory cards are always getting cheaper so if you've had a few issues with any card, it's worth replacing.

Another time you might get an error is if you've accidentally moved the mode dial to Note.

[JohnMcL7]

Have you tried reading the first card on a PC?  On the second card, was the switch on the side in the unlocked position?  I've found on some SD cards the switch can  become loose which means when you put it into the camera the switch moves over to the locked position which prevents the camera from writing to it. 

For the first memory card, when you have filled it up how do you wipe it to start taking photos again, do you just delete all photos or do you format the card?  Getting a memory error is not unusual if the card hasn't been formatted before taking a new set of photos so the two errors may be a coincidence but it could be a flaw in the camera unfortunately.

John

Thanks John 
I hadn't realized that the card had a lock on it, this solved the problem on one of the cards & I'm please to say that my camera in full working order again 

unfortunately the other card is still not working, this one has lost its tab on the lock, and this one is saying the card is locked. I've tried putting tape on it as suggested by another website, but still not working, I do save the pics onto my computer so it will only be a few pics that have been lost, so the outcome is not a big lost.

Are you using the camera or a card reader?  I've come across a few SD cards which people have asked me to look at because the switch has broken and it shows card locked when they try to read the card but it's worked fine for me in my card readers.

I've never formatted the cards, & the cards are a few years old, is this something that should have been done?
I just delete them once I have saved onto the computer & then start using them again.

How do you delete the photos?  When I've copied all my photos off a card and ready to start a new set, I use the camera's format command rather than deleting all photos as the format is quicker and usually reduces the chance of a memory card error.  I say reduce because it's not the only reason a memory card can error.

John