5D mark III changes recording to SD card when CF card is removed - how do I stop this

I always want my default recording card to be my CF card. My SD card is there just in case I fill the CF card. However, every time I remove my CF card to download images (camera is off when I remove it & not turned on until the CF card is returned), when I power the camera on, it has set the SD card to be the recording card.

Each time, I have to go into the menu to set the CF card as the record card. This is very annoying because I don't want to forget & have the SD card be the record card. Not the end of the world but is there a way to permanently set the CF slot as the default, always?

Thanks.

I struggled with this for a while as well...

there are two ways to deal with it... it only revert to SD if you close the card door.... so, if you're transferring images with a reader, pull the card, leave the door open, transfer files, put the card back in and close the door, it won't revert to SD.

However, I couldn't even manage to do this... I always pull the card, shut the door, put in the reader... it's just the way I do things... So, finally, I gave up on the idea of having the SD there "just in case" and took the dang thing out.... no SD card in there, no problems.

I never had a SD "backup" on my 7D, and did just fine with it for years....

honestly, I wish they would have either given dual CF slots, or just left the SD slot off.

Maybe this could solve your issue.

Try saving different file format on separate cards, RAW on CF & JPEG on SD.

This is how I setup both my 5D3s. Even if I took out the CF card, both my camera will still record JPEG on SD separately. When I replace the CF into the camera, it will start saving RAW on CF again.

virsago_mk2 wrote in post #15819941
Maybe this could solve your issue.

Try saving different file format on separate cards, RAW on CF & JPEG on SD.

This is how I setup both my 5D3s. Even if I took out the CF card, both my camera will still record JPEG on SD separately. When I replace the CF into the camera, it will start saving RAW on CF again.

The thing is, if I fill up my cf card, I want it to continue shooting raw on the Sd card.

Thank you for your suggestion. You'd think there would be a setting "make slot #1 default"

Hmmm....that's quite different from the 1D series cameras I own. On my cameras it only switches to SD recording if you remove the CF card with the power on, or if you switch on the power before reinserting the CF card.

Pull SD card. Leave in camera. Pull CF card. Reverse to put back in. CF SD close.

va_rider wrote in post #15819922
it only revert to SD if you close the card door.... so, if you're transferring images with a reader, pull the card, leave the door open, transfer files, put the card back in and close the door, it won't revert to SD....

yup

At first I didn't bother with an SD card.
Then I thought, what the heck, the slot is there, so now I have the SD card save mRAW and the CF full RAW. the mRAW are useful for back up and also for editing in Lightroom. Then if I need a larger source file I just transfer the LR settings to the larger file.