Formatting card question

[AlQ]

What's the value of formatting a memory card?

I have been shooting for over a year with an XSi and now a 7D and have never formatted my cards....have never had a problem downloading pictures or operation in the camera.

Just curious, as I get deeper into this great hobby and spend more money on equipment!

[gturner]

Just deleting files can lead corruption issues after a while. Once a card is corrupt, a full format more often than not sorts it out. Once I have copied images to 2 separate locations I always format the cards and start my next session on a clean slate.

If you have folders set up that you want to keep using the format will smoke them. I never use folders but rather piles of 4 and 8 gig cards.
I would say you have been lucky doing it your way but others may disagree.

[kirbinster]

Each time I place a card in the camera I have the camera format it. That has worked great for years with no problems.

[OsmosisStudios]

Think of it this way:

Your memory card is a residential street.
Every time you take a photo, you build a house on that street.
Every time you delete a photo, you're just taking the address off the house and mark it as condemned. It makes the house almost impossible to find, but it's still there. It can be destroyed and rebuilt as well, into a new house.
Every time you format the card, you clear the entire street of any buildings and start anew

What this means to your camera is that when you format the card, you clear it completely and get it ready for a new use. It means you're not making the card do all sorts of work to get the images "built".

[AlQ]

So I'll have less chance of problems with the card if I format each time, however I understand everything is wiped each format so..... make sure I've downloaded what I need, correct?

[baycruisers]

Originally Posted by AlQ

So I'll have less chance of problems with the card if I format each time, however I understand everything is wiped each format so..... make sure I've downloaded what I need, correct?

Yep. You're wiping off the data from the last use and getting a fresh start. As someone who has had a corrupted SDHC card (for unknown reasons) it's one of the most frustrating and alarming things that can happen to you, so anything I can do to lower the risks is cheap insurance and takes 15 seconds. (And always format in the camera.)

[AlQ]

thanks for the feedback and advice

[kirbinster]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

Think of it this way:

Your memory card is a residential street.
Every time you take a photo, you build a house on that street.
Every time you delete a photo, you're just taking the address off the house and mark it as condemned. It makes the house almost impossible to find, but it's still there. It can be destroyed and rebuilt as well, into a new house.
Every time you format the card, you clear the entire street of any buildings and start anew

What this means to your camera is that when you format the card, you clear it completely and get it ready for a new use. It means you're not making the card do all sorts of work to get the images "built".

That is one of the best explanations of how formating versus erasing works - well said!

[MK Anthony]

I'm new and I have a question, how do you format your card? I've never even heard of it before now although it sounds like a really useful thing. Thanks!

[RichardTaylor]

In all the digital cameras I have owned it is under a menu choice.