Comments on: Nikon D90 and the CHA

By: Art

Art — Mon, 16 May 2011 00:13:33 +0000

Same error on my D90 with the SanDisk Extreme (Class4) 8GB card, I reformatted on the computer, then again on the camera, and same CHA error. I tried to lock it and put it in, expecting a CHA error and it came up again. After unlocking it and reinserting the card it worked like a charm with all available images. Not certain if it was just a coincidence that it worked after the lock/unlock, but someone else having the issue could try it out.
I’m just glad I could still read it on the computer and was able to dump all my images before the reformat.

By: célie

célie — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:46:29 +0000

The solution I found was to do a first format were it shows CHA then you take it out put it back in and format it again. Then it shows ether 10 11 12 ect. That part is not problem it’s actually because the display has only 3 digits so when it goes up to 1000 it shows 10 with a K on the side

By: Chris Ward

Chris Ward — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:55:52 +0000

It is definitely an issue with the camera believing that it can’t write to the cards. Whether that is because of a bad card, the switch on the SD cards, or an issue with the camera I don’t know. I haven’t had the issue for a long time, since moving to Sandisk Extreme III cards.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 21:52:58 +0000

Came across this blog and wanted to post. Had a D70s that was getting the CHA message with pretty much any CF card I put in it. I lost so many pictures I traded in my D70s b/c I thought it was the body (read that it could be b/c of some bent CF Card pins in the camera). I’ve had a D90 for about a year now and BAM, just started to get the CHA error and I’m beyond upset. I was getting the F– error (which I got before too when dealing with my D70s) so I knew to make sure the lens was on correctly, but I’m more then weary of this issue and what in fact the root cause is. I do NOT believe it is the cards, I DO believe it is the camera, but no one can tell you….I thought by trading in my camera and going from CF to SD cards I would NEVER see this dreaded issue again, but apparently I was wrong. I don’t want to move to cannon but I might not have a choice…

By: rhonda

rhonda — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:07:47 +0000

make sure the card is not “locked”

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:30:38 +0000

OOPS! Just saw where someone else commented on the same thing with a different outcome. Sorry!

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:29:29 +0000

My Nikon D90 got the CHA message too. I removed the memory card, unlocked it and it was fine. I did this with other cards and when the card was locked, I got the CHA message. Happen to anyone else?

By: elmo

elmo — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:07:12 +0000

I got the CHA on a class 6 Transcend 4GB SDHC card…after I’d shot a ton of photos on it. Deal was I put it in my PC, and downloaded the pics into Picasa, w/the safe delete option – which means picasa copies and deletes the pics one by one. Put the card back in the D90 and got CHA. Got the same results as the blogger w/the camera formating options. So I put the card into my PC, did a quick format and it worked fine in the camera after that. It’s happened once before, but that’s all. I’m shocked about how many people seem to ship the camera for service. I have a stack of various SD cards so I always try them first before boxing up the D90.

By: Chris Ward

Chris Ward — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:51:03 +0000

Have you tried a different card? Someone else commented here that I should unlock my card. That wasn’t my situation, but that is the message that you get when the card is locked, but it could also show if the camera doesn’t think it can write to the card for another reason I suppose. I have not seen the message for months now.

By: Chris Ward

Chris Ward — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:47:16 +0000

Bhavin, I forgot to mention, that if you have a lens contact issue, you will see “F–” on the screen. I have had that issue with my Tamron lens, but not my Nikon ones.