re-format or delete CF card.

[hssutton]

Keith.
"Apparently it's better for the life of the card"

I doubt if there are many people still using cards that are over 10 years old and I've never had a card problem in all those years.
Actually I did have one problem, that would be in 2002, but that was with a Microdrive (cyclic redundancy error) Not a compact flash card.
I'm not advocating that anyone should format either way, just stating what I do.

Harry

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by hssutton

I doubt if there are many people still using cards that are over 10 years old and I've never had a card problem in all those years.

Harry

I've got some that are over ten years old. Don't use them now as the capacity is too small even thought, they cost an arm and an leg at the time.

[ianpinion]

I was taught to format my memory cards once I'd uploaded my images from them, as it is better for the card in the long run. You're far less likely to have read/write errors formatting than deleting images any other way.

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by ianpinion

I was taught to format my memory cards once I'd uploaded my images from them, as it is better for the card in the long run. You're far less likely to have read/write errors formatting than deleting images any other way.

How many times do you format your harddisk, the answer is never unless you have a major problem. It the same with memory cards and as I stated before, format in camera only deletes the Fat file and nothing else. If you have a problem with a memory card then you choose a low level format via a PC otherwise, it isn't neccessary.

[KeithT]

Originally Posted by hssutton

Keith.
"Apparently it's better for the life of the card"

I doubt if there are many people still using cards that are over 10 years old and I've never had a card problem in all those years.
Actually I did have one problem, that would be in 2002, but that was with a Microdrive (cyclic redundancy error) Not a compact flash card.
I'm not advocating that anyone should format either way, just stating what I do.

Harry

Well, I still have two SanDisk2gb Extreme 111 cards and two 2gb SanDisk Ultra 11 cards that are coming up for 5 years old now and as good and as reliable as the day I first bought them. All four carry a lifetime warranty with them.

I do think it is a wise move to buy good quality cards rather than those iffy supermarket brands though. But then others may not agree with that, and fair enough I suppose.

EDIT. OldBoy, you cannot possibly compare your computer harddrive with a CF card. One is a moving part and the other solid state. It is also very inconvenient to keep on formatting the harddrive on one's computer. Solid state technology is totally different and far more rugged; and even in principle I don't see your argument. Having said that, a solid state CF card should be good for at least100,000 rewrites before giving up the ghost.

[donoreo]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

How many times do you format your harddisk, the answer is never unless you have a major problem. It the same with memory cards and as I stated before, format in camera only deletes the Fat file and nothing else. If you have a problem with a memory card then you choose a low level format via a PC otherwise, it isn't neccessary.

By formatting the card, you are eliminating any problems with the file allocation table. Back in the day when most hard drives were formatted with FAT, utilities to fix the file allocation table were very common as corruption can easily occur.

As an IT guy, I would recommend that any storage media used in an embedded operating system device (camera, tablet, smart phone, etc) be formatted in that device.

[gtirman]

Thanx everybody for your informative input......i will go with re-formatting in camera me thinks :}