Looking after Memory Cards

[Exodies]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

SD Formatter is made for that. Only option is quick format or overwrite format. I don't see what error it could make but i may be wrong.

Is there no option for the type of file system to create?

 

Another idea: if you habitually format in-camera then you know before you set off that there is a card in the camera and it’s writeable.

[frame-it]

by structure i meant the folder structure..its different for sony, fuji,leica, panasonic

 

im not talking about low level file structure

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[lct]

Is there no option for the type of file system to create?

Another idea: if you habitually format in-camera then you know before you set off that there is a card in the camera and it’s writeable.

 

Only quick format or overwrite but my question was just to know for what mysterious (to me) reason one should format SD cards in cameras. Pico said it is just folk-lore which confirms the feeling i had about this matter. 

[a.noctilux]

 

2. Prepare the SD card for installation:

a. Please make sure that the card contains at least 200 MB of free disk space.

b. It is recommended to format the card inside the camera before continuing

c. Download the new firmware file to your computer.

d. Copy the firmware file to the root directory of the SD card.

e. Eject the SD card properly from your computer.

 

Format SD card inside camera is recommended by Leica who must know well their camera.

 

Quote from last installation firmware instruction for M10:

https://fr.leica-camera.com/content/download/146815/2484590/version/1/file/Leica%20M10_FW-Update_EN-1.pdf

[Exodies]

It’s easy to understand why the camera maker is only prepared to trust its own formatting software. Use someone else’s iff you are prepared to debug any problems.

[lct]

It’s easy to understand why the camera maker is only prepared to trust its own formatting software. Use someone else’s iff you are prepared to debug any problems.

 

I do understand why the camera maker advises us to do so and i don't dispute its knowledge of its own gear of course. I just dispute its superior knowledge of SD cards and its ability to format them better than a specialized software like SD formatter. When i did comparos of card speedness on my M240 a couple of years ago i realized that most if not all cards tested had shorter startup/wakeup times when formatted with SD Formatter than in the camera. YMMvastlyV and i'm not qualified enough to answer technical questions anyway.

[a.noctilux]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

As a practical user, I have tried some exotic formats, and now I use Exfat for M(240) family and M10.

But with my Monochrom I, those formated Exfat SD cards are not seen as formatted or "not seen at all" while inserted .

[pico]

The camera will not defragment the card. My technique for older cards is to do a full format in SDformatter and then format in the camera. After that they are OK for a series of in-camera formats again.

 

SDFormat's wipe does not defragment a card. File allocation is untouched. The contents of allocated space are zeroed but to a modest extent. SDFormat's wipe actually adds to degradation, but given the massive redundancy and bad blocks, it probably doesn't matter within the lifetime of a card. (Most cards have as much a 50% bad blocks - by design.)

Edited December 27, 2017 by pico

[gyoung]

It is a principle of removable and reuseable storage from the earliest days of personal computing. If its formatted in the device which is going to write to it its less likely that data is written improperly.

 

Gerry

[mich]

I've been using SD cards for years, mostly Sandisk Extreme and Sandisk Extreme Pro with different sizes and speeds(max 32 GB). They come preformatted and I use them in the MM2, the SL and my Canons. After a shooting session I just stick them into the card reader of my PC(Windows), transfer the files to my HD and then delete the files on the SD card. I don't have the cards specifically assigned for a special camera, I just grab any card that is lying around. So over the time there are folders from different cameras simultaneously used on the cards. I've used the cards frequently for data transfers between my computers just like USB sticks. I've deleted files in-camera and per Windows Explorer. So far I have never formatted or reformatted any SD card I've used. All cards have been working perfectly, I've never had a single corrupted file in all the years.

 

Am I just extremely lucky??

[david strachan]

I agree Sandisk had never faulted for me.

 

I use them in all my cameras, and other electronics..

 

A good brand, very reliable.

 

As an aside, i always format in-camera after downloading the images...don't do erase.

 

...

[Exodies]

I had an SD card go bad in an unusual way. It wouldn’t mount on my Mac; the system simply didn’t see it. But it worked fine on my iPad and in the camera. So I threw it away.

[Raid Amin]

YES.  

 

And never delete.

Same here. Download all image files from the camera to the computer (Dell workstation) and to some external drives for extra back-up. Drives are cheap to get. Then I return the card to the camera, and then I format the card in the camera where the card will be used. I avoid cards with large sized memory. I have never had any problems with any of my cards.

[Guest jvansmit]

Ditto.

 

I haven't replaced my 16gb & 32gb Sandisk cards for ages, don't delete & always format in camera, and the only time I've ever had a problem was a few years back when I chimped while my M9M was still writing files to the card after continuous shooting. Other than that, I've never had a card issue.

[david strachan]

Deleted..

Edited February 1, 2018 by david strachan

[Exodies]

My Sandisk card  (quite well used by now) has gone bad. Once when I put it in the camera to reformat it said it was write protected. Formatted it in the Mac and it was OK. Today in the middle of shooting it said it was write protected. Powered the camera off and on and it was ok. Time to bin that card. Or maybe give the card slot in the camera a good blowout. 

[LocalHero1953]

My Sandisk card  (quite well used by now) has gone bad. Once when I put it in the camera to reformat it said it was write protected. Formatted it in the Mac and it was OK. Today in the middle of shooting it said it was write protected. Powered the camera off and on and it was ok. Time to bin that card. Or maybe give the card slot in the camera a good blowout. 

It's too easy to lock a card by catching the lock slider as you put the card in and out of the camera or the reader on your PC/Mac. Check the slider.

OTOH I'm a great believer in never giving a defective piece of IT hardware a second chance. Cards (and, previously, floppy disks) were flipped to the bin at the first sign of trouble.

[pico]

I would look for something in the camera, by the locking tab because it is the camera (or computer) which is supposed to check its position. The SDCard does has nothing in its OS to check and not really care about it.

Edited April 8, 2018 by pico

[Exodies]

I checked the locking switch - it has quite a long travel and isn't loose. I gave the slot in the camera a blowout and cleaned the card contacts with an eraser. I'm going to give it another chance - but will pack two spares instead of my normal one...

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear