SD Cards

mike

New member
Received a Nikon D 40 as a Christmas gift along with a 4 GB memory card. I was told that the card should be formatted after every shoot as there is danger of loosing images or partial destruction of images if not formatting card after downloading on to my laptop. I download to my laptop after every shoot and my intention is to make a CD after the card is filled as a back up and then format the card.

Will the digital deity smite me with damage to my SD card if I do this?
 

Browncoat

Senior Member
Can it happen? Yes. Get in the good habit of formatting your card after hooking it up to your PC to download images. Be sure to:

  • Make sure your new images were imported correctly to your PC.
  • Back them up.
  • Back them up again.
  • THEN format your memory card.
Some may debate me on this, but I (and many others) feel that it's better to format ASAP. That way you don't get stuck wondering if there are leftover images on your card, or if it's even formatted before your next shoot.
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
I have a little different procedure and ideas on using the cards and is only my opinion. Everyone has a different way and ideas. The cards are designed for data storage and letting data accumulate in them does not corrupt the data or do physical damage. More damage is done to these plastic cards with the constant plugging them in and out of the camera and in and out of a downloading device than just letting them sit in the camera and accumulate data until full. Data gets corrupted primarily from damaged or corroded contact points than anything else. It is always a good procedure is to inspect the contact points for damage and being corrosion free "before" putting them in the camera. Also never touch the contact points with your fingers. The only time I reformat a card is if for some reason I don't need the data already on it, or it's full, or I need the room. Unless I need the photos right then, I often will shoot several shots here and there over several days or even a week and then down them all at once. I use the cards for storage if I'm on a long trip where I will be taking 3k to 4k shots. I have 5 cards, two 8gb and three 4gb. If I'm on the road I download the card(s) each night but keep using the card until it's full and then go to the next card and put the full card in my bag. They act as a back up to the hard drive on my computer. When I get home I backup everything on separate hard drives and then reformat the cards. If I'm on the road more than a week I usually take a separate portable hard drive and back up the computer every couple of days but still keep the full cards until I get home. BTW, my pp program does not show photos that have already been downloaded from a card unless I want it to. So I only need to deal with the new ones.

I've been using this procedure for many years and it has worked well for me. Anthony's procedure also works very well and a lot of photographers do that way. The main point to remember is that these little plastic cards are the weak link in the taking, storing, and data transferring of photos. They are mass produced and even the best made are not that good. Because of being mass produced they can have internal defects that may not show up right a way. Caution is always the best procedure in the handling and transferring of data to and from them. And always backup and back up again.
 

Snap Happy

Senior Member
After shooting I copy my shots to my laptop. I then copy them to a external HD. I then put the card (or cards) back into the camera and format the card.

The files on the laptop get burnt to Data Disks before being deleted off the HD. The backup files stay on my external HD.
 
I simply keep the same card in the camera. I connect (via cable) to the laptop, using Nikon Transfer ( Current versions of Nikon software ), which has the option of deleting the images from the card as they download. Once downloaded, I burn a DVD, then transfer it to my external HD. From there, I import it as a referenced file to Aperture 3 (Mac). If I'm at a wedding, and can't take the time to download each card, THEN I will switch cards. I have 4 x 8 GB cards, and 4 x 4GB cards. If I'm not able to contain it to that many photos, then I must be praying and spraying...
 
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