Formatting memory cards?

[BraveMom3]

I briefly read in the manual of my new camera that you should format memory cards before you use them. Can someone explain this to me? To format or not to format? Thanks.

 

[CaptinJackSparrow]

if they are brand new cards yes i would format them
also set the date and time

this will help in the long run i have found that if you dont sometimes it will not capture the image in its entirety

 

[BraveMom3]

Thanks for the quick response!

 

[Lachesis00]

I too format the card right away. I got a card @ Costco I need to take back. It doesn't hold the photos I've lost a lot of good ones... Makes me so mad. I reformatted each time with no luck.

We took 490 photos at an airshow. I can see them on the camera but they will not download to the computer... says all the files are corrupted. This is the third time... 80 photos came out, 410 did not. We lost some really fun photos

 

[ducklite]

I also reformat my cards every now and then, first making sure I've burned everything on them to CD.

Anne

 

[ndelaware]

I format a new card before ever using it and then again after loading pictures on my computer. Moving or deleting pictures removes the image but leaves the file structure of your pictures on the card. The only way to clean it all the way is to format it.

 

[Geoff_M]

It's good practice to periodically reformat your cards in-camera. I do it before every use. The two things often associated with images getting corrupted on cards are:
1) Never reformatting it (btw, always reformat in the camera, not on a PC).
2) Deleting images off of a card from a computer or saving edited images to the card from a computer.

 

[PaulD]

It's good practice to periodically reformat your cards in-camera. I do it before every use. The two things often associated with images getting corrupted on cards are:
1) Never reformatting it (btw, always reformat in the camera, not on a PC).
2) Deleting images off of a card from a computer or saving edited images to the card from a computer.

I've lost a couple images to corruption too. But since I've started formatting my cards (in camera) after transferring the images to my computer it's never happened again.

 

[goofy4tink]

It sure is nice to know that I'm not the only one with this whole reformatting issue. So, it would be a good idea to reformat every time I download the shots to the computer? I have only been doing it every few months or so....and getting that 'memory card needs formatting' message a lot. Guess that would be my answer, wouldn't it?!!!

 

[Charade]

I too format the card right away. I got a card @ Costco I need to take back. It doesn't hold the photos I've lost a lot of good ones... Makes me so mad. I reformatted each time with no luck.

We took 490 photos at an airshow. I can see them on the camera but they will not download to the computer... says all the files are corrupted. This is the third time... 80 photos came out, 410 did not. We lost some really fun photos

Are you by chance using a Canon DSLR (rebel) and was the card a Sandisk (I thing that was the brand). There have been reports of a certain brand memory card not working properly in some Canon cameras. I believe a firmware update was put out to address this problem.

 

[ndelaware]

Are you by chance using a Canon DSLR (rebel) and was the card a Sandisk (I thing that was the brand). There have been reports of a certain brand memory card not working properly in some Canon cameras. I believe a firmware update was put out to address this problem.

Actually the only problem I heard about was with the Lexar Pro cards, which I haven't seen instore at my local Costco. If you haven't heard of this, here is some info for all you Canon dslr users out there:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-6467-7817

 

[Charade]

Actually the only problem I heard about was with the Lexar Pro cards, which I haven't seen instore at my local Costco. If you haven't heard of this, here is some info for all you Canon dslr users out there:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-6467-7817

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[ndelaware]

I knew I had more on this.

Here are the affected cards:

Lexar Professional 80x-speed CompactFlash 512MB (last 4 digits of card edge stamp is A4B6 or 9171)
Lexar Professional 80x-speed CompactFlash 1GB (last 4 digits of card edge stamp is A4B6 or 9171)
Lexar Professional 80x-speed CompactFlash 2GB (last 4 digits of card edge stamp is A4B6 or 9171)
Lexar Professional 80x-speed CompactFlash 4GB (last 4 digits of card edge stamp is A4B6 or 9171)

Here is Lexars' cure: http://www.lexar.com/support/cust_advisory.html You send them your old card they send you a replacement free of charge. You do have to pay to ship it to them, they pay the shipping back.