I received a finePix A330 camera without a memory card. I do not have a manual. I purchased an Olympus xD Type M= 2 GB card from WalMart because it is the only xD card they carried. I keep getting the message that the card is not initialized, and I have not been able to initialize it. What do I do?

XD cards are now obsolete memory cards. The cards were developed by Olympus and Fujifilm and released during the summer of 2002. There is now an adapter that allows an SD card to be used in place of the XD card You need to remember that the capacity should not exceed 2 GB or the camera will not be able to accept it. As far as I know cameras accepting XD cards were last produced in 2007, I don't know what specific models however the camera specifications would show what type card it uses.

Before a memory card can be used in a camera, it must be formatted or initialized. You'll find "FORMAT" in the Setup menu.

You may need to call Fuji and see if the 2gb xD card is compatible to your camera model. It's possible that Fuji can provide you with steps to make the card compatible to that camera. Fuji telephone number is 800-800-3854 option 1

Your A330 is not compatible with the XD cards that start with an "H" or a "M" before the XD designation, unless you perform a firmware upgrade. You can do it yourself using this link from Fuji Canada. http://www.fujifilm.ca/x13573.xml

I have purchased the XD cards for my A330 at Walmart and Blacks Photo.

I bought a new memory card for my finepix A330 camera When I turned on the camera after putting in the new card, the screen read "card not initialized" and won't take photos.my son is going holidays 13/9/08 could you help me please Alex Richardson

Please read these/the 2 posts that I posted prior for a similar XD mem card problem, as I firmly believe you are "formatting" your mem card improperly using your home computer instead of "formatting" the card on your camera.

Also the XD type card & size are very important also!!

What you will have to do is read and download the photos you have on that XD card using the same "card reader" you used before and then properly "re-format" that card in your "CAMERA ONLY". This should solve your XD card problems.

PRIOR POSTS:

Kristina,

Not knowing what model Olympus camera you have, or how old it is - your new memory card "format" problem is one of 3 possibilities.

1st - If you have an older Olympus camera more then 4-5 years old the newer M & H series type cards over 256mb will probably not work in your older camera, as by the camera's internal firmware chip design of the camera itself. Some cameras were upgradeable some weren't as to the internal firmware chip as well as available software drivers depending on which computer OS system you were using ie: (WIN98SE, WIN2000, etc). Has to do with the memory card read/write chip speed as well, and also has to do with the physical storage size of the card itself. Some digital cameras were MAXED OUT at 512mb cards, some as low as 256mb. A 2gb card simple won't work in that/your camera in that case.

If you read the camera's user manual it will possibly tell you this, or else go online to www.olympusamerica.com and use this link:

View which cameras are compatible

Select camera model series and scroll down the model # and research the max card size & type you can use (3 basic XD card speed types available - regular XD - M type - H type).

If you are using the wrong type & size card you will need to return that card (if you can) and get the right XD size & type for your camera.

2nd - You should always FORMAT (same as ERASE ALL and FORMAT modes on most Olympus cameras) the new card, or any XD card for that matter in your camera itself. NOT THE HOME COMPUTER!!! The 2 format procedures are not the same!!

If you are re-shooting (re-using) the same XD card over and over again and then downloading the JPEG pix directly to the computer using a USB interface cable there usually is no need to re-format the card again as long as the XD card stays the camera and is not downloaded into a home computer via a "card reader". If you do the latter "card reader" then I would advise doing a card re-format in the camera again just to be safe!!

And lastly - If your home computer recognizes the XD card via a good "card reader" (do not FORMAT the XD card here btw, as you are just checking the card out to see it is GOOD is all), but the camera will not then that is a good sign your camera is OK, but it's just the wrong type & size XD card.

Hope this helps solve your camera XD problem not knowing which model you have.

Best regards,

Frank

AND:

Follow up to previous post:

I didn't have the time to access the exact link below to check on your specific 2004 model year camera because I missed the Fuji camera model part, as I'm brand new to this site - so please forgive my previous oversight here.

I was right though in my initial posted assumption that you bought the wrong XD memory card based on your Fuji FinePix A330 Digital Camera - as to it's older model year - in that your camera is limited to a 512mb memory card.

Make sure you buy the 512mb standard card if you still can find them. Otherwise check with Fuji Corp to make sure the M type card (faster read/write chip) will work in your specific model. The M type cards work just fine in my Olympus C-740 even though it was told to me they wouldn't work at all, but each digital camera is slightly different as to it's internal firmware (BIOS) chip.

See the following camera info for your specific model at the link below under Storage Media:

Steves Digicams - Fujifilm FinePix A330 - User Review

I hope this now clears up any prior confusion from the previous post.

Best regards,

Frank

What type of memory card are you using?  Is this a new problem since you've started using a new memory card?
The A330 can't use some of the newer types of xD cards.  These have letters before the file size like "H512mb" or "M1gb".
You can only use plain xD cards with no letter in front, like the small 8mb or 16mb card that came with the camera. Or, you can download a firmware upgrade to us type "M" xD cards. Read about that here: http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital/download/a330/fupd.html

Or, if a new memory card is likely not the problem, you could try re-initializing the card.  Make sure to copy any pictures from the card onto your computer first.  Re-initializing will erase all data from the card.
In the Menu, use the right button to go over to "Set".  Arrow up to choose "Set-up".  Then arrow down on the "1" screen to "Format".  It will step you through reformatting the card.
Hope this helps, -Kelly.

Are you trying to use a new xD memory card?
The A330 will only accept xD cards with no small letters before the disk size.
I have a card "H512MB" and can't use that one. There is a firmware upgrade to allow you to use a "M512MB" card.
You can see what version of camera firmware you're using by following the instructions here: http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital/download/a330/fupd.html

Also tells you how to download the upgrade to use type "M" xD cards.
-Kelly.

have you tried formatting the card first within the camera, as it may be corrupt, or try it in a card reader and format that way.