COOLPIX 5700 I BOUGHT A NEW FLASH CARD, FORMATTED IT AND EVERY TIME I TAKE A PICTURE THE HOURGLASS SHOWS UP ON THE SCREEN. IT HAS THE WORD DELETE NEXT TO THE HOURGLASS. IT NEVER DID THIS BEFORE. I HOPE YOU CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT IS WRONG.

Go to set up and go to default settings and reset your camera.

Nikon Coolpix 5700 Digital Camera memory card failure:

This camera has capabilities which far exceed the data storage of a 32 MB memory card. Put what you can onto the Nikon Compact Flash card and purchase another, larger, 2 GB card for your other storage. This should easily meet both the needs of the camera and your own. The original card must have had data deterioration or a mistake was made in transferring the pictures.

Go to Google and download their Picasa App; it is great for anyone transferring their photography from one storage type to another and you can use it for publishing material to the Web or to your family group e-mail.

Please comment on the success of this solution!

Sciencewoman

There is possible two things that are preventing you from using the memory card first there is a small switch on the side of the SD card I'm providing a diagram to show you. Make sure the little switch is in the correct position.

Next and most probably the main thing is the memory card needs to be formatted to the camera it is being used in. Formatting some times called initializing prepares the memory card surface to receive camera data and picture files. Formatting should be done each time a new memory card is going to be used in a camera and after each time the picture files are downloaded to the computer.

If you have been using this card and only deleting the picture files what has happened is that there is a small file left on the card each time you delete after a time these little files clog the memory card to a point the card can not receive any new data. Formatting is the way to clear off all this impertinent data and start fresh.

Cheers have fun with your camera.

I had the same problem. Nikon inspected and repaired it no-charge (turnaround time was about four weeks but the price was right). Read the Nikon Service Advisory at

http://www.nikonusa.com/Service-And-Support/Service-Advisories/gezwvxir/COOLPIX%203100%2C%203500%2C%204500%2C%205000%2C%205400%2C%205700%2C%20and%20SQ%20Service%20Advisory.html

Per the advisory, this offer of free service expires 31 Aug 2011.

your new card might be to big

Remove the memory card...go into the menu and scroll to "format"...follow the on-screen instructions.

Try formatting the card in the camera.

I can help, I just need a few more details...

1. Is there a blinking red dot on our screen when you try to take a picture with the flash?
2. Is the flash poping up?
3. Has it worked before?

The largest CompactFlash card that Nikon approved for the 5700 is 256MB, which is what I'm using in my 5700. That's small by today's standards and you probably won't even find it in stores. I see some web sellers have 256MB cards for only $6 or so. Other commercial card sellers on the web claim that the 5700 will handle CF cards up to 1GB capacity. That's what I might try since online they're selling for as little as $8 plus shipping. Given that the 5700 was introduced in 2002, any cards bigger than 1GB probably won't work.

Thanks! I'll give that a shot.

:)