cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Camera with two card slots and formatting?

stevet1
Authority
Authority

I have never used a camera that two card slots, so I was just curious.

Does each card have to be formatted in the slot for which it is to be used, or can you swap cards between the two slots indiscriminately?

Steve Thomas

4 REPLIES 4

Tronhard
VIP
VIP

Hi Steve: 🙂
You can swap the cards as you wish and format them as necessary- I have done so frequently.
The only thing is, because the two cards can be used for different purposes, e.g. fully duplicated (no issue really), JPGs in one and RAW in the other, or stills in one or videos in the other.  Then, swapping may produce confusing results until the cards are formatted.


cheers, TREVOR

The mark of good photographer is less what they hold in their hand, it's more what they hold in their head;
"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris

Hi Trevor 😀,

Mostly, I was thinking about the formatting. I've always read, "Format the card in the camera you're going to use it in". I wondered if that applied to the slots as well. I hadn't thought about the file structure.

If I take a card out of slot A, and the last picture on that card is# 49, and I put that card in Slot B and take a photo, will that new photo be# 50, or does it overwrite your card and  create a new# 1?

Steve Thomas

Well, let me go back a bit:

As to file numbering I have always used the default of continuous.  That has always had the effect of continuing on from the next number past the highest value in the card.   I have always used duplication of images across cards, so there has never been an issues. To my knowledge the file management system does not have the ability to overwrite files. 
So, looking at the various options in the menu:
If one card is using still images and one video, they will be reading and writing files with different extensions so there should be no conflict if the cards are switched.
If one card stored RAW and the other JPG files, the same thing should apply as both the extensions are different, and the numbers are continuous so no overwrite should happen.
The other file numbering option, to restart numbering on a different card should not be an issue if the camera has taken images already.   I think this is much the same functionality as if one was switching cards between cameras.
So, others may have more input but that is my experience and understanding.
I hope that helps!


cheers, TREVOR

The mark of good photographer is less what they hold in their hand, it's more what they hold in their head;
"All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow", Leo Tolstoy;
"Skill in photography is acquired by practice and not by purchase" Percy W. Harris

stevet1
Authority
Authority

Trevor,

Cool.

Thanks,

Steve

Announcements