Sony Camera Formatted an SD Card and Recovery Software Finds Nothing: Is There Still Hope?
Possibly, but this is no longer a normal “try another recovery app” case. In this r/photography recovery case, concert photos were recorded with a Sony RX100 VII, then the card was accidentally formatted in a Sony Cyber-shot WX500. It was not used afterward, yet Disk Drill found nothing. With no new writes, a completely empty scan raises a different possibility: the card may no longer expose the old sectors through its normal interface.
Do Not Keep Rescanning
Keep the card unchanged. Do not format it again, take new photos, run repair tools, or save anything to it while deciding whether professional recovery is worth the cost.
Does “TRIM” Explain the Empty Scan?
“TRIM” is SSD terminology, but SD cards have related ERASE and DISCARD commands. Depending on the card implementation, those commands can make affected logical sectors read back as empty. Sony's DSC-WX500 help guide confirms that Format initializes the card and erases its data, but it does not document the exact low-level command used. So this case is consistent with an SD erase state, but the Reddit post alone does not prove it.
Should You Try More Recovery Software?
Not repeatedly. If the card is stable and a competent scanner already finds no old photos at all, cycling through general recovery apps is unlikely to change a controller-level erase state. The next useful question is whether a specialist can access the flash below the normal SD interface.
Best Next Decision
- The photos justify professional recovery: ask whether the lab specifically handles Sony in-camera formatted SD cards and can perform direct NAND/flash-level recovery, not only another logical scan.
- The lab only plans to run recovery software: that adds little after Disk Drill already found nothing. Look for a flash specialist with SD/NAND capability.
- You do not want to pay for specialist recovery: preserve the card and do not reuse it in case you change your mind later.
Flash-level recovery is technically different from another desktop scan. ACE Lab's PC-3000 Flash documentation describes direct access methods for formatted or erased SD media when the normal device interface does not provide usable data. Recovery is still not guaranteed, but for this Sony case, that is the remaining path worth evaluating.