No need for confusion. A CF card is basically an IDE disk drive. At
2GB and below it gets formatted as a FAT-16 device which is a standard
DOS thing. At greater than 2GB it gets formatted at FAT-32 which came
in with later versions of Windows 95.
As long as the card doesn't get formatted by the computer as NTFS or
some other format unrecognizable to the camera (which could include
FAT-16 or FAT-32 with unusual but legal parameters) there should be no
problem with either the computer or camera reading and writing the disk.
Where you might run into trouble is where the camera doesn't simply
format the card but places certain folders and/or data markers on the
card as well. If these aren't there it may get confused. It depends on
how much thought and effort has been put into the software on each
individual camera. You can't know how it will work without trying it.
My point is that there's simply no reason for trying any of this stuff.
I have used CF cards for transferring files from computer to computer
but I always format the card in the camera before using it in the camera.
Chuck Norcutt
Geilfuss Charles wrote:
> What's puzzling about this whole thread (or at least revealing
> my ignorance of high-tech modern electronics) is that I've ever
> formatted a memory card of any type. When purchasing all three of the
> digital cameras in our household (Oly 700uz, Kodak Easyshare Something
> and Oly E-500), the cards were all bought separately. I have never used
> the "format" function in any camera; simply plugged the card in and away
> I go shooting. A few times I have used the "erase all" function but I
> don't think this is the same as reformatting. I have always assumed that
> these cards were like pre-formatted diskettes but this thread seems to
> indicate that camera makers put their own "juju" on the card. We have a
> Nik*n C**lpix we use at work and we routinely use the CF card to carry
> non-photo data from work to home computers via Sandisk card readers.
> We've had no problems using the card in the Nik*n and I even used it in
> an E-300 store model when I was checking it out. Again, no problem. I'm
> so confused.
>
> Charlie
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