Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

If the pictures from the other cameras are not displayed on any of those cameras, it is a configuration option.

Go to the Playback menu, and find the "Playback folder" sub-menu. It will give you three options, and you want to select "All". On a D7100, for example, there are also options for "D7100" and for "Current" (which is the default and probably what you currently have selected).

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I have done some experimenting, and I've used the same card in different makes and models of cameras. Each camera creates its own folder on the card. No problem.

Manufacturers tell you to format a card when it is new or when it has been used in another device, at least that's what Nikon says.

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

another option you may want to consider is to copy your photos onto a dvd disc for additional backup, be sure to label your discs for easy reference. be careful storing all of your photos on one media, as all things electronic will eventually crash,

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

That's what I do too.
Mark

Festus Loc: North Dakota

Format the card in the D7100

RKL349 Loc: Connecticut

Absolutely!

RichieC Loc: Adirondacks

Don't believe the CRAP to not format a card. Cards are the same as hard drives in more ways then not. Cards can be formatted over and over, in different cameras, they don;t become paired with a camera any more then any particular hard drive does to any particular computer.

Disks right out of the factory have bad sectors. The better ones have fewer. The better ones last longer, write and read faster, data is safer- they do most of this without much fanfare- all you know is they work. All disks should be expected to die someday. Bad sectors WILL absolutely develop over time. Failure to format the disk- leaves these bad sectors available to your camera to ATTEMPT to write to. Reformatting finds and writes a DIRECTORY to avoid these sectors. Directorys can themselves become corrupted. A bad Directory will loose all images on that disk. A camera can attempt to write to a sector that already has image data on it, if a sector is acting up. Reformatting will alert you to a disk that has become bad before you write images to it. Taking images off the card- means you have them backed up somewhere safer.

Formatting to the camera in use, makes any adjustments it needs to write to the disk at optimum speed. Your camera is a computer, some use memory differently, in different sized blocks, different strategies- some may not... who freakin knows. Most computers can accept other formats but whatever one it formats the disk to is the one the technicians at the factory have determined will work best for that camera/computer. Nobody but they should try and convince you otherwise.

THE WORST place to store your images is on any volatile memory storage. They go bad, when they do, you will not expect it. Not like a car that acts up- so you know its coming. It will be dead, suddenly... poof.

Finally, formatting takes a few moments, it is indicative of a proper habit of properly storing your images off camera, hopefully in a redundant system, in case one of those go bad.

In short- doing it this way insures your images remain safe, any other suggestions may work, probably will, may work for years! But when they don't, whoever told you that was ok will be nowhere to be found.... probably say something like "Sorry! has worked for me" as if that will help.

Finally its free, takes about three seconds, harms nothing, no appreciable reason, no decent argument NOT to.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

If only it worked that way... but it doesn't.

You can format a memory card with a program (on your computer, but not on you camera) that will also map out bad sectors. Think about how that is done though... it requires writing to and then reading from each byte on the card at least once, but to do it right means twice. How long does it take to write and then read every single byte on the card? It certainly doesn't happen in the couple of seconds that it takes to format the card in a camera.

All a format operation does is re-write the basic data for a file system. It does not read or in any way verify the rest of the disk. It provides zero protection for bad sectors or other data corruption. And the data that is written is necessarily the same whether written by this camera or that one, or by a computer.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Unless told by the manufacturer, it's unlikely you need to reformat for the same brand camera. It is a good idea though.

It's sort of like formating a portable drive for your computer, then bringing it to a friends house to look at whatever is on it.

My workflow way of doing things is to shoot, come home, recharge and download, put things back into camera(s). Now I'm ready for the next event. Later is when I reformat. (Always do)

My reasoning is to kept the images on my memory card until the last moment just incase something happens to my downloads. (Had a mess several years back and never forgot that lesson.)

One thing you can do to make absolutely sure it would work. Since you have the older camera and the newer camera, try it! I really doubt any problems will arise.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I hope you aren't the kind of person that takes pictures and always just leave them on the card and never puts them on the computer. Yes, I've known a few people that do that. It's very foolish to do so. You need to always have a backup of your pictures in a more permanent place. Memory cards have known to fail or become corrupt - more than you think. Hard drives too for that matter. That is why it's a good idea to have them backed up and stored in two or more permanent places.

The right thing to do is every time you take pictures:
1. remove card from camera and place in a card reader and download images to your computer.
2. back said pictures up to an external drive
3. put SD or CF card back into camera and format
4. edit pictures on hard drive (the keepers)
5. print/share those that you wish to print or share.

jmizera Loc: Austin Texas

If you're just deleting the images, no problem on just putting the card back in the camera. As to swapping, there is no problem switching cards between same brand cameras. I've swapped between Canon DSLRs many many times.

I do suggest getting backed up as soon as possible, and on multiple locations.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I don't know for sure about Nikon but my cf card from my 10D will not work in my 7D unless I reformat it to the 7D. I generally reformat my cards after every shooting.

JohnTxNC

This post prompted some interest on my part.

Here is what I know, and although I shoot Canon, I do not suspect the issue is much different.

Canon recommends re-formatting "IN CAMERA" after every 'transfer to a PC/external hard drive' and subsequent image deletion on the card. This reduces the risk of Card Failure as 'crud' will start to build up in the memory of the card if it is not refreshed regularly. Sort of like never re-booting your PC ...... at some point, the "crud" starts to affect it's performance.

Your camera probably has the option of "continuous" numbering, in which case after every 10,000 images, the numbers start again at 0001 but in a new auto generated "Folder". Canon's folder system is a simple three digit number, starting with 001. 001 will hold the first 10,000 and 002 for the 2nd 10,000 images and so on. After I reformat my card the Folder Numbers revert back to 001, so I manually add new folders until I am back to where I was before the formatting. This allows me to maintain a good click count and is why I know I have 32,628 clicks on my 6D, at this very moment.

If you move your card from "Camera A" to "Camera B" the numbering system will start where Camera B last ended. Cameras number - cards do not. But Canon also recommends re-formatting the card when installing it into a different camera, and that of course, will erase all of the existing files.

SanDisk Customer Support tells me (they have great Customer Support by the way) that there is no "expected life" of a card. So my take on that is, if the card did not fail right off the bat, it will probably last a long time.

In my previous years of shooting a multitude of different pocket sized digital cameras, I kept and stored the images on their individual cards. But after a few years of that, I collected quite a few cards. I have since moved all of those images to an external hard drive, but the thought of searching for pics of my grand daughter when she was three, by searching through a bunch of individual cards is frightening!


So.... IMHO, I would use the same card rather than moving it about between cameras. I would offload captured photos on a regular or irregular basis as needed and save those to an external hard drive as well. I would reformat "within the camera" after a major transfer/deletion of files and I would add new folders to reach the previous folder setting, just so I can keep up with my click count.

Jim Bob

That's exactly why many posters didn't get it. :thumbup:

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I'd say no. Each card should be formatted to the camera it's being used in. This should also be done after every upload. Once your photos are safe re-format.

It's also a mistake to leave photos on the card because we've seen situations where doing that can cause the card to fail... at least that's the experience of many.