CF cards

[bubba]

I know you can delete images from the CF cards and use them again but does this cause a degradation in quality after awhile? Also I used my CF card but did not format it before hand. It still took images and there did not seem to be a problem. Why do I need to format a CF card? I'm new at this digital stuff and have a lot to learn. Any good books I can get on this subject? Thanks in advance.

[Greg West]

You do not need to format the cards after you download pictures. Just erase the pictures off the card and you are ready to go. I have been told that the CF cards have a number of uses and then you will have to replace them, but not sure how many, or what causes them to need to be replaced.

Hope that helps

Greg West

[Edwin]

Like Greg said, you do not need to format your card after downloading the pictures, you can just erase them. Like all removable media, CF cards have a limited lifespan. The main causes of damaged cards are heat buildup from direct sunlight, exposure to moisture, x-rays (especially at the airport), RFI and electromagnetic waves.

Hope this helps.

[VooDooMafia]

I am not sure how long they should last (the CF cards that is) but I do know that I have been using some of mine for about 4 years now with over 10,000 photos being taken with them and no problems yet.

The only problem I seem to have it needing more space lol.

I would however suggest to format the CF cards every so often just to clear out any data that might not get fully deleted(I try and format mine every 4 months or so to keep them clean).

[paulv]

You should be able to use your CF Card over and over again, you can format it or delete it, it does not matter as the card does not contain any moving part as the case in a disk or zip.

As far as i am aware there is no limit in formatting your CF Card and i have formatted mine thousands of times and it is still working.

Enjoy taking photo's.
paul

[paulv]

by the way, just had a look and some vendors have a five year replacement warranty, so they should last forever!!!!

[Linds]

How do you format your card?