Memory Card Deleted after flight

[Nikita2Charles 31]

Weird case i've ever seen, Just got back from Tokyo, I had my Canon Camera in my backpack, this evening I was about to download the pictures to my PC, now the memory card is blank.

I know they were there since I showed them to my buddy the night before right from the camera.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Oh man...I'm sorry to hear that. Are you thinking their x-ray equipment erased it?

[La Souris 19]

Try to find RescuePro from SanDisk, or another File recovery utility. I got good results and was able to recover 100s of pictures. http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(2195)...Version_32.aspx

See here too: http://lifehacker.com/377734/rescue-lost-o...zero-assumption

Good luck

Edited April 26, 2009 by La Souris

[La Souris 19]

Try to find RescuePro from SanDisk, or another File recovery utility. I got good results and was able to recover 100s of pictures. http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(2195)...Version_32.aspx

See here too: http://lifehacker.com/377734/rescue-lost-o...zero-assumption

Good luck

ETA: these softwares can recover pictures you thought you had erased, like, some time ago... just saying; it does not discriminate between pictures you want to see, and the ones you want to hide...

[Nikita2Charles 31]

I tried this software called cardrecovery i was only able to get 22 files and some of the pics are distorted and I had more than 22 in there.

my backpack got scanned Once at Narita, weirdest thing about it, the SD card was still inside the camera so I would think the camera itself would shield it from the X rays, now i Wish i had tansfered all my files to my laptop the night before.

[justucia 0]

oh that sucks so bad!

this would be me-

sorry!

i learned the hard way to back up memory card to disc while traveling

i was soooo bummed in cambodia when i discovered my camera missing

live and learn right?

[Giskat09 2]

so is it really possible for the pictures to be erased when it scanned at the airport?

[Niels Bohr 72]

That is an unfortunate circumstance. I had always thought the camera would shield it if the camera is made with a metalic frame build. My cheap HP Photosmart camara survives the x-ray with the memory intact. Even my cheap laptop from Dell.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Niels Bohr

[peejay 327]

Wow, I did not know that the scans at the airport could erase digital media like SD cards. What about USB flash drives? Can they be erased too?

Me, my wife, and stepdaughter are taking a trip to Siberia at the end of May and we definitely would not want our digital photos to be ruined. In the past with print film I had bought lead lined film bags to protect my film from damage. The bags are large enough to accomodate a digital camera.

I had assumed that only print film could be damaged by airport scans, this is the first that I had heard that it could erase digital flash media.

[Niels Bohr 72]

A possible theory why it may is the write enable of the flash memory. If the memory is bombarded x-rays, it may create a strong enough charge on the surface of the memory to induce a voltage which may activate the memory write feature and enable all the address lines. Then, within that few seconds of passing through the x-ray box who knows what random data could be written to the memory. It may possible overwrite data that is already in the memory as well since the address lines to the data are active.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Niels Bohr

[Reba 2]

Wow, I had no idea the x-ray could erase a memory card! Bummer.

I guess it's always worth it then to haul a laptop with you on vacation. Or take the memory card to a photo developer before your trip home and have it transfered to CD. Something to keep in mind for sure!

[Otto 83]

I'd guess the memory card simply became corrupt somehow - not necessarily 'erased' as a result of an airport scan. Could have occurred some time prior to air-travel, appeared to be working correctly but was simply on the verge of data loss.

Edited April 26, 2009 by Karin und Otto

[Nessa 23]

someone did it without your knowledge to erase evidence of whatever crime you witnessed.

[mr and mrs 187]

would it be smart to pop out the memory card, slip it in your pocket, and walk through the metal detector? cant imagine that that would set it off.

[stangguy 0]

I highly doubt it was the airport scanner that erased the images. Solid state media, like SD cards and USB drives, require being powered on to erase or record data. The only way I see it as possible for the card to be corrupted by the X-ray machine was if the camera was on when it went through the scanner.

There are a variety of things that could have caused what the OP is experiencing and it is a problem that occurs semi-regularly with digital cameras. The most common cause of a corrupted card is opening the the battery compartment while the camera is on. Some older Canon cameras are notorious for this causing problems. I also know of a few cases where the card is corrupted before any pictures are taken and the pictures can be seen while on the camera but can not be downloaded to the computer. Sadly I don't know of any way to restore the pictures other than those already suggested.