Questions please

[terrig]

I'm really new and have been reading that it is better to format the Sd card than delete photos...since I'm just starting out do you really advise doing that??? Not sure I understand the purpose of that?

Here's a real beginners question....when I'm taking a picture say of a bee on a flower, don't I focus on the bee...then go back and get him on the whole flower? Is the same true of taking a sunset...focus on the sky?

[Geoff F]

I use CF cards, but as I understand the principle. Formatting clears everything on your card so you start again with a 'new card'. So there is no chance of any corruption when overwriting previous images.

But this means you can't recover any previous images, with suitable software, if you should accidentally lose your downloaded files. However you can only recover images which haven't been overwritten.

I normally just delete files then shoot again next time without any problems. But I suppose doing a complete format now and then might be worth considering.

Second question is one of those 'it depends on the circumstances' answers.

Yes if photographing the sky, focus on the sky. But sometimes I want something in the foreground to be really sharp so I am willing to accept a little softness in the background sky, providing it isn't too severe.

[Brownbear]

H Terri,

With respect to the bee and the flower I try and think to myself if my image is all about the bee or all about the flower. If it is the flower I just try and capture the flower as beautifully and sharply focused as I can and try and keep the bee in the focus area. If it is going to be all about the bee I try to photograph the bee as close and as sharply as possible and think of the flower as a colourful background that will show off the bee.

[William W]

I understand that erasing an image file simply updates to the FAT (file allocation table). If the FAT is corrupted then simply easing the images files will leave that corruption. However formatting the card creates a new FAT.

As to the question of formatting the storage device in-camera vs. using an outside device e.g. a computer: it's faster to do it in camera. The camera is also (virtually) incapable of introducing malware onto the device.

My process: I remove my card from the camera and then “copy” the image files using a “Card Reader” to the Computer and also to the back-up external hard drive.

I then return the card to the camera and format each card as it returns the camera.

If nothing else that process is my one of my protocols to ensure that any camera is ‘ready to shoot’ when taken straight out of my camera cupboard or camera bag.

+++

On the bee and the flower question - I would focus on the part that is the MAIN Subject matter - that could be either or both equally.

On the question of the Sunset I would normally focus on the Horizon (i.e. at infinity): if there were other key subjects in the foreground then using an appropriate DoF would play an integral part in answering the question.


WW

[chauncey]

Here's a real beginners question....when I'm taking a picture say of a bee on a flower, don't I focus on the bee...then go back and get him on the whole flower? Is the same true of taking a sunset...focus on the sky?

It depends...don't ya just love that word...it depends on your vision. Is that bee the subject of the image or is that bee merely a part of the overall image. It's a creative choice.

[terrig]

Got it!!

[jcuknz]

With regard to format or deleteing images I have only formatted a card a couple of times in perhaps twelve years of digital.
At one point I kept a track of the build-up of junk on my cards, I have both CF and SD, and found that while there was some insignificant buld-up on CF cards there was none with my SD cards.
So I continue to first copy the camera file to my archive folder and then move the file to my working folder. After this the SDHC card seems to be quite empty. Copy and Move are tools in Windows Explorer after a file[s] is selected.

I appreciate for for a professional taking more photos in a day than I take in a year the buildup on the CF card could be a serious reduction in card capacity but for me it was less than one photo and of no consequence even after numerous cycles of card use.

With regard to the bee ... I used to try and get in as close as possible but of late as a result of an informative thread here in CiC and having a camera which can stand wasting pixels by cropping [ 16Mp compared to 5<10 Mp earlier ] I intend to stay back a bit and rely on cropping. Since I have yet to photograph a bee, they have always been too small and fast moving, I have hopes that in the future I will capture a bee shot ... one day ... fingers crossed Bumblebees are comparatively easy

The point is that as you get close to something the depth of field reduces to near zero and it was pointed out that cropping from further back results in more DoF .. perhaps enough to make a satisfying photo like Stagecoach shows us from time to time. It is also worth trying to shoot from an angle, flat on, that doesn't need much DoF to work as opposed to a head-on shot with the body stretching out behind.

[Davey]

low level format in camera is best option (if supported) followed by regular format. Many won't have problems just deleting but it's better to format if you can. Like mentioned deleting just updates the fat. Do the format in camera though NOT in a computer as it does make a difference. You can search around and find very detailed reasons on the why in camera and why format but I'll leave it out here as it's a lot of info and vary detail depending how much you want to know.

One thing I will say though is decent brands are better as not only is the design better (speaking to bro who is electrical engineer about this recently) but the fw will do things like dynamically cycle the blocks used so as not to stress some more than others as well as simple block write count recording.