Emergency · recoverable camera card
SD card recovery cost: compare scan, software, and lab work
What does SD card recovery cost, and what can I check first?
Short answer
Scanning with File Recovery Hero costs nothing, exporting needs a one-time 50 EUR licence, and laboratory work on a physically failing card is quoted separately by each lab. First classify the failure: logical deletion suits software, physical damage does not. Review scan findings before paying, since a scan cannot prove every file will export intact.
The situation
A user needs to decide between a software scan and professional laboratory service.
Cost follows the kind of failure, not the number of files. A card the computer still reads is a software case with a fixed, small price; a card with a physical fault is laboratory work quoted individually after a diagnosis. Sorting the case comes first.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
Deleted files, a quick format or a damaged directory on a card that still mounts are logical problems: the flash works, only the bookkeeping is wrong. Disconnects, wrong capacity, heat or a card nothing detects point at the hardware. The first group is what a scan on your own computer can address; the second is not.
Price depends on logical deletion versus physical failure; a free scan can assess readable exFAT data but cannot prove every file will export intact.
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Check first whether the card mounts with its correct capacity and reads without interruption, because that decides which price bracket applies.
- 2
Run the free scan on a stable card and look through the result list before spending anything at all.
- 3
Judge the preview of the files that matter most, checking names, sizes and formats against what you expect to find.
- 4
Only then buy the licence for export, or, for a physically failing card, ask two laboratories for a written diagnosis and quote.
Do not pay for anything before you have seen what a scan actually finds, and do not keep using the card while comparing offers. Every further recording reduces what any provider can still recover, which makes both the software route and the laboratory route more expensive.
03 / Choose the method
Match the tool to the source
For stable, readable exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 or uncompressed IMG, DD, RAW and BIN images.
Unconfirmed exports are marked .UNVERIFIED.
Scanning with File Recovery Hero is free and the export licence costs 50 EUR once, for exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 media on macOS and Windows. Laboratory prices for physical damage are set case by case and no scan can promise that every file will export intact.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
The scan list is an indication, not a receipt. A file name in the results says the entry was found; only the exported file, opened at full size from another drive, proves the content is there. Check the most valuable items right after export, while a refund would still be straightforward.
Keep the source until two verified copies exist. One working preview is not enough.
Sources and technical references
FAQ
Questions about this recovery case
Can recoverable camera card be recovered in this situation?+
Cost follows the kind of failure, not the number of files. A card the computer still reads is a software case with a fixed, small price; a card with a physical fault is laboratory work quoted individually after a diagnosis. Sorting the case comes first. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not pay for anything before you have seen what a scan actually finds, and do not keep using the card while comparing offers.
Does scanning write to my memory card?+
Your memory card is only read. Nothing is saved to it.
How do I know whether the result is complete?+
The scan list is an indication, not a receipt.