I recently purchased a Delkin 128MB card from State Street Direct. My
S10 is working flawlessly with the card installed. The only "surprise" I
found was that my S10 reports that the card only has 121MB available with
4KB being used (for what I have no idea). Can anyone explain this?
Hi, Zyte:
A few things to know about CF cards (and this applies to storage devices
in general, including floppy disks, hard drives, etc.):
1. Formatting the card (or the disk) creates a directory structure that
eats up a certain amount of space. In many cases, this can amount to as
much as 5% of the 'nominal' storage capacity. You can't use the card (or
the disk) without formatting it, so this is nothing to fret about.
2. Erasing images or other files rather than reformatting the card (or
disk) is another potential space-stealer. Again, in most cases, this is a
minor inconvenience not worth worrying about. You can get most if not all
of this kind of space back by reformatting the card (or disk).
3. Total storage capacity prior to formatting may turn out to be slightly
different (sometimes less, sometimes more) than the 'nominal' capacity
listed on the drive label. This varies according to the card (or disk) in
question, and there's no rhyme or reason that I've been able to discern
about it.
Bottom line, you have very little if any control over the actual amount
of storage capacity available after formatting a card or disk. However,
you can always check the status of your CF card (total available space as
well as free space in KB) in your PowerShot A-series, S10 or Pro70 by
viewing the information in the Format menu on the LCD monitor.
Best Regards,
Chuck Westfall
Manager/Technical Information Dept.
Camera Division/Canon U.S.A., Inc.
I see no way to get to a "format menu" in the S-10. Nothing in the User Guide's index about it.
