geez. Talk about dodging a bullet (not literally)

[clay]

I shot video at a wedding this evening. Everything went fine until near the end of the reception and I was running out of space on the SD card I was shooting on. So I went to my camera bag to get another card, not really thinking through what I was about to do. So i grabbed another card, stuck it in my camera, and saw that it was full, so I decided to format it. I took a quick look at the thumbnails on the card and assumed it was from something I didn't need. Format. Panic. Oh Sh!t--did I just format the card with the wedding ceremony?

So I finished shooting the event (on a different card) and came home. With bated breath, I started to download cards. And it appears that the card I formatted was a card from a previous shoot (already downloaded and saved), so I averted a minor disaster/headache/disappointment. No footage from the wedding lost. Yay! (blood pressure goes down instantly).

Today was kind of a stressful day anyway, and that would have just capped off my weekend with more stress than I feel like I can deal with right now. This did highlight for me a need for me to come up with an actual system for keeping track of full/empty cards on shoots, rather than just relying on the write lock tab on the cards and tossing them in a little pouch. Any suggestions?

Thanks for listening, I just needed to 'tell' someone. I need a beer now.

[Doc]

You can get colored sticky dots at Staples.

Keep a sheet of red ones in your bag.

As you use each card, put a sticky dot on it.

When you move the data to your hard disk, take the dot off.

[dmann]

A photog I worked with used to do this:

Start each job with fresh cards/tapes/whatever. Have a case for each card or tape, and label each case with one segment of the job. He used to shoot a catalog for me, so he had cases marked with page numbers 1-5, 6-10, etc.

You could do the same and just mark the cases with: pre-ceremony, ceremony, formal family/wedding party, cocktail/appetizers/, reception, etc.

No media goes back into the bag unless it is in the right case. Keep used/full media in one section of the bag (he used the outside zippered portion for his bag,) blank media in another (he used the inside zippered compartment for these.)

Good luck!
DM

[M>B>]

Every SD card that I have seen has that slider switch on the side that locks the card.

[Paul F.]

I second the "it doesn't go in the work-bag until it's been reviewed and erased" idea...

[clay]

yeah, my cards have that, too, but too often I use that as only a soft guide as to whether the card should or should not be used. And I don't always erase cards after I download them just as an extra safety backup until I actually need the card again. Which leads to the confusion I sometimes have when I have a full card on a shoot from a previous shoot that may still be 'locked', even though I could safely erase it if needed.

I just need to do better with downloading cards and then erasing them immediately so as to not confuse myself. I do like the idea of using tape or a sticker to indicate a full card. But...I still need to change how I think about card management before any new process will do me any good.

M>B> wrote:


Every SD card that I have seen has that slider switch on the side that locks the card.

[Monster]

one pocket for used cards, one pocket for cards to be used, really easy.

[mrbigstuff]

whenever i have done something critical, I always make sure to put the film/tapes/cards into another (different) pouch in my bag. oftentimes, the fact that it is in my jacket signifies that I cannot use it again.

the beauty of film is that you know it's used as there is no leader remaining or the paper backing says that it is exposed. I know, film is ancient but it does have its benefits.

[modelamac]

No question about it. You DO need a system. I would never carry anything but blank cards for jobs like that. Pre-mark the cases and they should be empty when you start the job. Once a card is full, it goes into a case, not to be touched until the download. The download goes onto a Hard Drive AND DVD(s), and after verifying both, the card is erased.

[macphanatic]

Consider one of these:

http://www.adorama.com/ICDG1U80.html

I was talking to a professional photographer at my son's baseball game yesterday. He has a similar device. When the card comes out of the camera, it goes in the device. He presses a button and the contents are copied to it. New card goes in the camera. Once images are copied, it goes in a "reserved" pocket in the camera bag, so he always has a backup.

I have a Digimate III that I got before I had a laptop. I used this when traveling to back everything up. It reads CF 1 &2, SD, Mini SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, and MS Duo. Best part was that I bought it without a hard drive, so I could use a laptop drive that was given to me.