have CF a limited number of deleting/writing cycles?

[mantra]

Hi to all

i have a couple of questions

1)
have the Cf memories a limited number of deleting/writing/format cycles , like the usb stick?


2) is better format or delete the photos inside the cf to keep the integrity of the cf

thanks
best regards

[mike_d]

1) All that matters is writing. Deleting and formatting in the camera don't really overwrite the file, they just delete the reference to it so much less data is being written. All flash memory has a limited number of writes before it fails but better cards can spread the writes out so no single spot gets worn out prematurely. The reality is that you're likely to outgrow a card before it actually fails from old age. Of course anything can fail at any time regardless of age so be sure to backup.

2) I like to reformat the card in the camera when I stick it back in after downloading. That way the card is exactly as the camera expects it and doesn't have any remnants from the computer's OS that might confuse the camera or otherwise cause problems.

[Jon]

They do have limits, but those are so high that you'll need bigger cards for your new, higher MP (or even GP) camera before you reach them. The 16 MB CF card I got with my first digital camera won't even hold a single RAW from my 5D2.

[mantra]

1) All that matters is writing. Deleting and formatting in the camera don't really overwrite the file, they just delete the reference to it so much less data is being written. All flash memory has a limited number of writes before it fails but better cards can spread the writes out so no single spot gets worn out prematurely. The reality is that you're likely to outgrow a card before it actually fails from old age. Of course anything can fail at any time regardless of age so be sure to backup.

2) I like to reformat the card in the camera when I stick it back in after downloading. That way the card is exactly as the camera expects it and doesn't have any remnants from the computer's OS that might confuse the camera or otherwise cause problems.

They do have limits, but those are so high that you'll need bigger cards for your new, higher MP (or even GP) camera before you reach them. The 16 MB CF card I got with my first digital camera won't even hold a single RAW from my 5D2.

thank you so much

by the way , my trusty seller (i buy everything from him) told me , the command format in camera consume a lot of cycles compared to delete (in camera or plugged to the computer

[Jon]

Not so. The Format is much faster than deleting each photo one by one. And it only erases the same part of your CF card. If you were using SD/SDHC cards and ran a Low Level Format, it would overwrite more of the card, but all cards have a load-balancing algorithm, so what is identified as a specific sector changes from time to time. If you just delete a file however, the directory isn't cleaned out, so you end up re-using the same part of the card for the directory entry (not the file itself) every time you write to that directory; this is actually worse than starting anew with a reformat.

[Woolburr]

Not so. The Format is much faster than deleting each photo one by one. And it only erases the same part of your CF card. If you were using SD/SDHC cards and ran a Low Level Format, it would overwrite more of the card, but all cards have a load-balancing algorithm, so what is identified as a specific sector changes from time to time. If you just delete a file however, the directory isn't cleaned out, so you end up re-using the same part of the card for the directory entry (not the file itself) every time you write to that directory; this is actually worse than starting anew with a reformat.

Absolutely....I have cards that have been formatted in camera several hundred times over....never had a problem...

[rklepper]

I am pretty sure that by the time they reach there life limit you will have outgrown them. I alwasy format in camera.