The X100 memory card issue

[andrew00]

Hey,

So y'all might remember a few weeks ago I wrote a message saying my new X100 was acting extremely slow - taking in essence an age to do anything, 10 sec turn ons etc.

I discovered that it was a memory card issue, even though I had formatted my Transcend 16gb Class 10 SDHC card in the camera before using it, the issue nonetheless happened and it was only after I wiped the card a second time and put it back into the camera that it would work.

I.E., to be clear, I formatted it, used the it, took pics fine, then it got super slow so I formatted it a second time and it was ok.

Yesterday/today a similar issue happened which again was based on the memory cards, which is weird.

There was an ace sunset last night so I took loads of pictures of it and evidently one of these pictures pushed me over 2000 images. It appears every 1000 images the camera takes it creates a new folder so 100_fuji is images 0-999, 101_fuji is 1000-1999 etc.

Evidently last night's shooting took me over 2000 and I see, from looking at the card, that this therefore created 102_fuji.

So I go today to take more pictures and the camera won't work properly,it turns on but no displays comes up, I can see the faint opaque projected display but I can't see any data and I can't take and pictures.

Oh dear I think but after thought take the memory card out and turn the camera on - it works fine with no card in. Hmm.

So like before I then put another memory card in and again, everything's fine.

So I copy the original card to my computer then delete the contents of the DCIM folder - i.e. I delete the 101_fuji folder and the newly created from yesterday's shooting 102_fuji folder.

I then put the card back in the camera - and t's fine - so I reformat the card and it's fine still.

So I thought - I wonder if the camera messes up when it hits every 000 shots, i.e. if it has some trouble here and requires a memory card change at this point.

But I looked into my 100_fuji folder - and it actually only goes up to 99 images.

I.E. I hadn't in fact taken 2000 images, I've actually taken just over 1100 - 99 from 100_fuji and 1000 from 101_fuji plus the 2 that takes me into 102_fuji.

So I had the first problem with the memory card after I took shot 99, and I had the second problem with the memory card after I took shot 1999.

It's hard to draw the exact conclusion but it looks like whenever the camera has to create a new folder, after you turn it off, when you turn it on again it seems to have issues and requires a memory card wipe before it will recognise that card again.

Also - it's weird how it created a new folder on 100 shots, and not again until 2000 shots. But of course, it's not really 2000 shots, its 99 shots + 999 shots, where the last 999 shots are named 1000, 1001 even though they are actually 100, 101 all the way to 1199.

I appreciate that's pretty confusing stuff but hopefully it's clear enough.

Perhaps if anyone with the camera can check if their camera has these issues or if their camera created a new folder at 100 images or whatever we can check.

Either way it's bizarre!.

[hteasley]

Do you have any other brands and sizes of card to try? Granted, all cards of a specific type (SD, SDHC, SDXC) *should* work, but we all know that is often not the case.

I would definitely try a FAT-formatted card, 4GB or smaller, to see if the problem persists.

[jmwhite1]

I am having the exact same problem with my X100. If I pull the card, the camera will boot up fine. If I reformat the card using my M9 and replace the card, it works fine. This happens with Transcend and Sandisk cards. Hopefully this will be addressed in some future firmware upgrade.

[PatrickCheung]

Oh man... I hope my fuji doesn't get to that point.

I've had some of the symptoms you described show up...

The camera was working fine before that 1.11 patch.

Anyway... I hope I'm not Hijacking the thread... but here's what I've experienced...

Recently (the past few days), my Fuji would behave normally for about 2-20 actuations (it always seems to act up when I go out... but never when I'm at home... odd right?). THEN it takes about a minute or two to write a photo, but all other functions are fine.

I havent had any trouble turning the camera on and off or anything. The only issue is that it'll behave normally (writing photos within 2-3 seconds), then randomly slow down to a write speed of 1-2 minutes.

I'm using a Sandisk 8gb Extreme Pro that should write at 45mb/s.... I havent had this happen with this card before!

