fuji s7000 1gb xd problems

I have a fuji s7000 that I bought a 1gb xd card for. I have had
nothing but problems with the card. It only works about half the time.
I have tried formatting tha card, and nada. When it does "work" and I
take a picture using my flash, the camera freezes for about 20 seconds.
I cannot shut off the camera or take another picture. If I use another
card, say a 256 xd, it works fine. Any thoughts? I have read that
people have successfully used the 1gb xd in the s7000 w/o problems.
Could it just be a bad card? It is still under manufactor's warranty.
I took it to Best Buy where I bought it from and they were able to
access the photos, and told me to come back with my camera.

On 4 Nov 2006 15:46:32 -0800, wrote:

I have a fuji s7000 that I bought a 1gb xd card for. I have had
nothing but problems with the card. It only works about half the time.
I have tried formatting tha card, and nada. When it does "work" and I
take a picture using my flash, the camera freezes for about 20 seconds.
I cannot shut off the camera or take another picture. If I use another
card, say a 256 xd, it works fine. Any thoughts? I have read that
people have successfully used the 1gb xd in the s7000 w/o problems.
Could it just be a bad card? It is still under manufactor's warranty.
I took it to Best Buy where I bought it from and they were able to
access the photos, and told me to come back with my camera.

I highly doubt that the problem you're having with the card is
related to using the flash unless the camera's batteries are weak,
and the recharging of the flash pulls the battery voltage so low
that it causes occasional errors. But if this is the cause of the
problem, it should also cause problems when your 256MB xD card is
used. If you're using NiMH batteries that have been used for a
while, they may need to be replaced. You could try using a set of
fresh alkaline AA cells. They may not provide a lot of shots before
they die, but if your NiMH batteries were causing the problem, the
alkalines should work fine (not "about half the time") until they
need to be replaced. If the alkalines work better, you probably
only need to replace the NiMH batteries with a new set. If the new
set of NiMH batteries also cause problems, then you might want to
check out your battery charger.

Also, is your 1GB xD card type M or type H? The newer type H
cards were introduced at least a couple of years after the S7000, so
it may not be compatible with them. The card should have a
moderately large "M" or "H" printed on it somewhere. It will also
appear on the card's packaging if you still have it.

I highly doubt that the problem you're having with the card is
related to using the flash unless the camera's batteries are weak,
and the recharging of the flash pulls the battery voltage so low
that it causes occasional errors. But if this is the cause of the
problem, it should also cause problems when your 256MB xD card is
used. If you're using NiMH batteries that have been used for a
while, they may need to be replaced. You could try using a set of
fresh alkaline AA cells. They may not provide a lot of shots before
they die, but if your NiMH batteries were causing the problem, the
alkalines should work fine (not "about half the time") until they
need to be replaced. If the alkalines work better, you probably
only need to replace the NiMH batteries with a new set. If the new
set of NiMH batteries also cause problems, then you might want to
check out your battery charger.

Also, is your 1GB xD card type M or type H? The newer type H
cards were introduced at least a couple of years after the S7000, so
it may not be compatible with them. The card should have a
moderately large "M" or "H" printed on it somewhere. It will also
appear on the card's packaging if you still have it.

I tested the camera not using the flash, and the problem still occurs.
I have three cards, a 16mb, a 256mb, and a 1bg. When I use the first
two, everything is great. When I use the 1gb and try to shut the
camera off, it freezes for 20 to 30 seconds before it will shut down.
When I use the first two, the camera shuts down immediately.

On 4 Nov 2006 18:22:29 -0800, wrote:

Also, is your 1GB xD card type M or type H? The newer type H
cards were introduced at least a couple of years after the S7000, so
it may not be compatible with them. The card should have a
moderately large "M" or "H" printed on it somewhere. It will also
appear on the card's packaging if you still have it.

