SD Photo Rescue

What SD Photo Rescue is

SD Photo Rescue is a free command-line tool for recovering photos and videos from formatted SD cards or raw disk-image files. It scans for JPEG and HEIC photos, camera RAW files, and MP4 and MOV video. Named RAW formats include CR2/CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, ORF, RW2, DNG, PEF, and SRW; Sigma X3F and Phase One IIQ are not handled yet. Recovery can be narrowed by file type or capture-date range, and an optional megapixel filter helps sort full-size photos from thumbnails. The tool opens cards read-only and says it does not write to, format, or modify them. Recovered files use their capture time as the name when that information is readable, since formatting removes the original name table. Files split into pieces may be only partly rebuilt and go into a _partial folder. The project provides one Python file that uses only the standard library, with no installation required. It supports Linux and macOS and is released under the MIT License. Reading a card requires sudo; working from a raw image file does not. The maker welcomes bug reports, feature requests, and contributions through GitHub.

Who it suits

SD Photo Rescue suits Linux or macOS users trying to recover media from a formatted SD card or raw disk image. Its file type, date, and optional megapixel filters are useful when narrowing a recovery, while its read-only card access is suited to users who want recovery without the tool modifying the card.

Limits

Sigma X3F and Phase One IIQ are not handled. Files split into pieces may be only partially rebuilt and are placed in a _partial folder.

Getting started

1. Open the project website on GitHub.
2. Use the provided single Python file; installation is not required.
3. On macOS, the tool unmounts the card first; on Linux, it unmounts the card and warns if it cannot.
4. Run recovery on an SD card with sudo, or use a raw disk-image file without sudo.
5. Choose file types and a capture-date range, with the optional megapixel filter if useful.

Verdict

Choose SD Photo Rescue if you need a free, command-line recovery tool for formatted SD cards or disk images on Linux or macOS. Its read-only approach and recovery filters are useful strengths. Look elsewhere if you need Sigma X3F or Phase One IIQ recovery, or if you need split files rebuilt in full.