Can you delete from the CF card in your computer?

[Jay Gould]

Having finally "graduated" to Breeze Browser, the first steps in my workflow are:

1. Open the CF card in Breeze Browser

2. Ctrl A to highlight all of the images

3. Ctrl S to go to the full screen slide show mode

4. Using only my right hand I work the left and right arrow keys to move through the images, and I also use the up and down arrow keys to tag the first round of keepers (up arrow adds tag; down arrow removes the tag). This is an exceptionally fast way to traige your original shoot and in my case delete about 80+% of the images; the benefit is that you never spend the time downloading images that you are definitely not going to keep.

5. I then click Esc to go back to the grid mode; Ctrl F brings all of the tagged images to the top of the group.

6. I then highlight all of the tagged images, Ctrl-Shft to remove the tags (leaving those images still highlighted), and then

7. I copy the first round of keepers into a folder.

Question: I thought I had read somewhere that you should not delete from the CF card outside of the camera. Is this an "old wive's tale" since after I complete the copying of the "keepers" I put the CF card into the camera and format the card for the next shoot?

If there is no problem deleting from the CF card I would change my workflow and delete the rejects from the CF card. That would leave on the CF card only the first round of keepers.

The benefit would be that I could import into either LR or Bridge and convert to DNG at the same time.

I haven't decided which import program would work best for me - experimenting with both regarding file names, key words, etc.

I have decided that I am going to convert my keepers to DNG, and I am not saving a CR2 copy. FYI, I have initially backed up the CR2 file for protection while I am triaging, deleting, copying renaming, converting to DNG etc. Once I have completed the initial process - prior to any post processing of the images - I will do a double backup of the DNG files and then delete the CR2 files.

Bottom line: will you damage the CF card if you delete from the CF card through your computer and then format the CF card in your camera?

[arash_hazeghi]

Bottom line: will you damage the CF card if you delete from the CF card through your computer and then format the CF card in your camera?

It is extremely unlikely. In the past the removable FLASH media used a different file format, so when formatted or deleted files via PC using FAT16 or 32 it needed to be reformatted with the camera before it could be used, but now all cards are using FAT32 which is fully compatible with PCs. In any case, you can't physically damage a healthy CF card by deleting its contents or formatting it.

[Jay Gould]

:D
Thanks Mate, I knew sooner or later (36 views) a super techie :eek: ;) like yourself would provide an answer.

[Harshad Barve]

Hi Jay
Here is my method , you may find useful
I conncet my camera with PC through communication cable provided by Nikon , Download all pics and disconnect Camera. My PC has antivirus protections.

Then I format card in camera , So no need to take out and put in card after each shoot, so will not be worried about bending pins :cool:

Harshad

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Jay
Here is my method , you may find useful
I conncet my camera with PC through communication cable provided by Nikon , Download all pics and disconnect Camera. My PC has antivirus protections.

Then I format card in camera , So no need to take out and put in card after each shoot, so will not be worried about bending pins :cool:

Harshad

Harshad there are two drawbacks to connecting your camera directly to the computer

1) The camera's USB connection is usually slower than a dedicated high speed card reader

2) There is a remote chance that you may end up erasing or corrupting your camera's firmware, most of modern cameras have two way communication between the computer and camera so you can control the camera using your PC, update the firmware etc. So PC has access to camera firmware and if for any reason the link crashes during transfer you may have hard time reseting your camera.

Most photographers use a dedicated card reader for downloading photos.


Best

[Harshad Barve]

Harshad there are two drawbacks to connecting your camera directly to the computer

1) The camera's USB connection is usually slower than a dedicated high speed card reader

2) There is a remote chance that you may end up erasing or corrupting your camera's firmware, most of modern cameras have two way communication between the computer and camera so you can control the camera using your PC, update the firmware etc. So PC has access to camera firmware and if for any reason the link crashes during transfer you may have hard time reseting your camera.

Most photographers use a dedicated card reader for downloading photos.


Best

Need to change the way I D/L images for sure
TFS info Arash

[Jay Gould]

Harshad, I too am using a USB card reader. The first thing I do is read the card and now I will delete what I am not keeping directly from the card before downloading into my computer. Of course, as soon as I remove the card from the reader and put back into my camera I format the card so that I always have a fresh card ready to go.

[Jack Faller]

I use the File/"Get Photos from camera" option in CS4 Bridge using a PC but read from a USB card reader, not the camera. I also simultaneously backup the files on a different disk (another option). These files are deleted once a month, but provide a safety net if a main file is accidentally deleted. I then use Breeze Browser to select keepers. This admittedly involves writing to the disk and then deleting, but you have a backup if you change your mind and the time to read an 8GB card is not too bad since you can start culling with Breeze Browser before the transfer is complete. If you have checked the appropriate option, Bridge asks if you want to delete the files from the card. I have not had any problems for a Canon 40D or 50D with the formatting of the card getting screwed up. Hence you probably don't have to reformat each time, although some might argue it is good practice to do so. So to answer your main question --you won't damage the card deleting the files on the computer.

Another question is whether removing the card from the camera is a risk? You can potentially bend some pins in the camera or wear out the contacts in the card if you remove and replace it; however this doesn't generally seem to be a problem. On the other hand the transfer will be slower. There is also the potential of not having the camera with its lens supported well during the transfer, so it could fall. In the end I think you will find that most people use a card reader.

[Stu Bowie]

I use a card reader.

Remove my card from the camera, and place in card reader into PC.
Download in Picasa 3
After completion, program asks me do I want to delete from card - Yes.
Remove card reader from PC
Remove CF card from card reader, place back in camera - format in camera.

I have been doing this all the time for both my Canon 20D and 50D, and havent any problems with my CF cards, ( and I shoot a lot)

[Desmond Chan]

Use the card reader -> input files to Bridge -> remove card - with images - from card reader -> format card in camera.

[Jim Zipp]

I've always downloaded the card and then edited on the hard drive. I guess I heard way back that it was safer to do so and the only drawback was the few minutes extra to download first. I do remember Mike Danzenbaker I think it was going on a trip where weight etc was really tight so he brought a lot of cards and kept deleting ones he didn't want to save space. I seem to remember him saying the write time from camera to card became painfully slow after a while. That may all have changed now and I do know people that routinely do it that way with no problems so take it for what it's worth.