Format vs Erase Photos

tkadrum wrote in post #12875748
Just think of a HD.
The reason why we de-fragment our HD every now and then is because the reader is trying to read data, and if too many missing files it would slow down the process.

Flash memory and hard drives are two totally different animals. And, even so, defragmenting a hard drive in this day and age isn't nearly as big of a deal as it used to be, due to improvements in file systems and HD technology. In fact, I can't remember the last time I "defragged" a hard drive.

Formatting your card every time is complete overkill; though there's nothing wrong with it if that's what you prefer. I read a post once that tried to claim that using "erase images" somehow makes your card less stable, but that's absolutely rubbish. Erase images is perfectly fine and works much faster, and that's why it is there. The proper use for formatting is for when you stick a card into your camera only to find it is running an incompatible file system.

It used to be common wisdom that if you were using a memory card in a different camera, that you should format it in that particular camera before that use. Since I am using various cards in five different bodies, my preferred procedure is to simply format each time a card goes into a camera for use. Quick and easy and at least I know it was formatted by that body.

In all the years of using various brands of CF cards, I have only had one "go bad". A several year old sandisk started giving me trouble. It would write several files okay, and then it would throw an error, and one or more of the files would be corrupted. It did this in two different bodies, so it got tossed in the trash.

As far as wearing out a memory card, I think at least for me, I'm more likely to retire a card because "it is old, and relatively small capacity" before I actually wear it out. Hey....I've got a 16 meg CF card in the other room there....! Still works....just doesn't hold much !

george m w wrote in post #12876267
It used to be common wisdom that if you were using a memory card in a different camera, that you should format it in that particular camera before that use.

FAT32 is just that, FAT32. A card formatted in you computer is capable of being read and written to in camera which also utilizes FAT32 and vice versa. Formatting in camera does not improve the quality of the process nor imbibe the card with some mystical qualities.

I always format...that's just the way I was taught.

I agree with you in principle. And that is why I worded it, "It used to be common wisdom...."
As we know, all to often....wisdom is sometimes not too common, nor is it always correct.
However, for whatever it's worth, my method seems to have worked for me. That's not to say that it might not have worked equally well had I simply done a FAT32 format in the PC each time. The method of formatting in camera was told to me by a Canon USA sales rep at a workshop I was attending. I have no idea what his level of technical expertise was.

Edit, formatting in camera is also really quick, and it has me making a quick look see at my other settings at the same time ( like making sure I'm set to RAW, which card I'm writing to, etc ), so I like the repeatability of the procedure. As Forrest would say, "one less thing to worry about..."

I always format in camera.

n0w0rries wrote in post #12875943
I would imagine that formatting would cause your flash memory to wear out faster, since you're probably writing to empty sectors. Of course would it wear out noticeably faster? Probably not.

Flash does not behave the same as magnetic disk hard drives. Flash can only be written to so many times. If you fill up 25% of your flash storage (1-25% is photos/video), and then you erase it, and then you fill it up to 25%, the data would be sitting on 26-51% of the storage. That's why you can recover files longer on a flash drive. They call it wear leveling.

So I would imagine that if you erase your 25%, it's going to touch that 25% of storage and say "flag erased". If you format, it's going to touch 100% of the storage and say "format". Unless you're doing this 1000 times a day though, you probably won't see much difference in how long your flash lasts.

its just labeling the sectors, its not actually writing anything to that space/old-data unless you're doing a low-level format, so it really wouldnt be any additional wear/tear.

CameraMan wrote in post #12876735
I always format in camera.

Same here. Feels like a clean slate lol

I format unless it's my 16GB card which won't format properly in my camera. Then I just erase them.

Sounds like you need a new card. All cards should format with no problems in camera.

I format as well

What camera ? Some of the older offerings need to have the most current firmware to correctly support larger capacity cards.

tkadrum wrote in post #12875748
Just think of a HD.
The reason why we de-fragment our HD every now and then is because the reader is trying to read data, and if too many missing files it would slow down the process.

That has nothing to do with defragmenting a hard drive.

george m w wrote in post #12876919
What camera ? Some of the older offerings need to have the most current firmware to correctly support larger capacity cards.

40D

It's not broke, so I'm not going to fix it until it is by changing firmware.

My 16 GB card formats fine in my 40D.