Question about memory banks

PavementPilot

New member
I posted this on another forum I participate in, and thought I would post here aswell, to see if I get some different angles to this question.

On some of the models of camera, I have seen discussion on memory banks. I know these are used to store settings and parameters for various shooting setups. My question is, where are these stored, in the onboard camera memory or on the media card?

The reason I am asking is, would it be feasible to have the next generation entery level cameras with memory set ups, but stored on the card. Or lets take it one step futher, allow all cameras to store it there, and have software on a PC, where as you can program banks there and load them onto the card for the camera to use. This is done already with firmware updates.

I realize these can be lost with the 'Format Card' function on the camera, but would partitioning the card stop this, and could the cameras be made to understand partitions?
 

Joseph Bautsch

New member
If I understand what you are asking these personalized shooting set ups are stored in the camera. They are for shooting situations where the photographer has a frequent need for certain shooting settings and are often referred to as Custom Shooting Modes. You can pre set the the camera for shooting say a basketball game at your kids HS gym and save the settings for the next eight or ten games you know you will be shooting under the same conditions. In most cases these custom settings are saved as part of the camera custom menu settings so they can be selected as many times as needed. It works much like the scene modes on the mode dial. They don't put put these on the card because if you have to change cards in the middle of a shoot the settings go with it. And does card 2 have the same settings? Also how do you know which card has the settings you want. It's easier to save these custom settings in camera and select the one you want when needed. With the amount of memory they can put on a very tiny chip having enough in camera memory to save these settings is no problem.
 

LensWork

Senior Member
While it is not possible (that I am aware of) to transfer custom settings to a card, then to another camera or computer, you can transfer Picture Control settings to a card/computer for use on other Picture Control capable cameras.
 
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