Am I nuts or should an internal camera "format" not wipe all the files off the card?
When I use the camera to format my cards, any images that were on the card remain. This does not make sense to me, the cards should be re-formatted, should they not?

larrycurrlymoe: not just a funny moniker, I can't dance either!

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I always format my cards in camera and the images never remain on the card. According to the manual, formatting the card is a 2-step process (see page 32 of the manual). After pressing the format buttons the first time, a blinking F o r appears in the shutter-speed displays in the control panel and viewfinder. Press the buttons together a second time while F o r is blinking to format the memory card.

Paul

>Am I nuts or should an internal camera "format" not
>wipe all the files off the card?
>When I use the camera to format my cards, any images that were
>on the card remain. This does not make sense to me, the cards
>should be re-formatted, should they not?

Hi, yes they should. Have you tried formatting through the menu system on the LCD? It's more intuitive than using the two-buttons, and you can verify that it's done more easily.

Happy shooting, Tony.

p.s Also the menu system allows you to select memory cards if you are using two. Not sure, but the two-button formatting may only format card one.(?)

Yes, it should. Usually when people report that formatting isn't working it's because they aren't doing it right. If you are using the buttons to format, you have to hold them both down until the display starts to blink "Fmt", then release them briefly and push them both down at the same time again. If that's not what you are doing, there's your problem.

-- Jon
Wethersfield, CT, USA
Connecticut High School Sports Photos

Once you know the sequence with the buttons, it is a much faster method. And you don't have to go surfing through menus.

Be aware that formatting a card is the cleanest way to remove the digital record. You can also trash the images on the card by hitting the > Playback button, and then deleting individual images are a whole day's worth of images.

The formatting method is more thorough. One disadvantage is that you'll lose everything on the card. So if you have Save Settings, those go to. This is not the same as U1 & U2 User Settings.

Those are stored in the Camera memory.

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Technically, you images are still there until you use the card to record something.

If you format the card and never use it, you can recover most (if not all) of the images.

Computers and cameras do not erase anything. All formatting does is rewrite the directory on the card.

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Thanks to everyone for the great instructions. Problem has been resolved.
Turbo

I own the D3s and expect it will operate much the same as any other Nikon. Two button formatting allows card selection by rolling the back dial after you get the initial blinking format. Press and hold, get the blinking format, roll the command wheel to select card, press and hold a second time, camera formats the selected card.

Daniel McGowan
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Yep, I can confirm the D7000 allows you to select the card in this way too.

BTW, on the subject of removing images, be aware that with images being saved to both slots (as automatic backups) the effect of deleting single images is to only delete one copy. Embarrassing images you thought you'd deleted in camera can later resurface from the second slot. Don't ask me how I know that...

I always use the menu option to format, Have never had any problems

I generally use the incamera format with the two button system.

I recently downloaded Lexar's card recovery app and was amazed what was on my "empty" card. I recovered maybe a thousand RAW files.
I then used the app to permanantly erase the card, making the card easier to recover future imagtes. Dennis

I just went in and checked a memory card that I used new years eve and than formatted with the menu format option after I down loaded the images. I used Sandisk Pro Recovery program for the check and determined that all of the image files are still there. Only the file names have been removed. This is the same as a quick format on your computer where the FAT tables are cleared. This makes sense in that it takes less than a second to do the format in the camera. What that will do is let you load new images from bit zero with no gaps.

BertC

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