Paranoid Newbie: Is it safe to reformat my camera cards?

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halesr

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Okay, I have imported my raw files from my camera card into LR. They are now dng files. I know people have gone over this and I think I understand. The DNG files in LR have all the information needed and I can now format my card for the next shoot. Is that correct? I do not have to save the CR2 files anywhere. I am totally safe with the DNG files. Correct?

I am totally new to LR and just do not want to do something totally stupid.

Thanks in advance.
Rene
 
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You are never totally safe with digital (or analog) images.

If you have only a single copy of your photo on your computer, you are not safe.

You need to make regular backups of your photos to a different physical disk, and also make regular backups of your Lightroom catalog to a different physical disk. This protects you from most (but not all) disasters. Some people also use "off-line backup", that is, backup to a computer or server located at a different physical location.

After you have made a backup of your computer files, then it is a reasonable decision to format your camera cards.

By the way, the safety issue is independent of the DNG vs RAW issue. Your choice on DNG vs RAW doesn't make you safer.
 
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[quote author=halesr link=topic=9466.msg63747#msg63747 date=1269978369]
...I am totally safe with the DNG files. Correct?[/quote]

As long that you backup those DNG you are safe.

And for newcomers to Lightroom, we frequently suggest them to read The Starter Kit to avoid pitfalls...

EDIT: Oh! Yes! As Paige say, backup your catalog too as it contains all adjustments you will make!
 
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Thanks for starter tip recommendation.

My computer has a RAID set up and everything is being backed up to a second harddrive with in the computer. I also back up to an additional external harddrive (images and LR catalog). Thanks for the reminder on back-up. I do take it seriously.

Rene
 
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Rene

Maybe two other things to remember:

  • [li]Do the formatting of your cards from within the camera, not from the PC using a card reader[/li]
    [li]RAID does protect you from failure of a single disk drive, but not from an unintentional deletion of (let's say) a catalog[/li]
Beat

P.S: Nice to hear from somebody who takes backups seriously :)
 
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So- go ahead and format those cards! they are meant to be re-used.

Bob- the slide shooter at heart
 
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[quote author=Robert T Higaki link=topic=9466.msg63763#msg63763 date=127'''2621]
So- go ahead and format those cards! they are meant to be re-used.[/quote] I feel most vulnerable when I only have images stored on the camera card. That means I only have one copy of the image.
When I import into LR, I used the checkbox on the Import dialog to Backup up a copy of ALL the images on the card. After import I have three copies of the Images: The card, LR and the Backup (stored on a NAS RAID drive). When my system backups have run a cycle, my LR copy of the images gets backed up to a NAS RAID drive. At this point, I have 4 copies of the non culled images and I deem it safe to reformat the card. That backup on Import of the card is an expendable backup for insurance only. Periodically, I will go to the NAS and delete any of those backups older than three months. At no point after import will I have less than three copies of the important images. The working masters are in the LR folders, There is a NAS backup of the local drive that contains a backup of these images and lastly there is a RAID mirror of the NAS.

As for my camera cards. I usually don't reformat the card until it is full. I have two 16 GB and two 8GB cards exclusively for the camera(s) While the images might hang around on the card for a while, I don't consider these critical after I have an Import into LR.
 
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