Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Thanks! Interesting. I appreciate it.
For how I use mine, I'm not concerned.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

I copy files to My hard Drive I never cut or move them once I have them I can delete the files on the card .
Some cameras and computers leave files on the card, Some are hidden some you can see. Some times there is remnants of files left on the card. there is a name for this but its long forgotten . With new cards this may not happen but it did on older cards 10 or more years ago.
So formatting the card gets rid of all that unwanted stuff. I do not format after every session. I may go a month or more sometimes before I format .... It is a good idea to do it once in a while. Gives everything a fresh start

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Yup. fresh starts can be
pleasing.

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

I can't add to the discussion on a deep dive technical level. However, after reading voraciously for well over 10 years, there is near uniformity among informed opinions ...best practice is not to write (or delete) to your memory card using your computer. In other words do the transfer, and then use the camera to reformat the card.

All of this is a numbers/probability exercise. Just because someone has done it the other way without a bad outcome does not disprove the best practice.

NickGee Loc: Pacific Northwest

I was intrigued by your question (and also wondered if repeatedly reformatting harmed the card or shortened its lifespan) so I did a bit of digging and learned that repeatedly deleting files from the card will shorten its life (all SD cards eventually wear out), and that the recommended best practice is to "delete all" by reformatting. I'll let the expert explain:

"Flash memory has a limited number of write cycles it can tolerate before it fails. The number of write cycles each bit on a flash memory card can handle before it fails is very large but it will eventually wear out. So the controller tries to ensure that each storage location of the entire card is written to roughly the same number of times over the life of the card. What this means is that even after you format the card the controller will continue using parts of the card that have not yet been written to until each storage location on the entire card has been written to before it will go back and begin using the locations that have already been used.

"That's good for recovery because it means not much is overwritten until the entire card has been written to once. But then it's going to go back and use the very beginning again if that space is showing as empty. When you delete a file normally the space that file used is marked as empty but the state of each bit in that space is not altered. When you format a card pretty much all of the regular storage space on the card is marked as empty and available for use.

"Formatting regularly helps the memory controller on the card do a better job of wear leveling. It also allows for better card performance by increasing the likelihood of sequential write operations. If you leave the same files on half the card and repeatedly write files to the other half, erase them, and rewrite other files then all of the wear is going to go to only half the card and the life expectancy of the card before half of it fails will be shorter!"

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Absolutely.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

It’s not much of a limiting factor when you can use, erase and reformat the card a thousand times without a thought.
…Cam

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

ctrl a selects all files

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

By the way, I have never formatted any sd card (even new ones) and never had a problem

Celtis87

Makes sense. New step in my workflow! Thanks.

bw79st Loc: New York City

So what's the bottom line? My Olympus cameras offer me a choice when I wipe a card: "All Erase" or "Format." Which is the option that offers less wear on the SD card?

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

I've found there is a disadvantage to formatting, however. It is a camera-specific problem, however. Perhaps many Sony A-series cameras store other information on the SD card than just images. My own A-6500 allows variouscamera-setting configurations to be stored for later recall. Two can be stored in the camera but another four can be stored on the SD card. These will be lost if the card is formatted. However the camera also has a bulk delete feature that is just as fast and easy as a format.

hcmcdole

I do the same thing as you. I occasionally format the card in the card reader or in the camera as a quick way to insure of a "clean" card. I've never had any issue with all the cameras and cards over 22 years of digital photography. Cards are so much cheaper today than they were in the beginning. Need a faster, bigger card? Buy one at the big box store for very little money. I remember when I bought a 256 MB (mega, not giga byte) for $100 way back when, thinking they aren't getting any cheaper or bigger. Was I ever wrong.

Robert1 Loc: Davie, FL

Cards are like a developed film roll to me. I fill the card, then I use my computer card reader to copy the files, then that card is stored away with the pertinent info of which Camara and date ranges that the card was used.

Then a new card replaces it in the camera. SD Cards are so cheap nowadays, that I don't mind getting new cards to replace the filled ones. This way even if I were to have a catastrophic hard drive failure, I still would always have the original source, that plus I print everything that I consider that needs printing. So no reformatting for me.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Yea, I don't worry about it either,
I just use the buggers.