erase or format, any difference between them?

I usually take about 50 to 100 pictures and then dump all the pictures
on my hard drive.

Should I format or erase the card?(while the card is in the camera)
It always seems faster when I format... however, I don't know if
repeated formatting is good or bad for the card.

I have always formatted rather than erased. As you said, it's faster. Both processes simply tell the table of contents that it's ok to write anywhere on the disk. It doesn't even erase your existing pictures. I have a card I have formatted at least a dozen times and when I looked at it with a file recovery program it stll had a couple of pictures from two years ago, since I had never written the card full I guess. Weird.

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Joe Hawblitzel

that formatting versus deleting (in the camera) has at least one advantage and that is that it deletes the empty folders on the card which the camera creates. That's a lot more convenient the next time you go to copy the files from the card to the computer because you don't have to try to figure out which of the folders actually have files in them. Erasing in the camera seems to just delete the files but leave the folders. Eventually, you'd end up with hundreds of those empty folders on the card.

I generally just copy the files to the PC, make a backup copy, and after I know I've got the files on both the PC and a good backup, I format the card in the camera. I always convert my RAWs as a batch before I make the backup or format the card so that I can view them all and be sure nothing is missing or corrupt beforehand.

Jim H.

When I sold my G3 on ebay, I included the 32MB and bonus 64MB cards that I got with it. I knew that formatting or deleting didn't actually destroy the images, but didn't really think about it. Shortly after the guy got the gear, he posted me an email with a proof-sheet like image including thumbnails of all the images he had recovered from the memory cards! He asked me if I had them backed up! The nerve of the guy! He was a bit over-enthusiastic altogether... I had to tell him a few times to stop emailing me (bad) jokes.

Next time I sell a memory card I'm going to fill the card with photos of a sign saying "it's rude to recover images from a 2nd hand memory card!"

This 'feature' has saved my butt at least once, when I deleted some photos from an event I didn't think anyone would be interested in. It turned out that they were the most valuable photos I took!

--
Tim Auld, Digital Salvo Sports Photography: http://www.digitalsalvo.com

Not entirely sure about this but when I spoke with Sandisk about this the tech told me that every once in a while it is a good idea to format the card in a card reader via the PC, then plop it into the camera and format it via the camera options.

What he said is sometimes the sectors can become so fragmented with simple erases that subsequent file writing can become corrupt ... thusly making some images corrupt, and this may be why some folks get images off their cards that are only half-written in appearance. That is to say, you see half the image fine and the other half is just garbled mess.

So now I format my card via the pc then camera about once a month and so far so good for me.

As to why PC formatting and then Camera formatting, I have no idea ... but it doesn't seem to hinder my process in any way and I still get all my images to and from the cards ok, so the way I figure it, doesn't hurt to add that one simple step every once in a while.

Use a utility application that actually destroys or obliterates the data and reformat the card in the computer before selling it.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

Manyk said:

What he said is sometimes the sectors can become so fragmented with
simple erases that subsequent file writing can become corrupt ...
thusly making some images corrupt, and this may be why some folks
get images off their cards that are only half-written in
appearance. That is to say, you see half the image fine and the
other half is just garbled mess.

Click to expand...

This is true if you tend to erase picture-by-picture and shoot new pictures in between. It's not true if you always do an "erase all" before each session. But as mentioned before, "erase all" does not erase the subfolders.

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RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'

As I know, there's two types of formatting.

First one is just to erase headers of files (photos) from its "table of contents". So the card seems to be clear. But data of old pics stays until they are overwritten with new pics data. This type of formatting is faster.

Second type is to erase "table of content" and to write every bit of card "null". This type is slower.
As for in-PC formatting, you can choose between the two types.

But it seems, in-camera formatting is the faster type and you can recover old pics with special software in PC later. If you want to erase pictures in camera it is the same thing to erase pics one after another or format the whole card - pictures stays and could be recovered in PC later. However formatting is faster.

Yes, that would be the sensible thing to do... but it's funny to imagine their face when they find the hidden message

--
Tim Auld, Digital Salvo Sports Photography: http://www.digitalsalvo.com

--
Juli
http://www.pbase.com/julivalley/galleries
Canon 2oD, Canon Gee3, and Canon S7o.

I keep trying to find an artist's eye in the B & H catalog

Format (in camera) after each download.
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Mitch

The same option exists for the format on the PC (quick format or q). The default PC format command or procedure does a full format.
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Nelson