Best way to delete photos...

[azruial]

There's a concept called "Best Practices" in corporate speak, which is a way of saying sensible behavior. Even if it doesn't make a difference (or esp. when it doesn't make a difference) you avoid that 0.01% chance that something might screw things up. Here's a few:

Don't delete in-camera. Deleting just uses up the battery for something you can do at home, and you never know if a shot might work after all. If you're constantly running our of room, get a bigger (or second) memory card.

Use a card reader. Do not create a charged electric bridge via cable between your expensive / finnicky computer and your expensive / finicky camera. Static electricty is NOT your friend.

Format every time. It helps minimize problems. It doesn't matter where you delete your files after download - on PC or by formatting in-camera, just make sure you reformat.

... and back up your data, dammit.

Yes. To summarize:

The one rule to encompass them all is: shoot it almost *full, upload your pics, format in camera, and you're all set!
*correction: It's a good idea to stop shooting when the camera reports that there are still a few shots left, full could be anywhere from 70-95% of the card's capacity (see post below, thanks Jerry)*

Avoid performing any other modification to the card's data (although doing other things is inevitable, keep it minimal)

Yeah, most people can get away with not following any rules and never have a problem. And someone who follows the rules can still have a card go bad, but that does not invalidate the reasoning behind the rules. I won't type out all the details behind the rules but if you are interested, I think Wikipedia gives a decent explanation.

 

[Jestev]

I'll weigh in here:


NOOOOOOOOOOO! (how's that for subtle?)
Don't delete from your card for God's sake. It's a great way to screw up the card, or easier still, get in a hurry and hit delete all by mistake.
Maybe I'm in a weird group, but I've never heard a pro saying to delete from the card.

I don't think anyone was proposing to delete files before uploading the whole batch to your computer.

 

[JerryPH]

He may be a pro photographer, but I definately do not like his suggestion.

I *NEVER* erase pics from the memory card. I copy all the pictures to my hard drive via USB 2.0 card reader, work on them there and when I am sure I have the pics all on my computer, and they are safe, I format the card *in the camera*.

- Using the pics on the computer instead of the card is MUCH faster

- in the event you erase a picture accidentally, if done on the card, its gone forever (yes I know you can always recouperate deleted files. Why complicate your life?)... not if you erase pics on the computer. If that happens, simply recover it from the recycle bin or copy it off the card again.

 

[JerryPH]

Yes. To summarize:

The one rule to encompass them all is: shoot it full

I don't recommend that either. Once you see you have about 5-10 pics left, swap cards. Why? Becuase some cameras do not display the correct amount of available space. Different RAW files for example take up vastly different amounts of space. It is difficult for the camera to tell you exactly what the file size of the next pic will be, so it approximates # of shots left.

If you try to "overfill" your card by accident, it has happened often that the entire contents of the card are corrupted.

You can find all kinds of horror stories just like that over on other Nikon forums.

Better yet, purchase a big enough card that will last you about a 1/4 to 1/2 day (for your normal shooting amounts) and get 2-4 cards and swap often. If something happens and 1 card dies on you, at least you have 2-3 backup cards (or half to 2/3rds of your pics saved).

 

[azruial]

I don't recommend that either. Once you see you have about 5-10 pics left, swap cards.

Good point, I meant full as relative to 1/2 or less, at which point you are noticeably shortening the card's lifespan.

*corrected* Thanks :blushing:

 

[kundalini]

Once I upload to my PC through a card reader, I answer NO if I want to delete files from card. I reformat in camera. Takes a few seconds and I know all data is wiped out.

 

[JerryPH]

Good point, I meant full as relative to 1/2 or less, at which point you are noticeably shortening the card's lifespan.

*corrected* Thanks :blushing:

Well, there are no moving parts to most cards (minidrives are the exception), so I cannot see how filling it to 10% or 90% can shorten it's lifespan.

I have 3 CF cards that I use, two 8GB Lexar Extreme IVs and a double height 2.2GB minidrive. I shoot only in RAW and get an indicated 480 pics per card on the 8Gb cards. At around the 420-440 shot mark I swap it out or I swap it out at around the 1/2 way mark through my day or project or session or whatever. The 2.2Gb card is slower and used only in emergencies or if I happen to fill both 8GB cards.

To be careful costs me nothing... but I would experience a lot of pain if I lost over 400 pics of an event that I could not reshoot like a wedding or vacation, etc... No second chances there.

 

[azruial]

Well, there are no moving parts to most cards (minidrives are the exception), so I cannot see how filling it to 10% or 90% can shorten it's lifespan.

The lifespan of a flash memory card comes from the properties of the materials that are used to store the data. If you constantly re-write one section it will eventually lose it's ability to hold information. As the article I originally linked says, it takes a long time for this to become an issue, especially when you write the whole card full. The issue that most people worry about is that if you take 10 pictures and delete them, and take 10 more pictures, that is 3 write cycles to the upper 10 pictures worth of memory. That means that this will run out faster than the rest of the card and once any part of the card goes bad the whole card is junk. These days, the technology is good enough that it *shouldn't* matter much if at all, but I would still answer the question of what is the "best" way to delete photos the way I did before.

Obviously there is a compromise of back-ups, safety and organization that you mentioned and each person has to decide what is best for them.

 

[JerryPH]

The lifespan of a flash memory card comes from the properties of the materials that are used to store the data. If you constantly re-write one section it will eventually lose it's ability to hold information.

<snip!>

These days, the technology is good enough that it *shouldn't* matter much if at all, but I would still answer the question of what is the "best" way to delete photos the way I did before.

Obviously there is a compromise of back-ups, safety and organization that you mentioned and each person has to decide what is best for them.

Using current good quality cards, you can format your card into the several thousands of times before starting to be concerned about flash card failure... so we are talking many many years before failures of this kind arrive. Of course, one never knows and it could come on the 2000th format... or the 100th... or the 50th.

Without paranoia and a little common sense is likely the best way.

- Feel comfortable about *nearly* filling the card, but always leave a little space.

- Format on the camera, not the computer. It is possible to format the card into a format not compatible on the computer (NTFS anyone? Also some cameras still cannot use FAT32, so using big cards is not easy or often not possible), and then you are stuck in a pinch trying to figure out why you cannot use that card on the camera suddenly. Also we know that a camera format is consistantly 100% compatible and safe in terms of setting up the card to work with YOUR specific camera.

- Copy (not move) the files to your computer and work on them to your satisfaction. Once you are done, format the card in your camera.

- Card prices are always coming down. There is no reason to have only 1 card anymore. Buy 2 or more and alternate.

... and one more hint, if I may...

- I do not connect my camera to the computer via the USB cable to transfer files from the card to the PC. It has happened that a small surge sent through the USB cable to the camera was strong enough to fry some delicate camera circuitry, effectively killing it.

I remove the card from the camera, insert it into a portable 7-in-1 reader that is USB 2.0 and transfer that way. Yes, if one is clumsy or not careful, one can bend the pins in the reader or camera, but that is something that YOU control... just be careful and gentle!