flash card baffler

[budmo]

I have a new Kingston 4gb compact flash card but when read on my dektop it reveals 3.5gb available,---- and 659 shots on my Nikon D70s at the raw setting --where has the 0.5gb gone?thanks--ps-- (when I read my 1gb Sandisk it reveals a full 1gb(997mb)

[donoreo]

Formatting. There is a certain amount of wasted space in the file system, the larger the card size the more waste. It has to do with the cluster sizes and how files get written. The 1 GB card uses a 4 kilobyte cluster and the 4 GB uses a 64 KB cluster size. I can get geekier and go into more detail

[chris-p]

Don, that doesn't explain a missing half gig though.

Neither does the "bits or bytes" explanation...

Have you formatted the card?

[budmo]

Chris p--I have formatted the card on the camera and when put into my computer the colored circle shows it is completely clear but reveals 3.5gb available.

[donoreo]

Originally Posted by chris-p

Don, that doesn't explain a missing half gig though.

Neither does the "bits or bytes" explanation...

Have you formatted the card?

Sure it does, but I did not word it well. In the PC I am using at work right now I have a 1 TB hard drive. The total available space is 931 GB.

You also run into binary or not. It is being reported as 1 gb = 1000 or 1024?

I would suggest that the OP format both on the camera.