Nikon D100 and Finepix S2 - suddenly Compact Flash Cards are not compatible

Hi!

I have a Nikon D100 and a Finepix S2. Now I have a problem with the
Compact Flash Cards. If I make a shot with the D100 and then I want to
make a shot with the same card but in the S2 the S2 says that the card
is full. If I do it the other way around, I have the same problem. If I
take a photo with teh D100 and then use the card in a Canon I don´t
have any problem.

The problem started with 2 cards. I don´t know exactly when it
started. Maybe after I

a) bought an additional external hard drive with a card reader
b) deleted all directories on the card. I don´t remember if I deleted
them on those two cards
c) bought the Breeze Browser program

I assume it has something to do with b)

I called an expert and he told me that the S2 formats the cards with
FAT 16 and the D100 with FAT32 which is newer. He advised me to format
the cards with the computer and to use the FAT16. I formatted not only
the 2 cards but all my cards with the computer and now I have the
problem with all my cards. I find it VERY disturbing.

I tried all combinations. Format it in the D100 first. Format it in the
S2 first. Format it with the computer and Win XP, format it with the
computer under Win 2000 - nothing helps.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Ingrid

http://hochzeitsreportage.biz

Is the card compatible with both cameras simultaneously?

On 20 Jan 2006 11:42:21 -0800, wrote:

I tried all combinations. Format it in the D100 first. Format it in the
S2 first. Format it with the computer and Win XP, format it with the
computer under Win 2000 - nothing helps.

Any ideas?

The card should be formatted using FAT16, as the S2 may not be
compatible with FAT32. I can't guarantee this will work, but if
the D100 uses specific folders and/or a database file, it's worth a
try. Format the card in the D100. Copy the files/folders that
will be created to your computer using a card reader. Reformat the
card in the S2. Place the card back in the card reader and copy the
previously saved files and folders back to the card. If you're
lucky, the folders and/or data structures used by both cameras will
now be on the card and both cameras will recognize only their own
folders. There's a slight chance of a complication if both cameras
use the same file and folder names, but I assume that that's not the
case. I've done something like this before, which allows my cards
to be used in both Canon and Fuji cameras, but in my case it was
without the complication of FAT32 which neither camera uses.

On 20 Jan 2006 11:42:21 -0800, wrote:

Hi!

I have a Nikon D100 and a Finepix S2. Now I have a problem with the
Compact Flash Cards. If I make a shot with the D100 and then I want to
make a shot with the same card but in the S2 the S2 says that the card
is full. If I do it the other way around, I have the same problem. If I
take a photo with teh D100 and then use the card in a Canon I don´t
have any problem.

The problem started with 2 cards. I don´t know exactly when it
started. Maybe after I

a) bought an additional external hard drive with a card reader
b) deleted all directories on the card. I don´t remember if I deleted
them on those two cards
c) bought the Breeze Browser program

I assume it has something to do with b)

I called an expert and he told me that the S2 formats the cards with
FAT 16 and the D100 with FAT32 which is newer. He advised me to format
the cards with the computer and to use the FAT16. I formatted not only
the 2 cards but all my cards with the computer and now I have the
problem with all my cards. I find it VERY disturbing.

I tried all combinations. Format it in the D100 first. Format it in the
S2 first. Format it with the computer and Win XP, format it with the
computer under Win 2000 - nothing helps.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Ingrid

http://hochzeitsreportage.biz

Format the card in the S2, if you can. It will then be FAT16, and be
readable in both cameras, as well as your computer.
The problem is that you're now formatting the cards as FAT32.
Or not, in which case you're screwed. :-(

--
Bill Funk
Replace "g" with "a"
funktionality.blogspot.com

Hi thanks to everyone for responding. I think that ASAAR really got
close to resolve the problem. But you know what! I messed up my S2 now.
I get only black shots now.

I try to retrace what I did. But I am really troubled and confused now
because I want to travel with my 2 cameras in 10 days and this is not
enough time to send the S2 to repair. Anyway I am not sure if I did it
exacly this way.

First it is important to talk about the file structure created by the
two different cameras:

Fuji Finepix S2:
DRIVE (I/DCIM/999_FUJI/DSCF0858.RAF

Nikon D100:
NIKON (I/DCIM/999ND100/DSC_8649.NEF
NIKON001.DSC (1KB)

The Nikon produces not only a folder, but an extra file with 1 KB.

