Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Quick Tip #9: Turn off 'Shoot w/o card'

Note there are no images with this entry. There is a reason for that.

Before I go into why, do me one favor. Go to your camera (if you have a Canon) and turn off the menu option called Shoot w/o card. There may be something similar on Nikon.

Just do it, don't ask why...

Ok, so you want to know why anyway, right? Well, that option lets the camera operate normally even if it doesn't have a compact flash card. Instead, it takes the photos and dumps the data silently. At first, I thought that was a great idea, since it let me try out the camera without writing any files.

Until I tried to take some pictures today of my children with a few other neighborhood kids. And only realized after I was done that the twenty some shots I took were gone. Hence, the no pictures on this post.

So just turn it off. Today, the pictures weren't irreplaceable. But if it was for a paying client, it could have been disastrous. So just turn it off and let the camera get angry at you if you don't have a CF card in. It is much better than losing moments forever.

3 comments:

  1. I got caught w/o a card not too long ago. Since then I've been trying to get into the habit of leaving the card door open when I take the card out of the camera. So as soon as I pick up the camera I'll realize something's missing. This way you won't leave the house w/o a card, let alone try to shoot w/o one.

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  2. Good idea Joe. After all, leaving the house without a card is just as bad as shooting without one and not realizing it.

    I'll try the card door thing. I'm always concerned about dust getting into the camera though, but as long as I don't leave it for a long time, it should be fine.

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  3. Oh that is just great. LoL sorry about your "lose"

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