Format or erase?

TylerW

Apologies if this question belongs in accessories, but anyhow,

When clearing off a CF card, is it better to erase all pictures, or just format the card? I always just format, because its quicker and I'm impatient. But if formatting the card will shorten the lives of my cards in the long run, I'd rather just erase them the slow way.

Any thoughts?

arroyoshark

Think I recall reading in a book about the rebel xt, they recommended formatting.

Blurmore

Format, Format, Format!
Always Format!

TylerW

Blurmore wrote:

Always Format!

Hooray! Impatience prevails eternal!

System

Blurmore wrote:

Always Format!

Why? Does it effect picture quality?

Erasing allows you the option of recovey in the event you lose a file. I only format every few months.

Blurmore

truth wrote:

Why? Does it effect picture quality?

Erasing allows you the option of recovey in the event you lose a file. I only format every few months.

I shoot weddings, and I dislike the idea of bits of info hanging out on my card after they have been deleted. I format each of my cards at the beginning of each job, dump them on the 80g external, and format again before the next gig. I don't think it affects picture quality, and I'm no uber geek, who could probably EXPLAIN which is better, but for me clean cards are good cards.

Red Bull

From what I have read before, formatting reduces the risk of file corruption. I always format if I need to take all of the photos off.

ian408

format. You write fresh to the card. Nothing left behind (well, depending on
the forensics that is).

ian

gus

Def always format for me also.

Manfr3d

ian408 wrote:

format. You write fresh to the card. Nothing left behind (well, depending on
the forensics that is).

ian

Each Filesystem on a disk contains an index list of the filenames,
the length of the file and the position where the filecontent is
stored on the disk.

If you delete all files on a disk, each index table entry is deleted one by
one. The actual filecontent is not removed. This procedure is time
consuming.

If you quick format a disk, you remove this index table in one run
as well as some file system data. And your disk appears to be
completely clean. But since no actual filecontent is overwritten
one can recover all files.

If you do a normal format your disk is additionaly overwritten by zeros. But
since a Disk is a magnetic medium it is impossible to get 100% zero (more
like 40%). This makes it possible to still recover files in the same manner as
if you did a quick format.

If you wipe a disk, the whole disk is overwritten with a special kind of bitcodes
(they vary according to the disk writing technology) which
makes it impossible (or at least very expensive) to recover the previously
stored data.

If you just want to get your disk clean, do a quick format. Its
faster than delete and not less secure than normal format. The
only benefit I can see in using normal format is that your disk
is overwritten with zeros so you get an error message in case
there is a problem on the disk.

tbcass

TylerW wrote:

Apologies if this question belongs in accessories, but anyhow,

When clearing off a CF card, is it better to erase all pictures, or just format the card? I always just format, because its quicker and I'm impatient. But if formatting the card will shorten the lives of my cards in the long run, I'd rather just erase them the slow way.

Any thoughts?

It will not do any harm to your card to format so if it's faster keep on doing it.

USAIR

I always format after moving photos from the card...always
Which reminds me I need more cards

Fred

Jeffro

truth wrote:

Erasing allows you the option of recovey in the event you lose a file. I only format every few months.

I format, in camera, all the time, have even done it on accident, and recovered the files. In fact I recovered files that had been formatted over more than once.

claudermilk

Format every time. I usually cycle the cards several times during a shoot, so they get dumped to the PD70X, then back to the camera & formatted right away. With time constraints, formatting is the only way for me.

W.W. Webster

Always reformat - and do so in the camera in which it will be used, not in a card reader.

pathfinder

What Webster said!!

Format IN THE CAMERA, not in a card reader, and you'll be good to go!!

Art Scott

W.W. Webster wrote:

Always reformat - and do so in the camera in which it will be used, not in a card reader.

Absolutely...I have witnessed a card becomeing unusable / not recognizeable in camera after being formatted in a card reader....so i have always formatted in camera each and everytime I download pics from card.