Formating Cards

Whenever I buy a new CF or SD card I format them in camera before shooting. This has been my procedure for a long as I've been shooting digital.

With today's technology is this absolutely necessary or am I being anal? Does anyone else also do this?

I do it as well.

I always format in camera, why not? My computer doesn't know what the camera does, might be the same or not. Makes no difference timewise, so why bother wondering?

Probably not necessary with most name brand cards. But for all the 5 seconds it takes I still do it.

Nope, I've never formatted a new card.

Never in my photographic life!
I think of it as a "last resort" in case the card should get in trouble but when there's no sign of failure I leave it "untouched".

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #17117865
I do it as well.

And me.

Always. With two different cameras (both Canon) I'll always format before use to ensure card was formatted in that camera. The only time I ever had problem with a CF card was when I tried to swap one between bodies while it alreasy had images on it. Ended up having to use the original body. That was with my 300D and 20D, the card was brand new too and had been formatted in the 300D. Needless to say I returned that card for a refund. IIRC it was a Fuji branded 8Gb card but it was about two years ago. I have also never tried swapping cards again either.

Alan

BigAl007 wrote in post #17118114
Always. With two different cameras (both Canon) I'll always format before use to ensure card was formatted in that camera. The only time I ever had problem with a CF card was when I tried to swap one between bodies while it alreasy had images on it. Ended up having to use the original body. That was with my 300D and 20D, the card was brand new too and had been formatted in the 300D. Needless to say I returned that card for a refund. IIRC it was a Fuji branded 8Gb card but it was about two years ago. I have also never tried swapping cards again either.

Alan

Alan,, I swap cards regularly between my 700D, EOS M and S95 without any problems.

I never format a card unless there's a specific problem with it. And if there is, I may not use it any longer anyway.

Formatting cards on a regular basis would be a disaster, since it also removes files with stored setups as well as the folder structure on the card.

Always...never had any issues.

apersson850 wrote in post #17118197
Formatting cards on a regular basis would be a disaster

Don't Panic!

I format my card regularly (which I presume is about the same as 'on a regular basis' but not as posh). After 20 years of doing this I've yet to suffer any disaster. Then again my camera is a cheap one that doesn't store setup info on the card, but is clever enough to re-do the folder structure when you format a card (I'm really surprised the expensive cameras can't do this).

I always format my cards before use, as well as to delete photos when re-using the cards. I've never experienced an issue, either.

Formatting a card in camera is not needed (compared to using a pc). The file structure is the same no matter where you do it. There are no hidden things that your camera does. The directories and such are created once you start to write to the card, not when formatting.

A card that comes formatted is no different than you doing it yourself. Granted, I always format a card just to make sure. But once I shoot with it, I never care if I format in camera or in the reading with my PC.

There are many posts on here where users complain about poor performance, long write times, etc, and a low level format in the camera fixes the issue 99% of the time. After cleaning off my photos I do a LL format just about every time. It only takes a few seconds and the cards are cleared and ready to go.