CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

Unless I really know it's a bad shot I download all photos. Then go through them on the computer and delete any other bad photos. Then I reformat my card in the camera. Rule number 1--never use the LCD screen of your camera to determine what to keep and what not to. It doesnt have the obvious size, resolution or colors to accurately reproduce the shot. The only exception is the obvious missed shot or extremely obvious out of focus. Remember, also if you shoot in RAW that you can often make corrections in the computer later.

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

This has been an imformitive thread - I had always down loaded my photos to the computer and then deleted the photos from my card in the camera with the "delete all" setting never have I known about re-formatting my cards. In the past - a long time ago - I could not get all the photos to delete once in a while. You fellows have answered that problem for me.
Harvey

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

Good that you're learning, so am I. Reformatting is not the same as deleting. Although I haven't seen an example of it happening but apparently you can get ''ghost'' images or something like double exposures if you don't reformat instead. Plus everything I've read, including the manual says to reformat after I've downloaded. As you say, I don't reformat until I've downloaded AND viewed all of the photos just to be sure there wasn't some problem during the download.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Only in the camera. Especially with SD or SD HC cards

jthomas Loc: Lancaster, PA

pg 1 - With all the talk of formatting the camera card, it makes me wonder how I've missed it the last 5 years. I've never done it and have been getting good results anyway, I think. But if it really does improve subsequent pictures, I'll start doing it. Is is camera- specific or is there a general procedure on how to do it? Thanks.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Go to your owner's manual, instructions are there. If you don't have a manual go to your camera maker's web site.
There you should be able to download a dpf version of your manual.

Normally it is camera specific. There will be a menu item to format. Formatting is an important part of using any memory card just like using a hard drive in your computer.

Good Luck.

Photo One Loc: Clearwater Florida

I download the images from a "Card Reader" then format the card in the camera only. I have always done it that way. A clean card everytime.

Nevada Chuck

Instead of erasing the pics after loading them onto your computer, re-format the card in the camera, not through the computer. Re-formatting will obviously remove the shots from the card, but has the added advantage of re-setting the FAT table, which helps insure proper functioning of the card in the future.

jthomas Loc: Lancaster, PA

Today again I've learned something from UHH. Thanks all for your help. John

photo guy Loc: Chippewa Falls, WI

If I can tell it is a bad photo right after it is taken, I delete it right on the camera right away. The rest, I download to the computer and leave the camera hooked up while I review them and then erase the bad ones from both at the same time. After I have made sure they are backed up from the computer then I will erase all of them from the camera.

PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

You could erase the really bad ones while they are still in the camera. That includes badly blurred, blown out, or severely dark shots. The rest should be erased only after you have copied them to the computer.

coco1964 Loc: Winsted Mn

In class I was told to never delete single photos in camera and to wait until you download them to your computer. Check that they have downloaded properly and then reformat card in camera. There is no reason to ever delete photos in camera.......

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

Agreed! And yes, reformatting is done in the camera. I don't know what you have but you may have that function listed in your menu somewhere.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Every once in a while, I take an extra step to make sure the card is really clean. I reformat in the computer using a utility that overwrites the card as many times as I want. The utility overwrites with null bits, and I usually overwrite 3 - 5 times.

Now that I have a nice clean card with no data on it, I reformat it in the camera which writes basic camera data to the card in preparation for recording images.

Note also that, if I move the card (e.g., from the Canon to the Nikon), it MUST be reformatted for the camera in which it is now going to be used.

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

The only real hard and fast rule is to format the memory card in the camera when you need to. Formatting in-camera ensures that any camera-specific stuff gets taken care of that MIGHT not be done it you stick the card in your PC and format it there. You don't need to do it every time you take three shots and move them to the PC.

Formatting erases a thing called the FAT, or File Allocation Table, that's more or less a table of contents of the disk. It does NOT necessarily erase the space that files take up. It simply marks that space as 'usable'.

On a brand new disk, or large cap card, it may take a few minutes the very first time you do it. This is because the disk needs to be segmented out in to the blocks and tracks that are the low-level storage units.

When you DELETE a file, the file management system simply marks the space (e.g. the above mentioned blocks and tracks) in the FAT, as usable

If you use a lower-capacity card, or find you fill it a lot, then yes, format more often. Or be a man and buy a bigger card. But it's unnecessary to format the card when it's only 20% full.

Sample FAT, extremely simplified:

Block 1 - File001
Block 2 - File001 (e.g, another chunk of file1)
Block 3 - File001
.
.
.
Block 27 - File2
Block 27 - File2
Block 29 - File3
Block 30 - File3
etc etc etc

If the BLOCKS are smaller than the FILE, then obviously, each file would have to span one or more blocks. This is common, as blocks tend to be small, like 1K or maybe 2K in size. Every disk/camera/OS is different.

After you format, the FAT looks like this:

Block 1 - FREE
Block 2 - FREE
Block 3 - FREE
etc etc etc.