Format or Delete All?

[d2mini]

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In my other cameras, whenever i want to delete all images from my memory card i find it easier/quicker to just format the card. But in the case of the M9 it is so unbelievably slow to format so i have just been deleting all. What are you doing?

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[TacTZilla]

Format. It's supposedly better as you can get image errors by just deleting. Everything is much slower with the M9 compared to my last camera and I'm enjoying the fact.I set it formatting then put the kettle on and by the time you pour your brew, it's done

 

B

[adan]

I'm OK with using "Delete All" one or two times between formats, if I just have some randomly collected junk that only takes up 10% of the card. But a full format is preferred - and a "must-do" if the card was chock-full, where DA takes longer anyway, and there may have been some fragmentation in packing in those last few shots.

[Marty]

I use my computer to delete all after importing - at least until they improve the speed in the M9.

[konradhorst]

The same problem with M8, i use my Macbook to delete all after importing. This is highspeed, perhaps 8 seconds for 2 GB.

[MikeMyers]

Most sources suggest formatting a card in whatever camera you will be using it. If you take a card from your Canon and put it in your Leica, you really ought to format it before you use it. The only times I used to have memory card problems was when I started moving cards back and forth between cameras - never again.

 

Once formatted, it should not make any practical difference if you delete files, or re-format the card. Unless the "computer" part of the camera has problems, it should recognize where it can and can not write data. With Nikon DSLR cameras, I usually just format the card, as it's faster that way. The D2 series takes a couple of seconds, and the D3 is almost instant.

 

If the camera is designed properly, it shouldn't make any difference if you erase all your images or just reformat. How often do people format their computer disks?

[chrism]

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I know that formatting is slow in the M9, but choosing Delete All seems to hang it up. Consequently I format.

 

Chris

[MikeMyers]

I thought of something that I don't have an answer to. On my laptop, formatting a 2-gig memory card can be done in two ways - a "fast format" that takes seconds, or a "full format" that seems to take forever. Which method is used by the M8 and M9?

 

Also, for someone who knows this stuff better than I do, is a "fast format" really all that different from a "delete all"?

 

Here's a website with some of the reasons for doing one or the other:

Erase or format a digital camera memory card?

[Guido]

"Delete All" works for me, but "Format" takes endless long. And "Overwrite" will make my M9 completely unresponsive.

 

Therefore, I choose to format the card with Disk Utility on my Mac after each import.

[250swb]

I find 'Format' only takes a long time if I feel compelled to sit and look at the camera doing it, a watched pot never boils etc.

 

But because formatting does clean the card of tiny bits of useless data that can start to clog it up thats what I do. If I put the camera down and find something else to do, lo and behold the next time I look at it the formatting has finished (usually about 25 seconds)!

 

Steve