Just from the sound of things I'd say the camera never tried to write the files to the card.
What could cause this?
Any chance the battery was going low at the end of the shoot, and the camera couldn't make it through those last few writes?
I believe most of the review functions, etc. are now done through the RAM, not off the card, if the files are still buffered. Really, anything that could go wrong between the shooting and the writing could cause the files to never appear on the card.
Is there any possibility that in your case all the frames taken are recorded but that the numbering had been screwed up so they are not "at the end of the numbers" as you would expect?
By any chance, have you tried reviewing the images in the camera as opposed to a card reader? It's not completely unusual for external card readers to miss images that the camera can see. This is not isolated to the 40D. If the camera can display the missing images, it should be able to download them directly to your computer through the USB interface.
Another observation: If you were able to review the images on site through an external video monitor, it means that the camera wrote the files to the card.
Thanks for the suggestions. I do remember that thread and I have checked back through the card and so far I can't find any errors in numbering at all. When I shoot T&I, there's one order form for each skater and then at edit stage, you check each image and write the number on their form. I didn't realize there was a problem until I had 4 forms left, representing 3 skaters (one wanted 2 poses, with & without her awarded medal).
So, I have to assume that anything that might be in the buffer is gone when the powere switch is turned off, which it was at the end of the shoot.
Step 2: What should the next step be in trying to duplicate the problem? I wanted to not turn on the camera and use it until I was sure that any hope was lost that the buffer might have the images.
Honestly, if I was a newbie, I'd be sure that I screwed up somewhere and it was my fault. Although I'm not ruling that out completely, I'm now beginning to feel like Drew. Is there a real problem or not. Have others had this happened but weren't so meticulous in their system and just shrugged it off. Quite possible.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Thanks for the reply Chuck. I did check the card in the camera and it's the same result. I haven't gone through the entire card to see if they might be hiding somewhere else. I'd have to take some time to do that.
"Another observation: If you were able to review the images on site through an external video monitor, it means that the camera wrote the files to the card."
That's actually the most perplexing part. I'm positive they were viewed on the TV, partly because the one girl was not wanting to smile and I took a second shot before mom was happy with the smile she saw on the TV. That's always been a huge advantage for me whenever it can be set-up indoors. Since these are shot in sequence, nothing was adjusted on the camera. There's never been a reason for me to check that images were actually written in this sort of circumstance.
Doug
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
Another observation: If you were able to review the images on site through an external video monitor, it means that the camera wrote the files to the card.
Chuck, is this really a given? Seems to me the camera can display an image review while the red light is still on, writing data to the card. It was a while back - maybe around the time of the 10D or 20D - that there was an outcry for better responsiveness of the review function. I noticed at that time that the next model would review images right away - I know my 40D does that. By definition doesn't that say the review is coming from RAM, not CF?
Also, as far as I know the camera will delay a "power-off" operation (i.e., if you flip the switch) while CF writes are in progress, so you aren't responsible for the loss of images, Doug.
By the way, I never power off my camera. I just let it go to sleep. There doesn't seem to be a downside to doing this.
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