Got a shocked telling off from a friend of mine when I deleted an image I'd taken on his brand new 7D. He told me it was possible to damage the processor by deleting images from the memory card 'in camera'. ONLY delete the images off the card when the card is being read on a computer, he told me. Never heard THAT before, and can't quite believe it. Is this true? If so, why? - and surely Canon wouldn't provide a 'delete' button!
Never delete images 'in camera'
- Thread starter Kiboko
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There is no problem deleting images while in your camera, many photographers do this all the time. Its certainly not going to damage your processor. I'd take anything your friend says about photography with a grain of salt from now on.
However, unless you need desparately to make more space on your card, I'd just transfer all the files to a computer and then decide which ones to keep or delete. It may turn out that that image you wanted to delete was one that you will keep, or you may accidentally delete the wrong one, and you can easily undelete on your computer if that happens.
However, unless you need desparately to make more space on your card, I'd just transfer all the files to a computer and then decide which ones to keep or delete. It may turn out that that image you wanted to delete was one that you will keep, or you may accidentally delete the wrong one, and you can easily undelete on your computer if that happens.
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Loswr
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Kiboko said:
I just hate when people give incomplete advice. Your friend was completely correct, but he forgot to tell you that advice only applies on Tuesdays when there's a new moon and you're standing outside on your left foot, facing due northwest at exactly 1:03am. Any other time, you'll be fine.
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There is one school of thought that deleting in camera can sometimes increase the risk of card failure due to corruption. I suspect it was true of older cards, but I don't know about recent cards. I generally wait until I get home just in case, to avoid losing anything, but I couldn't even conceive of a way that the processor could be damaged 
. I've never had a card fail (famous last words), but that doesn't mean to say that my practice of not deleting in camera has been the reason. I know of others who have had card failures and may be coincidentally or may be not, they have deleted in camera. I also know of people who delete in camera and haven't had a problem.
. I've never had a card fail (famous last words), but that doesn't mean to say that my practice of not deleting in camera has been the reason. I know of others who have had card failures and may be coincidentally or may be not, they have deleted in camera. I also know of people who delete in camera and haven't had a problem.
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indeed, best practice is to never delete images from the card, period
store stuff into your card, low-level format card, store stuff into your card, low-level format card, etc: never delete anything
on flash memory, if you delete stuff, you have to reset the bits, otherwise it will take more time to write again, and corruption errors may arise; deleting images (in camera, or in computer) does not reset the bits; low-level format does
admittedly, this should be a very small issue, and I'd be surprised if you ran into any problems while shooting stills
for shooting video (where a single bit going the wrong way becomes clearly visible), it may be more problematic
but chances are, if you run into problems, it will be something else (it's much more likely that some usb ports in your computer, or the usb reader, or the card, have a problem)
store stuff into your card, low-level format card, store stuff into your card, low-level format card, etc: never delete anything
on flash memory, if you delete stuff, you have to reset the bits, otherwise it will take more time to write again, and corruption errors may arise; deleting images (in camera, or in computer) does not reset the bits; low-level format does
admittedly, this should be a very small issue, and I'd be surprised if you ran into any problems while shooting stills
for shooting video (where a single bit going the wrong way becomes clearly visible), it may be more problematic
but chances are, if you run into problems, it will be something else (it's much more likely that some usb ports in your computer, or the usb reader, or the card, have a problem)
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smirkypants
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Ok. I shoot a lot of sports. I fill 32gb cards and change in a day. The LAST thing I want is to fill up my hard drive with a bunch of crap that I don't need to look at. When you're shooting lots of frames a second a certain number will be blurry, a certain number will be framed crappily and a certain number will have the ref wander into the way. I've made it a habit during pauses to clean up my card and quickly toss obviously crap shots. If in doubt I keep it, but the crap goes. I use Lexar 600x cards and I've never as much as had a hiccup.
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From what my experience has been, when you delete photos in camera, while it should be fine, a) it doesn't fully remove the image, Part still remain hense you can use software to recover images if you accidentally delete something. B) if you wish to fully remove files, format the card in the computer. Formatting in camera does a good job but some traces may still remain. Lastly c) as far as damaging the CAMERA, balony. There could be a shot of getting corrupt files here or there, but camera will be fine.
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I have deleted pictures off my cards since my first digital camera 10+ years ago and still do all the time with my 7D and 5DII, never a problem. Now if he said it might cause card problems, fine, may be he had a bad card and a bad experience. But the processor? That's just ridiculous. How does reading or writing physically damage a processor? (Technically, deleting is just writing on the card anyway, so it's the same as writing a picture onto the card.) So next time he tells you this, just smile and say "ok, if you say so" and then go back to deleting the pictures of your cards in camera if that is what you like to do.
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I imagine the key to possible card corruption is the format. If you delete in camera and never format, there is probably a risk, but if you delete in camera and then format when you get home, then in reality, there probably isn't alot of difference to not deleting in camera. Like many "facts" that are passed on, I think it may have been lost in translation.
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Tijn
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New question then: when a picture is "deleted", usually it still remains in the card's memory somewhere - it's just not accessible through the regular filesystem, until it's being overwritten with something else. Add to this the complications of flash memory which tries to overwrite the same data space as little as possible (because there is a maximum durability of 'amount of times a bit can be overwritten' before it becomes unusable).
Regardless, is there a difference in recoverability deleting them in-camera or from your PC?
I've recovered images I'd deleted thought my computer from a card once, but when I tried that after deleting something in-camera and I couldn't find the files I deleted any more. Is there a difference?
Regardless, is there a difference in recoverability deleting them in-camera or from your PC?
I've recovered images I'd deleted thought my computer from a card once, but when I tried that after deleting something in-camera and I couldn't find the files I deleted any more. Is there a difference?
