PXW-X70 SD Card Formating

[Ray Paula]

Hi, Just got some new 64GB SDXC cards for my PXW-X70. I know that you need to format new cards, but I was wondering if you should always reformat them everytime when starting fresh? On page 78 and 79 in the users manual it has two types of formatting. First one performs normal formatting, with the second one stating "Removes all data completely" Also, I have saved PP's Custom settings, etc. on my SD card which will be erased if I do reformat. Is there a way to save/reload them without having to reset them all from scratch? Thanks, Ray

[Jeff Pulera]

Maybe get a cheap $10 SD card to save your profiles to? Don't need the big, fast ones for that

Thanks

[Ray Paula]

Great idea! What's your thoughts of me reformatting my cards after I dump them everytime? Thanks again, Ray

[Atticus Lake]

I never bother formatting them, I just delete the files. Works for me.

Format them if you like, but just a quick format. A "full format" is just a massive time-waster and wears the cards. The only exception is if you were selling the cards on eBay or something; a full format will make it impossible for someone to recover your data.

[Vince Pachiano]

The main advantage of a low-level format (completely erasing every bit on the card), is that if you ever accidentally delete a file, your file-recovery program will have an easier time of it if the card was recently low-level formatted.

If you attempt to recover a deleted file from a well-used card, the recovery program is gonna find bits-and-pieces of deleted files all over the place. It will then give you a list of 100s or 1000s of files that you need to say yes-or-no to attempt recovery. If, however, the card was recently low-level formatted, much of the card will be blank, thus finding your accidentally deleted file will require less work on your part.

Since this rarely happens, it's not worth alway performing a low-level format.

As for wearing-out your memory card, there used to be a white-paper by Lexar or SanDisk that talked about write-cycles of an order-of-magnitude of millions of write-cycles. I wouldn't worry about wearing out your cards.

[Craig Seeman]

It may end up being a big mistake if you never format.
I believe Sony warns the card can eventually become fragmented if you only delete clips.
That can result in recording issues.
As a professional I can't risk losing parts of a master and certainly don't want to have to reshoot.
You may not format after every use but you should do it periodically.
The lose of data on even a single shoot can be far more serious than the life of an SD card.

[Ray Paula]

Hi, This is the information I was looking for. The manual states "format card for the first time" but, I feel the same way as all of you do. Formatting certainly won't hurt, just need to make sure everything is off loaded. I'll stick with simple re-formatting. Thanks to all of you for your input/help and have a happy upcoming Thanksgiving! Ray

[Joachim Claus]

Hallo Ray,

I do not own a X70, however, I had the same thoughts with my Panasonic AG-DVX200. I also have a set of different scene files - partly modified to my own preferences, which are stored at the XDHC-card. My proposal is: Have a look at your XDHC-cards' file structure, and identify the location of your individual scene files. Then make a copy of your current XDHC-card and delete all media files, and keep only the original file structure together with your scene/picture files. I cal this a "Scene File Master".

Having don this, I format each XDHC-card in my camcorder, in order to get a fresh card. Then I put the formatted card into a card readerr connetced to my workstation, and copy the above described "Scene File Master" to the freshly formatted SDXC card. The result is a freshly formatted XDHC-card with added scene/picture files. With this card inserted into my camcorder, I have all existing scene files available.

Joachim

[Ray Paula]

Originally Posted by Joachim Claus

Hallo Ray,

I do not own a X70, however, I had the same thoughts with my Panasonic AG-DVX200. I also have a set of different scene files - partly modified to my own preferences, which are stored at the XDHC-card. My proposal is: Have a look at your XDHC-cards' file structure, and identify the location of your individual scene files. Then make a copy of your current XDHC-card and delete all media files, and keep only the original file structure together with your scene/picture files. I cal this a "Scene File Master".

Having don this, I format each XDHC-card in my camcorder, in order to get a fresh card. Then I put the formatted card into a card readerr connetced to my workstation, and copy the above described "Scene File Master" to the freshly formatted SDXC card. The result is a freshly formatted XDHC-card with added scene/picture files. With this card inserted into my camcorder, I have all existing scene files available.

Joachim

WOW!! Awesome....... I will definately do as you stated. What a great idea! HUGE Thanks, Ray

[Dan Gunn]

Originally Posted by Joachim Claus

Hallo Ray,

I do not own a X70, however, I had the same thoughts with my Panasonic AG-DVX200. I also have a set of different scene files - partly modified to my own preferences, which are stored at the XDHC-card. My proposal is: Have a look at your XDHC-cards' file structure, and identify the location of your individual scene files. Then make a copy of your current XDHC-card and delete all media files, and keep only the original file structure together with your scene/picture files. I cal this a "Scene File Master".

Having don this, I format each XDHC-card in my camcorder, in order to get a fresh card. Then I put the formatted card into a card readerr connetced to my workstation, and copy the above described "Scene File Master" to the freshly formatted SDXC card. The result is a freshly formatted XDHC-card with added scene/picture files. With this card inserted into my camcorder, I have all existing scene files available.

Joachim

Good advice!