Barry_Green
Moderator
A longstanding recommendation has been that you should always format your SD/SDHC cards by using the camera's "format" command, and *not* by formatting on a computer.
We've seen a number of reports of people using a wide variety of equipment (various cameras and DSLRs) reporting that SD cards are refusing to work or failing mid-shoot.
Just wanted to point out that while reading the HMC40 manual, I found this warning:
When you buy a new memory card, don't just use it. Don't pull it out of the package and stick it in the camera. Instead, format it in the camera. Do NOT format it by putting it in your computer and choosing "format". I don't know how many of the reports of glitched/failed recordings are due to people ignoring this advice, but -- you can't ignore this and expect success. Yes, you may get lucky -- but you may not.
If you absolutely must format your cards on the computer, download Panasonic's SD Card Formatter software.
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/download/sd_formatter.html
Here's something I found most interesting from the SD Card Formatter software's page:
I'd also recommend that when you first buy a new memory card or intend to first use one in your camera, you should use the SD Card Formatter to format it and use the Full/Erase ON options. You want to put the card to the test before using it the first time, and the Full Format option will go out and write zeroes to every sector on the card, thus exercising it and hopefully identifying any potential problem spots before you put the card into use.
And no, for Mac users, the SD Card Formatter software doesn't work under Mac OS, you'd have to use Bootcamp/Windows to be able to use it.
We've seen a number of reports of people using a wide variety of equipment (various cameras and DSLRs) reporting that SD cards are refusing to work or failing mid-shoot.
Just wanted to point out that while reading the HMC40 manual, I found this warning:
When you buy a new memory card, don't just use it. Don't pull it out of the package and stick it in the camera. Instead, format it in the camera. Do NOT format it by putting it in your computer and choosing "format". I don't know how many of the reports of glitched/failed recordings are due to people ignoring this advice, but -- you can't ignore this and expect success. Yes, you may get lucky -- but you may not.
If you absolutely must format your cards on the computer, download Panasonic's SD Card Formatter software.
http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/download/sd_formatter.html
Here's something I found most interesting from the SD Card Formatter software's page:
They're saying that SD cards don't use a generic FAT32 file system, a generic file system isn't the same as the official SD/SDHC specification. Formatting in the camera, or by using this special software, will result in a card that is compliant and should be trouble-free.
I'd also recommend that when you first buy a new memory card or intend to first use one in your camera, you should use the SD Card Formatter to format it and use the Full/Erase ON options. You want to put the card to the test before using it the first time, and the Full Format option will go out and write zeroes to every sector on the card, thus exercising it and hopefully identifying any potential problem spots before you put the card into use.
And no, for Mac users, the SD Card Formatter software doesn't work under Mac OS, you'd have to use Bootcamp/Windows to be able to use it.