Deleting an image in camera

This may be an old question, but I have seen conflicting answers to it. If one deletes an image in the camera while out shooting, can this corrupt the file system of the memory card? One professional photographer told me that it's nothing to be concerned about. Another professional photographer has written that he does it only on rare occasions. Thanks for any input.

Jay, the technology has gotten way more stable, I remember when the thought pattern was to never use cards bigger than 4GB because the bigger ones fail, etc (I use four 32GB cards now and have owned many 16's and 8's, never a failure). I delete bad shots on the field all the time even when shooting weddings. The important point is to format your card every time right before you shoot (if you've gotten previous images off of course!), and with the camera's OS doing a native file manipulation you shouldn't have any issues. Granted, I bite the bullet and buy top line SanDisk Extreme Pros, etc, so I can't vouch for the house branded cards at Micro Center, etc.

However, I still hold to the fact to never delete images from a card on your Mac or PC ad then pop the card back into the camera and start firing. Nor would I format the card in the computer, save that for the camera body. And always always COPY your images off of your card and onto your drives. Don't MOVE them, there is no such thing as a "move", it's simply a Copy and then a delete. SO, copy images off the card, format prior to shooting, and you should have no problem deleting in-camera. Hope that helps!

I'd like to hear other's thoughts and experience on this, in no way is my opinion the gold standard, I'm just relaying my experiences as you research this pretty important subject.

I agree with Paul. My only difference is I never delete in the field. My take is the cards are so big now, that there is no point in using time in the field to worry about deleting images. I find it much easier to simply import them into Lightroom, mark the rejects, and delete from there. Just my personal workflow.

I delete in camera all the time , especially if I am on a photo trip and every bit of memory is precious and have used a few different brands with no issues. I also format in camera after transferring to computer as well.

I also delete images in the field that I know are trash all of the time. Never had a problem, nor have I even heard of a problem doing this method.

I have read several articles stating that it is possible for the file pointer to become "confused" by deleting in camera, especially if one is fumble-fingered or doing too quickly. When the pointer is confused, the files are still there but now the camera, nor computer, knows how to find them and the card is "corrupted". That said, the articles have all gone on to say that the liklihood of this ever happeing are so rare as to be nothing to worry about. So bottom line, I'd not worry over it as previous comments have indicated.

However, I delete nothing in the field for many other reasons. To wit: a) there is little to be gained by doing so - cards are cheap and hardly an excuse any longer to not have enough such that you need to delete in field b) deleting in field takes my attention away from why I'm there, whether a paid job or shooting for pleasure with the possiblity of missing important moments. Deleting at home in front of the computer does not detract from the shooting c) often what looks "bad" on LCD is quite acceptable on the larger computer screen in controlled light d) it doesn't save any time or effort really e) deleting with the computer is faster when using reject tags and batching.

As for cards, I use nothing but Delkin UDMA or equiv cards since they more than any other brand have more USA involvement and that's important to me, AND, their quality is as good as any other brand on the market.
JR

The way i shoot, with frequent bursts of flying birds, and a D800 writing 36 mp files, if I didn't delete in the field I'd need a sherpa to carry all the CF cards. Never had a problem.
Sandy

I delete in camera all the time. I wouldn't worry about it. However, I would suggest that you format the cards in camera, and then don't do deleting on the card from a computer. Even that is probably fine... but I've seen more issues doing things that way than just limiting deletes/formats to the camera.

My 2 cents (now worth 1/32 cents)....I delete in camera all the time when the work pace is slow and won't detract from my shooting. Then I copy to computer with drag & drop. I check to see that the files are fine on the computer. Take the card back to the camera, insert it, power up and reformat the card in the camera. I never use the computer to do ANYTHING other than to read the files from the chip to the computer. Never (so far) have had any problems. I remember discussions where people were having troubles when they deleted files on the card when in the computer and then put the card back in the computer and kept on shooting without re-formating. I also use the more expensive cards.

Troup Nightingale
Southeastern Photography
http://www.sotheasternphotography.com

I delete in the field all the time. I use the computer to copy the files off of the card and then delete the files using the computer. I also rarely, if ever, format the card, and have never had a problem. I have done it this way for the last 6 years, across multiple brands of cameras and multiple cards of different sizes and brands, none of which are the highest dollar cards.

I work as part of a team of portrait photographers. We routinely delete images in camera - blinks and such. Never a problem.
On the other hand, when I'm doing landscapes or nature photos, I just don't bother. It's easier to do it later after uploading to the computer.
What ever works for you.

I do it all the time (thought I probably shouldn't in case of deleting the wrong ones)! Of course I only ever delete the obvious images! Never had a problem with the card!