rfoelber

I have for the first time heard that one should not delete images from the card while it is in the camera. Because it corrupts the card? I have been doing this daily on long trips to weed out bad shots and to avoid being overwhelmed at the end of the trip. Also, when you use Lightroom, you are supposed to download images via Lightroom and Lightroom is not an easy way to deal with a huge number of new images. Anyway, I will download and then reformat the card in the camera, as suggested, if that is truly the right way to go.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

That is the suggested way to do it. Start by formatting the card in camera, shoot, remove card and place in (fast) card reader, use the app you plan to edit with (LR) to download, after you've cull through and deleted the unwanted images, back them up, then remove the card from the card reader and place in camera and format the card in camera again so you are ready to go again.

I usually edit my images from a fast SSD drive which is where I download them, and after they are edited etc., then I drag them (using LR) to an external drive. After a week or two I have an identical external drive that I back up all the newer photos with so that they are always on two drives.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

For the most part, deleting images from the card via the camera presents no risk. It does use your battery, sometimes a resource even more important than space on the card when out in the field. There's less risk by not deleting using the camera, but really, how much "less risk"? Many tools are quicker at displaying images for culling than LR, particularly if you shoot in RAW. I cull outside LR as much as possible and than import only those files I think I'll edit / keep. I've never had a problem with a card / camera by deleting in the camera, although I typically don't. As a best practice, don't use your computer to delete from the card nor reformat the card. Always format the card in the camera. Copy images from the card to the computer and delete images from those copies on the computer's harddrive.

AndyH Loc: Massachusetts and New Hampshire

I must have deleted thousands of images directly in camera while testing and chimping over the years, involving dozens of cards from 1Gig to 256 "super speed" cards. I've done it on 5 MP point and shoots and on 24 MP DSLRs. I have never, ever had a card corruption problem on any of those cards.

I do strongly advise reformatting the card in camera when you do so, but other than that aspect, I think most of this is an old wive's tale. I'm sure willing to stand corrected if someone can come up with a reasonable explanation as to why in-camera deletion is more likely to corrupt a card than uploading and deleting.

Andy

PS: If it turns out there is really a good reason for doing this, you still don't have to pass everything through LightRoom, including images you're going to delete anyway. I often upload from a card reader to a "Temp Upload" folder on my desktop and then delete all the test shots and junk before importing and copying via LightRoom.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

"Also, when you use Lightroom, you are supposed to download images via Lightroom and Lightroom is not an easy way to deal with a huge number of new images."

What I do is to use File Explorer to copy the images from the card to their intended destination. Then I import them into LR.

unlucky2 Loc: Hemet Ca.

I must cry BS on that. I have erased images, in camera, from my cards (CF and SD) for years with never a problem. I prefer to transfer images directly from camera to computer and then erase all images in camera. When you erase you remove an entry from data table and when you format you erase the data table. Only by doing a low level format do you wipe the body of the card. I have never seen Mfg. recommendations or instructions prohibiting in camera erasure.

rfoelber

Everybody also seems to be using a card reader, which I haven't done for a while. I just insert the card directly into the laptop. That brings up something that someone else felt strongly about - never taking the card out of the camera. He transferred images directly to his laptop. I guess if you are in a dusty situation that may make sense.

rfoelber

Thanks. I'll look into doing that.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

rfoelber

Thanks.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I'd have to see some convincing evidence to show that deleting images in-camera is a bad practice. The file system on the memory card is for all intents and purposes the same as the file system in our computers, and we know that computers can handle deleting files all day long with no problem. That said, it could be that the camera's file system might have potential problems handling fragmented storage on the card...where files might get split into pieces due to the "holes" in data resulting from deleting files. Or it is possible that when those holes are left after deleting the image files, the camera operating system just doesn't go back and use that space again until the card is reformatted.

I've become pretty picky around how I handle and use my memory cards, but this is not something that I've ever considered a no-no. It's not something that I'm aware has ever created a problem for me or anyone else over the past 13 years or so.

Bottom line...I'd be very interested to see some specific, credible information about the what, why, and how of this proposed danger.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

The only bad thing that happens to my Nikons when I delete in camera is that (in camera) they have the "correct" image number, but when I download the photos the deleted image's original number is there (but isn't!).

Example: I keep photograph #1; I delete photograph #2; I keep photograph #3. In camera it says I have 2 photos and the numbers are consistent: 1 and 2. When I download to Photoshop Elements the photos are number 1 and 3 (and there is no photo #2). It had me flabbergasted until I figured out what was going on.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Yes, one should always format the card in the camera! I never had any issues with deleting images in-camera, done that for over 10 years, and I never had a card turn bad on me!

TBPJr Loc: South Carolina

I always delete images that I know are failures using the camera controls when I have the time and the opportunity, and I have been doing so for almost fourteen years now. As soon as practical, I remove the card from my camera, connect it through a reader (internal or external), download/copy the files to my computer hard drive (using Photoshop Elements), and allow the PSE Organizer downloader to verify the copying to the computer hard drive and delete the files from my card (I do copy the new download folders to two additional hard drives, too). I follow the same procedure when I am traveling, but I use a pair of portable external hard drives instead of my laptop hard drive (and then copy to my primary data drive when I return home). I don't think I have ever formatted my cards in camera, except perhaps when I first purchased the cards; I believe I usually insert them, and use them if they work, and only format if they do not. It may only be luck, but I have never lost a picture or had a card failure. I shoot in RAW + .jpg (large), and I use mainly large cards (32- and 64-Gb SD and CF), saving to one card, with autoswitching to move to the other when the first is full (only rarely do I fill up a card before I get a chance to download). I do tend to leave the same cards in the camera all the time--so I really only use one SD card (64-Gb) and one CF (32-Gb).

I have some 77,000 image files in my photo directory (probably more like 38,500 pair of RAW and .jpg).

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I am just guessing,but it seems to me that the more times that you remove and re-insert the card the more likely damage, corruption, you may cause.