Must Memory Cards Be Formatted ?

[Myron]

I am new to digital photography and it is overwhelming. I've used film SLR's for 40 years. I am truly amazed by what these cameras can do. Something is surprising to me. My camera, Canon SD 600, doesn't seem to indicate when the Memory Card is nearly used-up. I was in the middle of a shoot, when suddenly, "Memory Card Is Full" appeared and I was stuck. How can the user know when the Card is almost used-up? Finally, I am confused about having to "format" a brand-new Memory Card before using for the first time. The "Formatting" procedure will use battery power and waste lots of time. Suppose I just place the new Card into my camera? What would be the consequences? Thanks.

[cwat212]

SD600 - The camera tells you in the lower right hand corner approximately how many pictures are left and in video mode how many minutes are left. If you are not seeing these numbers, hit the disp. button on the lower right until the screen shows you the information.

Also, formating a card only takes about 1 second. Even a 2gb card.

Buy an extra battery. I think I paid $8-$10 for one online. The SD600 does not give you more than a few shots warning before the battery is dead.

[Visual Reality]

Never have formatted mine, always worked fine.

When I popped my new Transcend 4gb card into my S3, it showed 3.8gb available.

Would there be any benefit in formatting it to NTFS?

[David Metsky]

Would there be any benefit in formatting it to NTFS?
You should only format the card inside the camera. NTFS would ensure that no camera could use the card.