Originally posted by riff Probably you misunderstand me.
The card must be formatted
once before it can be used. Any further formatting is strictly optional.
.......
Some use the format command to erase the card, it's not a requirement, but if that is the way one wants to do it's OK.
Aha! I got you - I think we may have had our wires crossed on this -
I always format the card in the camera before use -
this is a way to clear/erase the card.
So to correctly say what I was trying to convey -
a card once formatted should be compatible with any other camera.
However
if the card contains existing images from another camera -
and if the filenames/folders have the same convention as the camera using it
and if the filename number is greater than that of the last shot of the camera in use
then there is the possibility that the filenames would follow the sequence of the photos (from the other camera) on the card.
To clear the card one can either erase all or use format.
JFYI - the SDA - SD Association - the organization that sets the standards for SD cards - has a SD formatter -
SD Formatter 3.1 for SD/SDHC/SDXC - SD Association