M8 SD card best practice ?

[-------]

Just got a brand new Sandisk Extreme 8GB 45MB/sec card SDSDRX38192A21.

Could anybody here advise me how to correctly " treat " my SD card?

Here is what I customarily do:

Format card in camera
Shoot up to 10 DNG + JPG fine image pairs in about 5.5 sec with
camera set on "S".
Camera takes 54sec to write all buffered files to card.
Switch of camera
Remove card from camera.
Lock card.
Download card via Lexar USB 3 card reader LRW307URBNA.
Eject card via Apple command ⌘ + E
Unlock card
Reinsert card in camera
Reboot camera
Reformat card in camera.
Shoot new images

Would you think this to be appropriate SD practice or do I need to change anything in my workflow?

Much obliged,
Mark

 

[uhoh7]

Don't reformat. Just delete images.

At least with M9, if I reformat in camera, the card eventually gets strange. But if I just delete, it never gives me any worries.

Some Sandisk cards don't do well, but since you have it, I would go ahead and use a few times--if fine you can probably trust it.

Never be without an extra card if shooting is important.

 

[Ronald M]

Do not delete unless you are in dire need at the end of a full card.
Delete only reassigns storage places as empty. Can lead to fragmented files.

Reformat cleans the registry or directory of instructions where to find data. Eventually the directory gets full.

There is an algorithm to spread usage over all the storage places over time. Good cards anyway.

Keep doing what you are doing.

 

[Fraser]

As said before don't delete in camera unless you must and every time you download pics reformat in camera also I wouldn't use sandisk buy some older lexar card you only need 2 or 4g. There is a thread on the other leica forum with speed tests from various cards I found the fastest cards in my m9 were transcend 10 speed 8g.
In over ten years working as a press photographer I have always used lexar cards and I have never lost one image (that includes digital leica) so I always stick with those.

 

[micromontenegro]

Back in the dark ages, when I got my M8, I inserted a new card, fomatted it, and have used it ever since, including deleting all pictures I didn't want to keep. No secret handshake or anything. Works like a charm.

 

[Lss]

I have heard stories about M8 being picky about SD cards. This is not my experience. My camera has worked without problems with any card I have used it with. This is surely more than a dozen SD cards, most of them by SanDisk. I expect nothing less.

 

[-------]

empiric knowledge of M8 Sd Card use

empiric knowledge of M8 Sd Card use

To format or not to format, that seems to be the question.

I used Lexar 2GB Sd cards back in the days and deleted or reformatted just as I pleased - never had a problem.
Then I switched to Panasonic Gold 8GB SDHC cards and suffered disaster.
(They were tested 1000x by German TüV and seem to solve issues with banding in the M9.)
The only thing I seemed to have done differently is to have interchanged cards between the two M8's that I shoot.

Now I have tried a few current and new Lexar 133x 8GB, 16GB 633x cards -
and found that the Sandisk 8GB 45/sec Extreme ( current model ) beats everything else marginally in shooting speed - so I will use that card until I'll run into problems once again ... there seems to be no science regarding "best practice with SD cards". Not even the friendly people at the Leica Store had any definitive answers but admitted to get corrupted DNG files here and there when using the Leica recommended 30MB/sec Sandisk Extreme card. That is why they recommended shooting DNG +JPG fine - because only DNG files would get corrupted but not the JPG.
Strangely enough I found that that does not slow down the shooting rate compared to shooting DNG files only. I wish for a M8 II with the same 1.33x crop sensor proportions ... as it is the best camera for practical journalistic use ( and smaller than the Canon 1D IV which was also dropped by an irrational market that seems to favor other flavors ... ).

 

[Lss]

To format or not to format, that seems to be the question.

Format when you get a new card or switch to a card that was previously in other use (thus a new card from your camera's point of view). Format also when you have transferred your images and need the space. Deviate from this if you face problems. Personally I would get rid off a card that gives any trouble. I have had one CF card by Kingston that was unreliable (used on a Canon DSLR).

 

[Kent]

Do not format the card with a Win7 computer, don't even delete images from the card, because the M8 will not be able to read it - at least that's the issue I have. But it's the only one.

If I delete in the camera, there is no problem. And I often format the card in the M8 - also works well.

 

[presspass]

Have had an M8 since new. Always reformated the card in the camera. So far, no problems. I typically don't delete files in the camera unless I really need the space, and that happens only a couple of times a year.