First I did what ASAAR suggested. But I had the problem he was talking
about. The 2 cameras use the same directory name "DCIM". Therefore I
left this directory and just copied the "999ND100"-directory and the
NIKON001.DSC file onto the card which I had formatted with the S2. I
think I then took a photo with the S2 and then tried to take one with
the D100. I was happy that it did not say "FULL" and thought that the
problem is solved. I pressed the button, but it said: "write.error"

I thought that the Nikon is troubled because the drive is not called
"NIKON (I/". I decided to try the other way round. I formatted the
card with the Nikon and copied the "/999_FUJI/" directory onto it. It
did not say FULL and I was happy. I took a shot and it did not say
"write.error", but it was black. And now every shot with the S2 is
black. Whatever card I use it is black.

I used the "RESET ALL" function, but it didn´t help.

I think I messed the S2 up in trying to cheat it. It did not like the
FAT32 formatted card and got messed up.

Any suggestions? I think I should post this message also under a
different name now, because I have another problem now.

Thanks!
Ingrid
http://www.hochzeitsreportage.biz
I

On 21 Jan 2006 04:03:04 -0800, wrote:

I thought that the Nikon is troubled because the drive is not called
"NIKON (I/". I decided to try the other way round. I formatted the
card with the Nikon and copied the "/999_FUJI/" directory onto it. It
did not say FULL and I was happy. I took a shot and it did not say
"write.error", but it was black. And now every shot with the S2 is
black. Whatever card I use it is black.

It sounds as if when the D100 formats a card it creates a "NIKON"
volume label for the card that it expects to see, but the S2 creates
no volume label. If this is causing the problem, simply redo the
procedure (Format the card in the S2, etc.). When the card once
again has both directory structures and no files (other than the 1kb
NIKON001.DSC file), put the card in a card reader and you can add
the "NIKON" volume label using Windows Explorer or some other file
browser. Right click on the drive represented by the card and
select "Properties". I don't think that there's anything wrong
with the S2. My guess is that the black images are the result of
using the S2 after the card was formatted by the D100, since it
appears that the S2 doesn't understand the FAT32 volume created by
the D100. I assume that even if the S2 can't understand FAT32 it
can reformat the card with FAT16. If not, try another card that you
know has only been formatted with FAT16. That will show you whether
the S2 still works or doesn't. I think that it will.


I used the "RESET ALL" function, but it didn´t help.

I think I messed the S2 up in trying to cheat it. It did not like the
FAT32 formatted card and got messed up.

If you're lucky it will only be the card that was messed up. If
for some reason you can't reformat it with FAT16, at least that's
better than if the S2 no longer works. When you get everything
working properly again, even if creating the "NIKON" volume label
has everything working the way you want, it'll probably be best to
only share the CF card between the D100 and your Canon camera, and
get another card that's used exclusively by the Finepix S2.

Hi ASAAR!

Thanks again. Of course I tried some different cards already which I
formatted with FAT16 either in the computer or in the S2. Nothing
works. Black photos.

But I found something on the internet, that lately it happens very
often to digital cameras that they produce black photos. For the S2 I
found this link:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0510/05...i_advisory.asp

That means that Fuji USA will probably repair it for free. Now I have
to check out if this is the case for Fuji Germany too and if they can
do this within a week. If not, I am in trouble.

Thanks!
Ingrid

On 21 Jan 2006 06:28:44 -0800, wrote:

Thanks again.

You're welcom.


Of course I tried some different cards already which I formatted
with FAT16 either in the computer or in the S2. Nothing works.
Black photos.

But I found something on the internet, that lately it happens very
often to digital cameras that they produce black photos. For the S2 I
found this link:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0510/05...i_advisory.asp

Ouch! I recall hearing of that and some similar non-black
problems, which I believe affected many brands of cameras that use
Sony sensors. At least the problem appeared before your trip
started.


That means that Fuji USA will probably repair it for free. Now I have
to check out if this is the case for Fuji Germany too and if they can
do this within a week. If not, I am in trouble.

Even if Fuji Germany says that they can repair and return the
camera within a week, have a backup plan. Good luck.