jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

Considering the cost of cameras and lenses, cards are cheap--just buy a new one and move on.

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

Sandisk Quote, I hope this clears up why you would format...

“Formatting helps clear the card of extraneous issues from standard use. Erasing images just tells your camera that it’s okay to write over the images already on your card. So you will not actually remove images, but just take images over the existing ones. This always leaves ‘traces’ of data on the card. By formatting it you actually remove the images before taking new ones. So you will start of with a fresh data free card.”

Time for some coffee...

LensWork

I have on multiple occasions had someone delete images from a card, then had the camera show that there were no images on the card, and there was space available for new images, only then try to take a picture and the camera show "card full" or "card error". When I ran an image recovery program on the card, it found hundreds, sometimes thousands of images that the owner claimed had been deleted, sometimes years ago. The response is always the same, the owner never formatted the card after downloading images, they only "deleted" them.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

Don't listen to the experts; just do what you want to do.

http://www.diyphotography.net/not-delete-images-memory-card-using-camera/?utm_source=DIYP+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9ed603026a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4d53c6b51c-9ed603026a-99463617&mc_cid=9ed603026a&mc_eid=9e8576b5c1

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

You can do whatever you like and in most cases your card isn't going to corrupt. There's always a chance that doing it either way the card can become corrupt. But if you follow most advice from the card manufacturers i.e. Lexar and SanDisk, or camera manufacturer representatives, you'll see that their practice is to format the card in the camera it will be used in every time.

RickL Loc: Vail, Az

I do the same thing.

Djedi

This is good advice. I don't know why this is even an issue. Formatting is not that difficult or time consuming. If you had one small error when you erased a card-full of photos, especially with partial erases in between, you could get right near the end of the card in a wedding shoot and have it error out.
What's the point? Why not format and start with a clean slate? Sounds like simple laziness to me.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Sounds like good advice. I never do any manipulating with images on the card - just format in the camera.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Canon might be able to do a low-level format of an SD card but not a CF card.

Low level formatting entails writing zeros over all of the bytes throughout the disk before creating a new FAT (file access table). This would truly erase all of the images and leave you with an empty memory card. It might be worth trying as a last resort if a card fails. But the reason the card may have failed may be something physical (bad contacts on the card or camera, etc.) or some other problem that a low level format will not fix. It is not worth the trouble for routine clearing of the card. A high level format just creates a new FAT and then the DCIM and it sub-folder. You get the same result by deleting all of the files except that the directories are not deleted and recreated.

When your camera stores an image file, it makes no difference whether a bit in the new file replaces a value of zero or one. If it can't do that then it is time for a new card.

The best practice is to not come close to filling the card. That should leave plenty of room for each image file to be written to the card in a contiguous location - not split up into fragments. Trying to make room on a card by deleting individual images can result in the camera fragmenting an image file over two or more spaces that are too small for the entire file. This will slow your camera down and can lead to disk errors. Copying the files to your computer can also take longer.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

Not exactly correct, if you buy a memory card,look at the free space on it. If you never format it,look at the free space in a year and it will be different. remember how fast that new card wrote to the computer,it will now be slower a year later. Now format that card again, and see that the storage area has increased. Not much but def more space. Most do not seem to realize is that reading flash memory can be done by random access, or on a sector (or page) level (512 to 2048 bytes at a time), but writing is done in much larger blocks of 16 to 256 kilobytes. Writing a single 512-byte sector of data can involve reading a full 128 kB block, erasing it, and then rewriting the original data with only 512 bytes changed. By needing more sectors , the card becomes more and more fragmented , slowing down the read time. Though in most cases its just milliseconds it can be a lot more depending on the degree of fragmenting .
so yes u should format your memory cards.
Now as for putting one card into another camera. Sometimes it willwork, sometimes it will not depending on the camera maker.
The few seconds it takes to format a card will solve that problem.

The short answer is, "Yes." You can use a memory card from one camera in another camera without reformatting.

The discussion ran on for 8 pages, some of it unnecessarily heated.

Probably a more fundamental question is, "Do you need to format a memory card at all?"

The already come "formatted" from the factory for use in all sorts of devices. When you place a new one in a camera it needs to create a directory at the root named DCIM and a sub-directory specific to your camera mode to complete the formatting process.

If you don't move that memory card to another device there is no need to ever re-format the card. You can just delete images without deleting DCIM or the sub-directory. If you re-format in your camera, DCIM and one empty sub-directory are automatically created.

If you move it to a different model camera, a new sub-directory will be created under DCIM but the other sub-directory remains, including any images from the first camera that you left there.

So it's just a matter of whether you feel it is easier to reformat you memory card or simply delete your images. The result is the same if you don't move the card around.[/quote]

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Both my D610 and D7000 manuals say, "Memory cards must be formatted before first use or after being used or formatted in other devices." The D70 manual just says, "Memory cards must be formatted before first use."

I don't recall Nikon recommending formatting as a way to routinely delete files.

DaveC Loc: Illinois

FWIW. I started with a Kodak 260, went to a Canon, then three Nikons, the latest being a D7100. All except the latest used Compact Flash, the D7100 uses SD. Here is the way I have done it since the very first, I have never had a problem. I put the newly purchased cards into the camera I plan to use them in and format in-camera. Then I take photos. When I wish to download them I remove the card from the camera, put it in the computer card reader, and, using Windows, copy it to my hard drive. At that point I use Photoshop for processing and Windows Edge for backing up to external drives. When I am satisfied that I have a backup I remove the card from the card reader, put it back in the camera, and do a Delete All to remove the existing images. I do not reformat! I have done this since the start, I have never reformatted a card, and I have never had one problem.

markinvictoria Loc: Victoria TX

I have never read by a reliable source that it was recommended to NOT FORMAT a memory card in the camera...but nearly always recommend TO FORMAT your memory cards in camera on a regular basis. As far as I know...there is no other way to Defrag the files. It is much easier and quicker to format than to erase images. My 2 cents.

DaveC Loc: Illinois

As far as time goes, one option on the screen is to format, the other is to delete. I doubt there is any significant time difference between them. Also, on the off chance that I wish to keep any images I can Lock them and they wont delete, even with a Delete All. As I stated, I am aware that new images writes over my deleted ones, but so what? As I said, I have never had one problem, from Kodak 2600 through Nikon D7100

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Hard to believe we are still kicking this around.

Reformatting has two functions. a) It erases and recreates the partition table. This is the index where the computer/camera finds out where to look for parts of each file. Files/images are not stored in contiguous locations necessarily (It might happen, but just by chance) The partition table keeps track of where the pieces are on the card (Or drive). b) It tests each location on the card and locks out any bad areas so that your next image doesn't get written to a location from which it cannot be retrieved.

In the early days, I twice lost significant money because of memory card failures. After a three hour shoot with paid model and rented location, I got back and . . . . zip. That was a major reason I was glad when Nikon (and later Canon) started putting dual card slots. Of course, I've not had a failure since then. So when I switched to Sony, I was holding my breath.

Today's sdcards are robust enough that it may not make a difference whether you reformat regularly or not. But I've been bitten and if I only have one card, it will have been tested by reformatting. My photographs are classics and priceless--at least to me. LOL