Warning about formatting CF cards in a computer

Hi All,

I always re-format my CF cards after downloading the images and I used
to think that doing this in the computer did essentially the same thing
as in the camera. However I discovered this was not the case, during a
trip to Tofino, Vancouver Island.

I spent the weekend wondering why some of my cards were running so
slowly in my PowerShot G3. The playback was extremely slow, as was the
actual saving. I'd typically have to wait around 10 - 15 seconds after
taking a photo before the camera was ready to go again. Mind you it
didn't give any errors or anything and all the images turned out fine,
it was just much much slower.

Anyway I discovered when I got home that it was because I'd formatted
some of the cards on the PC rather than in the camera. I did a few tests
to confirm this, and I am now certain that it does make a huge
difference to the performance.

I don't know if this is the case for other cameras or not, but I just
wanted to give people a heads up. I'm sure others have discovered this also.

There must be something slightly different about the way the computer
does it, because I've also noticed that the reported available space is
also less on cards that have been formatted on the computer.

Anyway so in short, it's best to always re-format CF cards in the camera.

Eugene