Memory card guide

Card error or card not working in an old digicam: causes the makers document

The causes below are the ones a maker or standards body documents: a card tier the camera cannot use, a locked card, a card formatted on a computer, the wrong xD or Memory Stick type, and file-size limits. We list nothing that comes only from forums or sellers.

Sources checked 2026-10-19. Camera rows are in the lookup table.

Is the card too new for the camera?

This is the first thing to check. The SD Association says SD host devices can only use SD cards, and SDHC host devices can use both SD and SDHC cards.² For example Canon's table marks the SD600 / Digital IXUS 60 for SD cards only, not SDHC or SDXC.¹

Look up your camera in the lookup table and compare its row with the card you bought (SD up to 2 GB, SDHC over 2 GB up to 32 GB, SDXC over 32 GB).³

Is the write-protect switch locked?

Check the little switch on the side of a full-size SD card. The SD Association says it must be in the NOT PROTECTED position (upward) before you format a card.⁴

We found no maker document that lists every symptom of a locked card, so we do not say what your camera will display.

Was the card formatted on a computer?

Format it again in the camera. Sony's DSC-W830 guide says a card formatted with a computer is not guaranteed to work in the camera⁵. Fujifilm's F31fd manual says to reformat an xD-Picture Card that has been used on a PC using the camera, for best quality⁶.

If the card still misbehaves, the SD Association says its SD Memory Card Formatter is the tool that can restore a card to factory settings.⁴

Is it the wrong xD card type?

Possibly. Olympus's 2011 chart marks the C-60 Zoom, D-390, D-395, Stylus 410 as taking standard xD cards only, with no Type M, M+ or H column ticked.⁷ Fujifilm's F31fd manual says Type H cannot be used with its xD-Picture Card USB drive DPC-UD1, while Type M can.⁶

See the xD page for your model.

Is it the wrong Memory Stick?

Sony's chart says to attach a dedicated adapter to use Memory Stick Duo media in a slot for standard-size media, and gives the adapter as the MSAC-M2.⁸ For the DSC-W55, Sony's handbook says 640(Fine) movies can be recorded only on a Memory Stick PRO Duo.⁹

See the Memory Stick page.

Did the movie stop at 2 GB?

That is a camera limit, not a card fault. Sony's chart says movie recording on many cameras stops at a file of about 2 GB, and that the Memory Stick file system limits a file to less than 4 GB.⁸

What we could not confirm

Why an old SD-only host fails on an SDHC card: the SD Association pages we read state which hosts accept which cards but not the technical reason, so we do not state one.
That formatting an SDXC card as FAT32 in a computer makes it fail in a camera: this appears only in forum posts we did not use.
Any camera-and-card pair we tested ourselves: none yet.

memory card reader USB on eBay memory card reader USB on Amazon Affiliate links: we may earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The full memory card guide · Lookup table

Sources

Canon Asia: What SDHC/SDXC memory cards are compatible with this camera? (page dated 22 Aug 2013) (read 2026-10-19)
SD Association: SD, SDHC, SDXC and SDUC card capacity choices (read 2026-10-19, page opened in the owner's Chrome because the site blocks scripts)
SD Association: Capacity (SD, SDHC, SDXC, SDUC) (read 2026-10-19, page opened in the owner's Chrome because the site blocks scripts)
SD Association: SD Memory Card Formatter FAQ (read 2026-10-19, page opened in the owner's Chrome because the site blocks scripts)
Sony DSC-W830 Help Guide: Memory card (read 2026-10-19)
Fujifilm FinePix F31fd manual (read 2026-10-19)
Olympus America: FE-Series xD compatibility chart (Wayback Machine copy, 29 June 2011) (read 2026-10-19)
Sony: Memory Stick compatibility chart, Digital Still Camera (last updated 3 September 2010) (read 2026-10-19, page opened in the owner's Chrome because the site blocks scripts)
Sony Cyber-shot Handbook for the DSC-W35 and DSC-W55 (read 2026-10-19)