5d mark ii constanly kill CF cards

[NHCD]

Hi everyone, I would love to say i love my 5d2, especially with ML on it.

But I have encounter a situation that is very annoying and i think it is very rare: My 5d2 keeps killing my 32gb Lexar CF 1066x for 3 or 4 times already. I have warranty to replace the new card after each fail.
There is no sign that a card would fail, the moment it happens, it happens very unprecedented: the camera just said: card is not formatted, then i try to format -> cant format, the card is completely dead, on camera or computer.
Happens on this card but much older CF cards are still fine until now (3/5 still works)

my theory is: my 5d2 is not stable in voltage and cause a electric shock to kill the card, or lexar is too advance for 5d2

my solution: i am thinking about the Flashair card, i dont know if there is an option on W-02 class card, it can automatically save each new photos i take to phone, like that i can have instant backup?

So anyone have experience please help me. I dont want to go to expensive mirrorless systiem when we can have magic lantern

thanks in advance

[Walter Schulz]

Sorry to hear but FlashAir (if you are able to get one, they are out of production for quite some time) via SD-ot-CF is not supported: https://wiki.magiclantern.fm/faq#ml_won_t_work_with_my_sd-to-cf_adapter

[NHCD]

in my memory i have a flashair 2 generation, but i dont remember it has ML on it or not, but when the camera breaks the SD CF adapter , the SD flashair card is still works fine. But i give the flashair to someone else. Thanks for your answer, i’ll check if ML works or not then I buy a w04 flashair, which has autocopy feature/ and a bunch of SD CF adapter to overcome the unprecedented card kills
thanks

[Skinny]

@NHCD if you ever find sd-cf adapter working with ML (even if it is very slow), please share details here...

[Kharak]

Can you share more details like recording settings?

Are you running any kind of hz Speed hack?

Are you buying from a reputable seller? There were a lot fake CF cards around when ML RAW came a long. You should check card read/write speed before putting it in camera next time. If you get a new one that is.

Also you say your older cards are still fine?

What did you format your card to? Is it exfat? FAT32? I think that 5d2 does not read exfat.

I used my lexar cards on my 5d2 back in the day and my brother used it for years after with his lexar cards and never had any issues. I just got it back from him and it still runs with ML and shoots RAW like there is no tomorrow.

[NHCD]

Dear Kharak,
More info: i use ML version: crop_rec-4k3x1-2.8k24p_3x3-48p-all-centered_8.18pm-5D2-eXperimental.2019Dec31.5D2212, and duplicate that for all CF cards (because i want to record 10 bit MLV not 12bit it is too much)

Can you share more details like recording settings?
- it is dead when i shoot only photos, sometime I do record MLV but not that regularly, and just few 10sec long, with 10 bit setting, crop or not crop - but mainly photo works, HDR bracketting, or intervalometer by ML, but at the time the card fails i did not use any ML features.
it is just unpredictable, i got 1 failure at the Christmas night, 1 failure for Lunar new year, and just this month

Are you running any kind of hz Speed hack?
- what is this? overclock or something?

Are you buying from a reputable seller? There were a lot fake CF cards around when ML RAW came a long. You should check card read/write speed before putting it in camera next time. If you get a new one that is.
I buy from a good online page from vietnam where i live, they require each shops to submit the Legal license to sell online. But how to spot the lexar fake?
I did some test on 5d2 with ML benchmark tool: this card read and write at about 80MB/s to 90MB/s and that seems match with info i read on the internet

Also you say your older cards are still fine?
I have 2 failure (1 transcend, 1 sandisk) per 4 old cards. for now im using old 8GB sandisk udma20 60MB/s and 16GB sandisk 30MB/s

What did you format your card to? Is it exfat? FAT32? I think that 5d2 does not read exfat.

I dont remember, but usually I format on computer (in FAT32), sometime on camera then plug to computer to install ML first and then i never format again.

I used my lexar cards on my 5d2 back in the day and my brother used it for years after with his lexar cards and never had any issues. I just got it back from him and it still runs with ML and shoots RAW like there is no tomorrow.
- Good to know, this 5D2 is a legend 

[NHCD]

and may I ask why ML won't work on CF to SD, i cant find a flashair now ?

[Walter Schulz]

Nobody said it *cannot* work. The project just don't care if it is working or not: Unsupported.


There is no reliable (and long term) manufacturer able to deliver an adapter which is compatible with ML's access to card contents. And that is the very core of this statement: If you are lucky, you are lucky. But you cannot tell if another buyer will get the same adapter type.
The SD-to-CF adapter market is a bloody mess.

[Skinny]

More info: i use ML version: crop_rec-4k3x1-2.8k24p_3x3-48p-all-centered_8.18pm-5D2-eXperimental.2019Dec31.5D2212, and duplicate that for all CF cards (because i want to record 10 bit MLV not 12bit it is too much)

Using this build, sometimes when I turn on the camera ML modules won't load and files in "modules" folder gets damaged - they have random (garbage) file names and I can't even delete them. So then I have to format the card. Maybe this behavior responsible for your cards failure...
You can try this build
https://builds.magiclantern.fm/jenkins/job/raw_video_10bit_12bit/53/artifact/platform/5D2.212/magiclantern-raw_video_10bit_12bit.2019Mar24.5D2212.zip
form here https://builds.magiclantern.fm/experiments.html
It has 10 bit option and so far I haven't encountered this error with this build.

[NHCD]

Dear Walter
Thanks for your info, yes SD to CF is totally mess and just no name brands, i just use at my own risk.

Dear Skinny
So far i havent got any issues with this ML version and those modules, but I will try to switch to your version. Thanks

[NHCD]

@Skinny :sorry to inform: ML doesnt work on SD to CF   
and I just switch to your version, lets see!

[Skinny]

thank you for trying there was an old thread somewhere on the forum, someone had working sd to cf adapter but as far as I remember - no information about what adapter exactly and what write speed it can reach.

p.s. it is not "mine" version, I just put a link

[Walter Schulz]

BTW: Ordered another Komputerbay CFcard 128 GB 1066x. Benchmark in 7D reaches 91-92 MByte/s writing. 65 Euro.
Euro/GB ratio still 3 times worse compared to fast UHS-I cards. Nonetheless best bang for the buck when it comes to CFcards.

[NHCD]

in Vietnam there is nowhere import Komputerbay though it is very famous in EU i guess
I just received the warrantied 32GB lexar and redo the benchmark test on ML: write 85.7MB/s -read 102.0MB/s, if the card was fake it should go below 30MB/s i guess / Its nice to have 5yrs warranty for this