Formatting CF Cards

[Robert Spoecker]

[font color=\'#000000\']Remember that at least in the Canon 10D reformating deletes all images including the protected ones while erasing deletes only the unprotected images.

Keep that in mind and be sure not to loose protected wanted images.

A word to the wise...[/font]

[Tim Gray]

[font color=\'#000000\']yes, format in camera.  This isn't a deep format and the attendant extended read/write cycles.[/font]

[Tim Gray]

[font color=\'#000000\']I have heard that Hitachi is now sending Creative a different version of the drive which will not format for use in a camera though I havn't tested this.[/font]

[font color=\'#000000\']Current wisdom is that Hitachi have replaced a controller chip making the drive IDE, not CF - so any camera looking for CF won't find it.  Doesn't appear to be a software hack.  The new models apparently have a disclaimer on the package that the unit won't work in digital cameras.  I've got one in transit so I'll see if I get the good version or the new version.[/font]

[Ray]

[font color=\'#000000\']Current wisdom is that Hitachi have replaced a controller chip making the drive IDE, not CF - so any camera looking for CF won't find it.  Doesn't appear to be a software hack.  The new models apparently have a disclaimer on the package that the unit won't work in digital cameras.  I've got one in transit so I'll see if I get the good version or the new version.[/font]

[font color=\'#000000\']If Hitachi can make a 4gb CF card at such a low price to be included in a $200 MP3 player, why are they ripping off owners of digital cameras? Or to put it another way, why are owners of digital cameras expected to pay for the development costs of this hardware and subsidise junk music listeners?[/font]

[boku]

[font color=\'#000000\']

 If you had a garage full of widgets and you could sell some for $40, or you could sell them elsewhere for $400, which would you prefer?

If I could sell them at $40 and make a profit, I'd do so. To sell the same item to someone else for $400 would be immoral, unless of course I'm on a Robin Hood crusade to rob the rich to help the poor.

There should be an investigation into such practices. Do you not have 'fair trading' watchdogs in the USA?  [/font]

[font color=\'#000000\']We have Capitalism. Market driven pricing -- supply and demand. It isn't always perfect and it can be impure (monopoly, government controls, taxation policy, offshore dumping, etc.), but in general, is it a satisfactory underpinning of our society.

Let the buyer beware! I sort of like the idea of voting with my wallet.[/font]

[61Dynamic]

[font color=\'#000000\']

Easy to pull up information. Not easy to pull up relevant information. ...and largely unanswered questions regarding whether or not it's better to delete files in-camera or re-format the card.

It doesn't matter if you are using a Microdrive, a flash card of any type, a hard drive, or are recording to a bannana peel. The FAT filing system works the same.

A search of Google reveals lots of problems various people have encountered when attempting to format flash cards on various devices

Any troubles in that area are from either, 1) a poorly engineered device or 2) using a card across devices wich use different versions of the FAT file system as jwarthman mentioned. A device that uses at most FAT16 won't reconize a card formated in FAT32 but the device that uses FAT32 can read/write to a card formated in FAT16.

Most devices format in FAT32 anymore due to the size of flash cards these days. Any card 16mb or smaller must be FAT12, FAT16 can go up to 2GB and anything above 2GB is FAT32 (source). It's common practice to limit FAT16 to 512mb cards or smaller due to space savings using FAT32.

Furthermore, just about any computer running can reconize and read a device formated in the FAT file system. The only limit here is the way it's connected to the computer.

it might be the case that the initial factory format is the most reliable format and that unnecessary formatting of the card might serve no purpose.

Any formating you perform to the card is no different than the formatting done at the factory.[/font]

[61Dynamic]

[font color=\'#000000\']Granted it is possable to not have any troubles at all just as it is with a hard-drive. Also just like a HD, it's wise to perform maintenence regularly to keep things running smoothly. I Perhaps should have stated it's a possability you will gain slack space. Not a garantee. Nor is is a garantee you'll have no troubles by not formating regularly.

Also it's a possability that the chance you will get corrupted data will drastically increase by not formating. This is a greater possability than the slack space issue. Corrupted FAT and/or fragmented data can equal bye-bye-picture.

Even though it's possable to not have any troubles, it's just not worth risking. Considering how fast formating is and how little effort it takes to do, it's just silly to not format regularly.[/font]

[Ray]

[font color=\'#000000\']The issue does not revolve around how the drive is used. It is the simple use of the drive that can cause data corruption. Formating regularly reduces the chance of bad things happening.[/font]

[font color=\'#000000\']Well, if you say so   . I have no evidence that this is true, other than your opinion. Is this advice from the manufacturers of flash cards and micro drives, or is it just a general deduction of yours based on anecdotal evidence?[/font]