Hey guys, I looked in the manual and in menu, sure I missed it, but cannot find how to format card with the XA10. I've been formatting the cards in my GH2s then moving them to the XA10 prior to use. It has worked so far, but I'd prefer to let the XA10 do it to prevent hiccups.

Page 40 in the manual. Canon call it "initializing the memory" rather than formatting.

Thanks Richard. How weird is that? Initializing the memory indeed.

You know what? That raises a good question: How often do you guys do a "Quick Erase" versus a "Full Formatting" of the entire card. I've been mostly doing the quick erase, but I think coming up I will do a full initializing.

I perform a format before each gig, but only because it just seemed to be safer to start with a formatted card each time. I have no proof that a full format is necessary.

Initialize is probably the better term for what goes on behind the curtain with SD cards. The storage locations are fixed by the card design. Format is arguably a legacy term from magnetic disc stroage where in the format process actually defined the storage location on the raw disc.

In theory quick erase/quick format just marks the directory entries as "free space" and allows them and the actual media space to which they point to be overwritten without any confirmation. Until it is overwritten the data remains on the media and can be read and often recovered with a bit or additional work. The underlying assumption is that the media is all good.

Full formatting usually involves a write/read of the storage to confirm the media actually works, and should clear what ever data is on the storage. This takes a lot more time, but is good if you are using storage that may develop errors over time. Any bad areas on the media are marked as unavailable for further use.