Formatting a card in the M Monochrom mk1

[colint544]

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I wonder if anyone might answer a probably stupid question?

When I'm formatting a card in my M Monochrom mk1, the menu offers three options - YES, NO, and OVERWRITE. Habitually I always select YES, but what's the difference between that and OVERWRITE? I've been using the same two Sandisk 16GB cards for the six years I've had the camera, and there has never been a problem, but I just wondered..

[01af]

YES will do a quick format, i. e. trash the existing FAT and set up a new one. That means the old data will still be there in the memory cells; it just won't be accessible anymore (except when using data-recovery software). The memory cells will continuously get overwritten as new data arrive.

 

OVERWRITE will do exactly that: explicitly overwrite all the memory cells so even data-recovery software won't find anything anymore. It will take ages to complete, and it will wear out the memory cells faster. Don't do that on a regular basis! It's meant to be used in critical situations when you must make sure no-one can retrieve your old photos from the card.

[colint544]

Brilliant - thank you very much for taking the time to give such a detailed and helpful piece of advice! Something I had always wondered about.

 

Many thanks,

 

Colin