Nikon D7000 manual Formatting a Memory Card

22 David Busch’s Nikon D7000 Guide to Digital SLR Photography

Formatting a Memory Card

There are four ways to create a blank memory card for your D7000, and two of them are wrong. Here are your options, both correct and incorrect:

■Transfer (move) files to your computer. When you transfer (rather than copy) all the image files to your computer from the memory card (either using a direct cable transfer or with a card reader, as described later in this chapter), the old image files are erased from the card, leaving the card blank. Theoretically. Unfortunately, this method does not remove files that you’ve labeled as Protected (by pressing the Protect button to the left of the LCD while viewing the image on the LCD), nor does it identify and lock out parts of your memory card that have become corrupted or unusable since the last time you formatted the card. Therefore, I recommend always formatting the card, rather than simply moving the image files, each time you want to make a blank card. The only exception is when you want to leave the protected/unerased images on the card for awhile longer, say, to share with friends, family, and colleagues.

■(Don’t) Format in your computer. With the memory card inserted in a card reader or card slot in your computer, you can use Windows or Mac OS to reformat the memory card. Don’t! The operating system won’t necessarily install the correct file system. The only way to ensure that the card has been properly formatted for your camera is to perform the format in the camera itself. The only exception to this rule is when you have a seriously munged memory card that your camera refuses to for- mat. Sometimes it is possible to revive such a corrupted card by allowing the oper- ating system to reformat it first, then trying again in the camera.

■Setup menu format. To use one of the recommended methods to format a mem- ory card, press the MENU button, use the up/down buttons of the multi selector (that thumb-pad-sized control to the right of the LCD) to choose the Setup menu (which is represented by a wrench icon), navigate to the Format Memory Card entry with the right button of the multi selector, choose which memory card to format (Slot 1 or Slot 2), and select Yes from the screen that appears. Press OK to begin the format process.

■Two-button format. The second recommended method requires no menus. Hold down the metering mode button (on top of the camera, just southwest of the shut- ter release button) and the trash can button (on the upper-left corner of the back) simultaneously for about two seconds. (A Format label [color-coded red], appears next to each button, as shown in the yellow boxes in Figure 1.9.) The characters For and the exposures remaining displays will blink in the viewfinder and top-panel LCD. If you have memory cards inserted in both the Secure Digital card slots, Slot 1 will be selected. If you’d rather format the other card, rotate the main command dial to select that slot. Then press the pair of buttons again, and the D7000 will format your card. To cancel the format, press any other button.