So frustrated I could cry :(

So I ended up babysitting 7 days a week this Summer, since I babysat every single day it meant my boys didn't get to go anywhere or do much over their Summer break.

I am orignally from Sussex which is 4 hrs away from me so we decided to take them there this past weekend for the Atlantic Cananda Balloon Fieasta.

It started off on Friday we took them to a local amusement park, topped off with a visit to my Mom.....then off to Sussex to stay with my Dad. There was magic shows, carnival rides, craft fairs, face painting, etc etc going on. Took lots of pics, lots of memories.

Visit with my 86 year old grandmother who just moved to Sussex after Grampie died and I hadn't seen her in 9 years, lots of pics taken all weekend.

Visiting with my brother, his wife and 3 kids, my boys haven't seen them in 6 mths or so.....again lots of pics taken.

Sunday was chasing balloons day......half way through the morning my battery in my camera died so I shut it off, changed the battery and continued taking pics.....

We go back to my Dad's house to start packing up and head home when I started looking through the pics and most of my pictures were MISSING!!!

It turns out that EVERY picture I took BEFORE the battery change is GONE!!! So I only have like 50 pics of the balloons

I have none of the family, none of the amusement park, nothing

Why would this happen I am right now in the process of buying another camera....my computer stopped reading my memory card a few weeks ago and I thought it was the computer since I can load them onto my other computer, we then half to put them on a memory stick or USB stick, whatever it's called, transfer them and bring them back to our regular computer since the computer that will read it isn't set up for internet.

Is it just my memory card that is done? Or is it something with the camera?
The camera is 5 years old, it's a Panasonic Lumix FZ30 if that helps.

I still can't believe I lost all those pics

OMG I am so sorry.. I know how frustrated you are. I feel sad for you too, I know how important the earlier photos are to you.. I really hope and wish that there is a way possible to extract the photos from the memory card, somehow.

That's terrible to hear! There must be a way to get those pics off the card. Go to some photography forums, call a computer store, ask around. They can't just be gone. I hope.

If you take the card to a PROFESSIONAL photo printer or a good computer store (not a chain) they can probably save your images.

When you use a memory card over and over again, and cut + paste the images from the card to your computer, there is still a digital "ghost" of the image on the card. You need to occasionaly re-format your memory cards, to wipe the slate clean, as it were. This should be a menu function in your camera. FWIW, I use my camera's formatting function everytime I put a memory card in it. It doesn't take long, and it ensures that I have a clean, empty card to work with.

Of course, this is an assumption, but especially considering your PC is having problems reading it. Take the card to a computer repair place, and just ask them to look at it, salvage any files on it, and then re-format it. It shouldn't cost much, and they might be able to retrieve the lost images.

Don't use the card again until you've had it checked by an expert. If you take any new photos, they could overwrite either the lost photos or the control information for the lost photos and make them irretrievable. Unfortunately it's possible that the photos you took after the battery change have done that, so brace yourself.

Also, don't reformat the card until you're sure that either the photos have been recovered, or that they've been lost for good and can't be retrieved. As Tyflier says, reformatting will clear the card down, make it re-usable and should ensure that the next batch of photos you take is safe.

We don't have any professional nothings around here.....

WalMart sells cameras, that's it, we have no actual place and my hubby is the one that fixes most computers.

So do you guys think it's the camera OR the memory card?
It makes no sense to me by changing the battery the pictures were lost.

If I can get the images off the memory card (the ones that I lost) I will just throw it out and buy a new one.

I just want the pics off of it.

Momto3boys said:

We don't have any professional nothings around here.....

WalMart sells cameras, that's it, we have no actual place and my hubby is the one that fixes most computers.

So do you guys think it's the camera OR the memory card?
It makes no sense to me by changing the battery the pictures were lost.

If I can get the images off the memory card (the ones that I lost) I will just throw it out and buy a new one.

I just want the pics off of it.

Click to expand...

I don't think it's the camera. Your PC won't read the card, and changing the battery wouldn't make a broken camera processor suddenly work again.

I think it is the card. If your hubby can fix computers, he should be able to find the imnages, if they are there. Have him read the card with his PC as a removable drive, rather than scanning for image files. He *should* be able to locate any files still on the card, and retrieve the images...IF they are there.

At first I didn't think it was the card because out other computer, my friends computer and my Mom's computer will all read the card...so I thought it was our card reader.

Craig did put the card in at Mom's and looked through it, there was 3 other files on it (something he put on before) and my pictures from after changing my battery and that was it....nothing else

He said right from the get go that the card needed formatted, as soon as I told him the PC wasn't reading my images he said it needed formatted, something about windows 7 and blah blah blah (I never listen when he talks computer talk) but I kept putting stuff on it when he was at work and our computer wouldn't read the card without formatting it so I just kept filling it up.

*sigh* I wish I wasn't such an impatient person!