35mmSummicron Posted September 23, 2009 Share #1 Posted September 23, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Curious to know why Leica decided to add an "Overwrite" feature to clearing the SD cards. The M9 manual states that overwriting can take up to 60 minutes. I doubt a fully charged battery will be able to last that long firstly, and secondly, how is Leica actually expecting people to wait that long? What is the advantage to overwriting data on your SD card incamera with this function, verses just formatting it and shooting over existing material? I've never seen this feature on any digital camera--you either 'Delete all' which will delete all but your protected images on the card, or you 'Format' which clears the TOC on the card. Seems theres enough quirks with SD card speeds, formatting speeds and deleting images..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted September 23, 2009 Posted September 23, 2009 Hi 35mmSummicron, Take a look here M9 Format vs. Overwrite. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
gravastar Posted September 23, 2009 Share #2 Posted September 23, 2009 One use is if you are caught photographing at a venue where photography is forbidden or restricted to certain times, eg. first 3 songs. If you are caught security can demand the SD card - deleting the images or formatting the card doesn't wash any more, they know that they can be recovered. By overwriting you get to keep the card minus the images. If you are going to give a client images on a card you don't want them to recover another job's images from the unused storage area. There are faster PC based programs for wiping the card though. Another use, but I'm not sure about this, is if the card file system is badly corrupted, the card may be recoverable. Later Canon 1D series offer a deep format option which may be similar to what Leica are doing. Bob. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jquimby Posted September 23, 2009 Share #3 Posted September 23, 2009 One use is if you are caught photographing at a venue where photography is forbidden or restricted to certain times, eg. first 3 songs. If you are caught security can demand the SD card - deleting the images or formatting the card doesn't wash any more, they know that they can be recovered. By overwriting you get to keep the card minus the images. Bob. bit of side bar but... At least in the US only the courts can make you forfeit property. Security staff have little to no rights, only hold until police arrive, police can confiscate but only as it relates to preserving evidence while an investigation is underway. Police do have to give it back if no charges are being filed, regardless of what it states on the ticket or is posted at the venue. No one has the right to delete your images. If the venue/ticketing agent wants to pursue a civil case against you for violating their terms then so be it, but the images are, no matter when taken (4 song, last song...), protected under intellectual property laws. Sorry for the the rant but it annoys me when people think that photographers have no rights... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adli Posted September 23, 2009 Share #4 Posted September 23, 2009 Note that it is recommended that the card should be formatted several times a year. This will decrease the probability of ending up with a corrupted card and increase the performance of the card. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyves Posted September 23, 2009 Share #5 Posted September 23, 2009 I do format the card afresh each time I reuse it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted September 23, 2009 Share #6 Posted September 23, 2009 Overwriting replaces existing data by new ones, often zeros and ones AFAIK. More secure than formatting or erasing of course but can take much longer depending on card speed and number of overwrites essentially. For legal documents i overwrite 35 times generally. Takes about 4 hours for a 4GB card if memory serves. Number of overwrites is certainly lower in the M9 but i would not use a camera for that personally. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjh Posted September 23, 2009 Share #7 Posted September 23, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) After formatting a card, the image data isn’t actually deleted; overwriting the card takes care of that (in the rare cases where this is necessary). By the way: Formatting a card is a useful measure when something goes wrong; doing it all the time amounts to superstition. Most of my cards have never been formatted (except once, of course – by the card’s vendor). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nocti-Luchs Posted September 24, 2009 Share #8 Posted September 24, 2009 After overwriting a 8 GB card it had only 4 GB free discspace. I had to reformat it with my PC to get 8 GB again. So I will just format in future. Maybe a firmware bug ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyves Posted September 25, 2009 Share #9 Posted September 25, 2009 Format in the camera is so easily done that it can be done as standard procedure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicaiste Posted September 25, 2009 Share #10 Posted September 25, 2009 Most of my cards have never been formatted (except once, of course – by the card’s vendor). The card should be formatted by the camera itself at least once before you use it. I format the card each time I put it back in any camera. It is my standard way to remove the pictures. Lucien Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjh Posted September 25, 2009 Share #11 Posted September 25, 2009 The card should be formatted by the camera itself at least once before you use it. And what happens if you don’t? It works just as well as if you do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted September 25, 2009 Share #12 Posted September 25, 2009 And what happens if you don’t? It works just as well as if you do. I'm a compulsive formatter as well. Lack of scientific proof does not preclude precautionary action. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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