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There is no difference in the deleting process of your pc or your camera (unless you shoot raw+jpg and only delete one on your pc 
). When deleting on camera there is a higher chance that you will use the disk space for a new picture again, if you continue shooting before trying to undelete.
Next to the before mentioned "you can only see what you want to keep on a big screen", another reason why I always keep my pictures is to make sure my numbered archive is complete and I know I didn't lose a picture somewhere.
). When deleting on camera there is a higher chance that you will use the disk space for a new picture again, if you continue shooting before trying to undelete.Next to the before mentioned "you can only see what you want to keep on a big screen", another reason why I always keep my pictures is to make sure my numbered archive is complete and I know I didn't lose a picture somewhere.
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neuroanatomist said:
After consulting with my friends in the CHAP (Canon Heavenly Assurance Program) you'll have to update your conditions, Big Brain.
It seems that if those conditions DO exist, and the camera processor is at risk, everything is fine if Michael Culligan's "Due Northwest" is playing at the time (within earshot, of course). For those who want to be safe, here's a link to a performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsZDm0fKhdM
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KevinP
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As with everyone else here, I've never had any problem with deleting images in camera. My problem is when I delete an image, or images, that I did not want to delete. That happens more often than I'd like to admit. It's easy enough to fix, just don't delete images in the camera. Solve both "problems".
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As for the processor - no way.
Solid state memory (such as CompactFlash) does have a limited number of writes per bit, but when you delete an image, it doesn't actually overwrite those bits, it simply deletes a pointer so that the data can no longer be accessed. It only overwrites that data when a new file is stored to the same physical location (which any competent solid state controller will only do after all other physical locations have been used, to keep the wear balanced), or when you low level format (all bits reset to 0). Even deleting everything from the card using an erase all images will only change pointers and be no different from clearing the card when it's attached to your computer.
More importantly, the lifespan of even the cheapest card is not a matter of concern right now, because by the time it dies from normal use, the card is likely to be obsolete due to increases in storage density. I've had a few cards die from use from way way back in my P&S days, and the largest one was 256MB.
Solid state memory (such as CompactFlash) does have a limited number of writes per bit, but when you delete an image, it doesn't actually overwrite those bits, it simply deletes a pointer so that the data can no longer be accessed. It only overwrites that data when a new file is stored to the same physical location (which any competent solid state controller will only do after all other physical locations have been used, to keep the wear balanced), or when you low level format (all bits reset to 0). Even deleting everything from the card using an erase all images will only change pointers and be no different from clearing the card when it's attached to your computer.
More importantly, the lifespan of even the cheapest card is not a matter of concern right now, because by the time it dies from normal use, the card is likely to be obsolete due to increases in storage density. I've had a few cards die from use from way way back in my P&S days, and the largest one was 256MB.
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unfocused
Photos/Photo Book Reviews: www.thecuriouseye.com
Okay, a related question.
I always assumed that it was best to format the card in-camera so that it is formatted to the camera's specs. I see some advising formatting on the computer. Kind of a moot point for me, frankly, since I don't even have a card reader, but, is there any difference?
Of course I'm talking formatting, not just deleting. I routinely format my card once I've uploaded the images and verified the files are okay.
I always assumed that it was best to format the card in-camera so that it is formatted to the camera's specs. I see some advising formatting on the computer. Kind of a moot point for me, frankly, since I don't even have a card reader, but, is there any difference?
Of course I'm talking formatting, not just deleting. I routinely format my card once I've uploaded the images and verified the files are okay.
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As the others have said, no you cannot hurt the processor. But there is no real reason to delete and image. It's actually not gone anyway, you could recover it.
For a long time I have dolled out the following advise in order to reduce the chance of corrupt file on a memory card:
1. Don't delete images in camera or on the computer. Unless you are desperate need to make room. (but maybe buy a bigger card next time) Way bigger than you need is the size you want.
2. Transfer all the images to the computer, and then back them up, before you remove anything from the card. At this point, feel free to prune away the good from the bad.
3. Format the card in camera, rather than delete anything. That way the card is set up the way the camera wants, not the computer.
My system works for me and the people who I've given the advice too. Before i did this, I'd have a corrupt file or whole card every few months. Since then, 4 years, no problems, shooting 30K photo a year. I think the problems I was having were related to going from camera to mac and sometimes PC. Essentially giving 3 computers the chance to put their own peculiar files onto that little hard drive.
For a long time I have dolled out the following advise in order to reduce the chance of corrupt file on a memory card:
1. Don't delete images in camera or on the computer. Unless you are desperate need to make room. (but maybe buy a bigger card next time) Way bigger than you need is the size you want.
2. Transfer all the images to the computer, and then back them up, before you remove anything from the card. At this point, feel free to prune away the good from the bad.
3. Format the card in camera, rather than delete anything. That way the card is set up the way the camera wants, not the computer.
My system works for me and the people who I've given the advice too. Before i did this, I'd have a corrupt file or whole card every few months. Since then, 4 years, no problems, shooting 30K photo a year. I think the problems I was having were related to going from camera to mac and sometimes PC. Essentially giving 3 computers the chance to put their own peculiar files onto that little hard drive.
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ROFLKiboko said:
great first post! got a good laugh from that, me thinks your friend suffers from a more than a little case of paranoia. In fact deleting in camera is much safer than deleting from the card on a computer. I am not sure if it happens with canons but with Nikon I had a strange problem where my wifes cards were showing all full in camera but they were blank when plugged into a computer. I worked out the problem was she had been deleting the images from the computer not from the camera or formating the card in camera. I think the problem is that the files dont actually get deleted this way unless you empty the trash as well. So now we just stick with clearing files in camera.
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