I tested the camera not using the flash, and the problem still occurs.
I have three cards, a 16mb, a 256mb, and a 1bg. When I use the first
two, everything is great. When I use the 1gb and try to shut the
camera off, it freezes for 20 to 30 seconds before it will shut down.
When I use the first two, the camera shuts down immediately.

Your original message says "If I use another card, say a 256 xd,
it works fine" so am I right in assuming that this is a typo, that
when you use the first two (16mb and 256mb) the camera works fine?
I don't know if when you're talking about the camera shutting down
you mean that you want to be able to shut it down (turn the power
off) or that it is shutting down when you don't want it to. In any
case, what type of 1GB card do you have? That might be the cause of
your problem. Is it an M or an H type card? If you don't know,
just remove the card and see what's written on it.

BTW, you said that you formatted the 1GB card. Sometimes problems
arise if you format the card using the computer. Any card that's
used in a camera should be formatted in the camera.

Some other things to check: What brand is the xD card? Most are
made by Fuji or Olympus. I recently bought a PNY card, and it was
in fact made by Olympus. Where was it bought? From a reputable
store, from eBay or from an internet seller? Cards bought from eBay
or less than reputable internet sellers can often turn out to be low
quality or defective counterfeit cards.

That might be the cause of
your problem. Is it an M or an H type card? If you don't know,
just remove the card and see what's written on it.

BTW, you said that you formatted the 1GB card. Sometimes problems
arise if you format the card using the computer. Any card that's
used in a camera should be formatted in the camera.

Some other things to check: What brand is the xD card? Most are
made by Fuji or Olympus. I recently bought a PNY card, and it was
in fact made by Olympus. Where was it bought? From a reputable
store, from eBay or from an internet seller? Cards bought from eBay
or less than reputable internet sellers can often turn out to be low
quality or defective counterfeit cards.

The card is a Fuji type M. Which according to the Fuji website should
work fine with my camera. I did format the card in the computer after
it failed on several occasions. I cannot figure out how to format the
card in the camera. I bought the card from Bestbuy. I took it back ,
and they said they could not find anything wrong with it, and that I
needed to bring my camera in with it.

On 5 Nov 2006 07:23:57 -0800, wrote:

The card is a Fuji type M. Which according to the Fuji website should
work fine with my camera. I did format the card in the computer after
it failed on several occasions. I cannot figure out how to format the
card in the camera. I bought the card from Bestbuy. I took it back ,
and they said they could not find anything wrong with it, and that I
needed to bring my camera in with it.

If the S7000 is like several other Fuji cameras I've seen, press
the regular Menu button (not the F button) and scroll until you find
some kind of a Set option. From there you should be able to find
the (mostly) non-photographic options, such as setting Date/Time,
USB options, enabling RAW files, enabling the AF illuminator,
choosing NTSC vs PAL video output, display language, zoom restore,
etc. Somewhere in there should be the Format option. On my S5100
there are 4 pages of options, and Format is on the first page.

I just checked Fuji's xD card compatibility chart (before noticing
that you also checked their website) and the S7000 is compatible
with all listed xD cards up to 1GB. The chart hasn't yet been
updated to include 2GB cards. The three types of xD cards are
included are standard (16MB to 512MB, no letter), type M (256MB to
1GB) and type H (512MB and 1GB). The only limitation noted is this:

*9:The xD-Picture Cards Type M is not recommended for movie recording.

Also according to Fuji's website, there are no firmware upgrades
offered for the S7000. Best Buy's suggestion to bring the camera
with the card is a good one. They can probably try a different xD
card in it. If it appears that the camera is defective and won't
operate properly with any 1GB cards, see if B.B. can also let you
test it with a CF card. In tests done back in January 2004,
Dpreview found that the S7000 performed noticeably faster using a
128MB xD card than using CF cards, but reported no problems with
either a 512MB Lexar Pro 24x or a 1GB Sandisk Ultra II. If it works
properly with a 1GB CF card, they're cheap these days and would be a
much better investment than trying to get the S7000 repaired if it
isn't covered by an extended warranty.