Available storage on SD card

[charlieg54]

How can I tell how much storage space has been used or how much is available on my XT-2 SD cards?

[milandro]

the camera will tell you (if you enable it to) the remaining number of shots or the time , it can’t tell you how many Gb or Mb left there are

[charlieg54]

Once an SD card is full what is the best way to delete the files on the card after they have been saved to a computer? Does the card need to be reformatted?

[Larry Bolch]

Once an SD card is full what is the best way to delete the files on the card after they have been saved to a computer? Does the card need to be reformatted?

 

Yes, over the years the few cards that have been reported as corrupted, the common thread was that they were not formatted in the camera. Evidently, cards—like hard-drives—can become fragmented. Formatting them in the camera restores them to what the camera wants to see when it writes.

[milandro]

on the other hand in over 3 years of use of the same card I have very rarely formatted it and more often than not emptied it by simply emptying the trash-basket on the computer after removing the files and countless times have removed it without previously ejecting and here it is, still working perfectly.

[BobJ]

SD cards are solid state flash storage and cannot become fragmented in the same way that a hard drive does. I have read many times that they should be formatted rather than delete the files but I cannot think of any reason why this should be so. I suspect that it is a myth. However it's quicker to format if you want to delete the lot. If you do format, always format in the camera as it will create the required file structure.

[milandro]

since you are opening the files on your computer the quickest method is to throw them out from your computer even before you take the card out to replace it in your camera.

 

Select all throw out empty bin. 

[Tony Prince]

the first question by charlieg54 was never adequately answered. Milandro said the camera will tell you if you enable it to, but he did not explain how to enable the camera to tell how many shots are left. I just lost a bunch of shots because I kept shooting and the camera gave me no notification