HD Card Use questions from someone new to digital

Started Jan 18, 2013 | Discussions thread
Regular MemberPosts: 485Gear list
Re: HD Card Use questions from someone new to digital
In reply to BennyKingston, Jan 18, 2013

BennyKingston wrote:

Thanks for these detailed answers. Very much appreciate your time.

How does one set an HD card to read-only, then after transfer to computer is made....put it back to write mode...so more photos can be taken with it?

I know that DVD's from europe are not compatible in the States.....is it the same for CD-r's...I just bought a 50 pack spindle and was going to take about 10 with me.

Thanks Again

There is no issue with compatibility of DVDs or CD-Rs from Europe.  The issue you reference is a very narrow one specific to movies produced for playback on a DVD player on a television -- as television standards differ between Europe and America the files are incompatible ... but even that becomes a non-issue if the television is a 'multi-standard', capable of playing back 'other' movie formats, or your DVD player is capable of converting from Euro (PAL) to American (NTSC)
But as concerns files recorded to disc as data, there is no issue at all.  A file on a DVD data disc can be read by any computer with a reader, as can a file on a CD-R.  Note that a CD-R can not hold very many files -- if you have a 16GB SD card, it would take something in the order of thirty CD-R to hold the same data.  Either in raw format, or jpeg format, an image file is 'universally' readable whether on SD card, thumb drive, DVD, CD-R or HDD.

So if you don't have the means to carry a couple of thumb drives (currently priced at around $10 for a 16GB, if my memory serves) and the necessary computer to manage a transfer from an SD card to a thumbdrive, then by all means use a service to burn DVD copies.  It will still take multiple DVDs to hold a single SD card, and for security be sure to set the 'can't erase' switch to on before handing your original files to a service for duplicating ...

Given the relatively low cost of SD cards today, my strategy is to try and carry enough memory on cards that I can shoot without worrying about clearing a card whilst traveling.  I carry with my a portable HD that I use to back up my SD cards periodically -- this also requires that I bring my laptop to manage the process, but I usually do anyway.  You can also buy stand alone portable drives that include the interface for managing a back-up, but they are pricey and specific in application, so you may want to use the laptop solution instead.

 RGBaker's gear list:RGBaker's gear list
Reply   Reply with quote   Complain
Keyboard shortcuts:
Color scheme? Blue / Yellow