[GaryLH]

I have seen similar problem on mine even before the last patch. I got into habit of formatting the sd card after uploading images to computer and so far have not seen it since.

Gary

[5:00 PM]

I've seen nothing like this, even using el cheapo cards. I think this is what warranties are for, guys.

[GaryLH]

Originally Posted by 5:00 PM

I've seen nothing like this, even using el cheapo cards. I think this is what warranties are for, guys.

I suspect that this is a SW driver problem not a hw one. So hopefully they will figure out the issue and provide a new firmware patch.

Gary

[willie_901]

Regardless of the camera or card one should always reformat the card in-camera once the data is downloaded and backed up. To me, a reformat is as essential as was making sure the film roll was actually advancing when I loaded a new roll.

[Shade]

The last time I had my Fuji before I sold it (and I took quite a thousand or two pictures), I never had any problems. Although I did have problems to wake the camera up after it goes to sleep where it requires battery pull. However none of those experiences you mentioned.

[PatrickCheung]

It's odd, I reformat every time I transfer photos to my computer. The camera slows down after 2-20 shots every time. I'll reformat it when it gets slow... and it'll slow itself down again after a few shots!

[Snacks]

I've found that when I've taken out my card (same type as that of the original poster), the camera won't read some files on it. Perhaps I have altered the files in some way.

[Adanac]

The X100 is very sensitive to other files being on the card. Apparently you Mac users have issues with the Mac writing files to the card when it is read by your computer - probably thumbnail previews or some other such stuff. For this reason reformatting the card once images are dumped to your computer is very sound and oft-repeated advice.

Have you ever happened to insert your card in your Mac computer - even without performing an import into Lightroom or Aperture or what-have-you - and then reinserted the card back into the X100 and don't format - and then see the performance issues?

Given the poor handling by the X100 of the card's file system, it would not surprise me to learn there are latent bugs in the firmware that deal with cards with a great many files on them. This would not be the first time a camera model has had such a problem.

Solution: swap cards more often, or force the issue by shooting raw only!

Other potential sources of trouble -- Are the cards you are using legitimate? Could they be counterfeit? Apparently this is a potential issue but I've never run into it myself.

I used Sandisk UHS-1 Extreme Pro 8GB 45MB/S cards in my X100 and never once saw any problems with unexplained random slow response with the camera; before selling mine, it had been updated to the same firmware as is being discussed. I don't use a Mac, and all my cards were bought from trustworthy retail outlets (on sale even).

[anthony_semone]

FWIW, I use a mac, upload files via a sandisk card reader, card is a sandisk ultra 16mg class 6 20mbs as I recall. I delete all files from the card when given the choice via Aperture, reinsert card in X100, reformat. Not any problems of the sort described by OP so far

[Arjay]

I have never had any of the above problems with my camera.

However, AFAIK there are a number of things that could cause such problems:

• Reading cards on a MAC. This computer apparently is saving hidden files to the card that can slow down camera startup. Remedy: Activate the "Lock" function on your card before inserting it into the MAC's card reader (don't forget to unlock it afterwards).
• Formatting the SD card in the computer. Just don't do that.
• Deleting individual image files on-camera. If you don't format the card after such an operation, this can slow down startup and filesave times, particularly if the card is almost full. Remedy: Do not delete any images on the card - better delete them selectively on your computer.

Anyway, it is a good idea to always format the memory card after uploading images to your computer. Another sound idea is to use the fastest SD card you can get, as this generally speeds up camera operation.

I am currently using two Sandisk Extreme Pro 8GB UHS-I cards which feature a write speed of 45MB/s and work flawlessly.

[kermaier]

I experienced the extreme slowness problem after loading pictures to an iPad via the camera connector kit's SD card reader attachment. Apparently the iPad made some modification to the filesystem that caused the X100 some distress. Reformatting fixed the problem.

So the next time, I locked the SD card -- but then the iPad wouldn't recognize it!

iPad: 2, X100: 0.

::Ari