Let's say I'm going to film an event on the field for about 3 hours and I have 2 16 gig cards (2 hours SxS or MxR) with me... I know I can "dump" all the clips (on a laptop) from the first card once is filled and start recording in the 2nd .... once I have my first card back up, what is the best way to empty the card and be ready for continuous recording ?
Do I have to delete the clips on the laptop and just reinsert the card ? is it ready for recording this way ?
Do I have to clean it on the camera ? is it possible while recording on the second one ?

...sorry for my english ..... Just want to hear what the expert recomends...

BTW.. what an incredible camera is the EX3 !!!

Kind Regards

Doesn't really mater how you emty the card as long as you have a copy of a full directory structure from the card (SxS or MxR),
theretically format media,(if you don't have camera data:) as opposed to just delete clips, can give you some extra read/wright cycles out of 100 gazilian by the specs, but with the current SDHC prices I don't think it's a big deal,
when I was using SxS, I used laptop for copy and delete in browser,

I find Copy and Delete in Browser safest because I can see and know I'm deleting which clips. One wouldn't want to actually delete or format in camera only to discover you just trashed the wrong card between takes.

Of course using MxR with two 32GB SDHC cards will give nearly 4 hours of continuous recording.

it always concerns me when one posts about 'dumping' the sxs clips. please use sony clip browser with crc enabled to transfer the bpav folder and files to at least 2 drives before deleting the clips from the sxs cards.

of however, you have/can invest in the alternate memory cards at a greatly reduced cost compared with the sony sxs cards, the buy yourself enough cards for the job. no need to 'transfer' any files during the shoot. just flip the switch to record protect once the card is out of the camera in case of a mixup between cards.

best wishes for your shoot

Rent a couple more cards for the day so you don't have to transfer anything until the event is over would be my first recommendation.

Copying, dumping clips in the field... With the SDHC cards being so affordable I would really try to avoid that. I would really try to get a few 16gig cards with the appropriate reader devices and just avoid the hassle.