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  5. CF Card Life Expectancy and another question concerning them

CF Card Life Expectancy and another question concerning them


12 years 10 months ago #91909 by ozman1865
I currently have Three CF cards two of the 4 gig cards and one 8 gig card. I am shooting with a Canon 50D and Love the way everything works. I have noticed in the past few weeks that I am having to denoise a lot of my pictures. I have checked to see that my ISO is not out of wack and causing this problem. I have been thinking about this as I am editing my last Shoots Photos. I was wondering how often one should change there cards, and if extended use of the cards will cause noise? I was thinking about the old days when cassette tape would only be played so many times before we had to break down and purchase new ones. I assume that is the same with the CF Cards or for that fact any memory card. Can any of you veterans Shed a bit of light on this subject for me. I am about 55,000 photos into this canon 50D and I know the accommodation for service is 100,000 shots. I have never cleaned the sensor but this seems to be more like memory loss more than dirt or anything else. Thank you for taking time to check this post and for your replies.

Jeff Frazell Photography
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12 years 10 months ago - 12 years 10 months ago #91911 by MLKstudios
Do you ever FORMAT your cards?

Matthew
Matthew L Kees
MLK Studios Photography School
www.MLKstudios.com
[email protected]
"Every artist, was once an amateur"
,
12 years 10 months ago #91915 by ozman1865

MLKstudios wrote: Do you ever FORMAT your cards?

Matthew


Matthew, No I have never formated them can you explain the benefit to doing this. I have shot these cards from the beginning with out format. I usually shoot my sessions in two formats at the same time. The largest Raw file and the Second larges Jpg file. editing from the large raw and using jpg to give to client with the unedited photos and converted raw to jpg also. if I need to do this I can just never gave it a thought prior to this question.
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12 years 10 months ago - 12 years 9 months ago #91919 by MLKstudios
You NEED to format a card now and then. I do after every shoot.

What it does is create a new file directory, which considers the entire card "writable". If you delete images instead, and don't format, you end up with many pockets of space where bits and pieces of your files get written.

You'll find FORMAT in the camera's menu. Always format in camera, not using a PC (or any external device).

Matthew

FYI digital cameras use a modified version of DOS for file management.
Matthew L Kees
MLK Studios Photography School
www.MLKstudios.com
[email protected]
"Every artist, was once an amateur"
,
12 years 10 months ago #91921 by ozman1865
Thank you Matthew. I will give this a shot and see how it comes out....... I had read about formatting but never added it to my routine. I will change my ways and start doing that from now on. So with this light on the subject do you believe that is a big part of my problem with the extra noise in my Photos? and is there still a recommended length of service for a card?
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12 years 10 months ago - 12 years 10 months ago #91923 by MLKstudios
As for the noise... it could have something to do with it. Life expectancy depends on how many times you "wash" it.

;)

PS I replace them when their price goes down. Got a bunch of fast Lexar 8GB's using a rebate.
Matthew L Kees
MLK Studios Photography School
www.MLKstudios.com
[email protected]
"Every artist, was once an amateur"
,
12 years 10 months ago #91925 by ozman1865
That sounds like a smart shopper idea. LOL thanks for the info and I will see if that will help me with the noise.
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12 years 10 months ago #91939 by chasrich
I'm not sure but I don't think the card can be the source of the noise.

I have some knowledge of computers and the dynamics in writing and reading data from different media. Typically, a file is written and then verified. In addition there is a CRC (cyclical redundancy check) character written at the end of the file. When a file is later read perhaps on a different device it can check the accuracy by computing the CRC and then matching it to the files version.

Now, the question remains about the CF card and file protocol for cameras. I hope someone can verify this for us.

By all means format.
“Amateurs worry about equipment, professionals worry about money, masters worry about light, I just make pictures… ” ~ Vernon Trent
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12 years 10 months ago #91945 by ozman1865

chasrich wrote: I'm not sure but I don't think the card can be the source of the noise.

I have some knowledge of computers and the dynamics in writing and reading data from different media. Typically, a file is written and then verified. In addition there is a CRC (cyclical redundancy check) character written at the end of the file. When a file is later read perhaps on a different device it can check the accuracy by computing the CRC and then matching it to the files version.

Now, the question remains about the CF card and file protocol for cameras. I hope someone can verify this for us.

By all means format.


Thank you for your input here. I have formatted two of the Cards and I will be shooting a few shots when I get up in the morning for Fathers day as the kids will all be around I should be able to tell whether or not reformat helped with the noise. But With your explanation I believe once I get them loaded into the computer files for edit I might still see the same issue. I will update once I have checked to see if there was any change to my noise problem. In the mean time I will keep using my fabulous topaz denoise and keep the photos sharp. I sure love the full line of topaz was a very good investment I believe. Thanks again for the input
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12 years 10 months ago - 12 years 10 months ago #91955 by MLKstudios
One problem with cards I have experienced is during transfer from card to computer, some data can get lost. But, it usually results in much more than a bit of extra noise. Everything gets "whacked".

Matthew :)

PS even if formatting doesn't help, it is still something you need to do.
Matthew L Kees
MLK Studios Photography School
www.MLKstudios.com
[email protected]
"Every artist, was once an amateur"
,
12 years 9 months ago - 12 years 9 months ago #91971 by Baydream

chasrich wrote: I'm not sure but I don't think the card can be the source of the noise.

I have some knowledge of computers and the dynamics in writing and reading data from different media. Typically, a file is written and then verified. In addition there is a CRC (cyclical redundancy check) character written at the end of the file. When a file is later read perhaps on a different device it can check the accuracy by computing the CRC and then matching it to the files version.

Now, the question remains about the CF card and file protocol for cameras. I hope someone can verify this for us.

By all means format.

:agree: Formatting. unlike love, never hurts. It will "fix" a bad spot on the card. Often the CFC error is in the card reader. See if a friend has another reader you can use or buy one (about $20). I have seen some comments about Sandisk cards and certain readers.
I have used the same CF cards (several brands) for 5 years with no errors (reformat about every second or third "clear"). Good luck.
Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-g-schickler.html?tab=artwork
Photo Comments
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12 years 9 months ago #95885 by HawaiiGuy
This was a interesting thread to read :thumbsup:
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