Do you delete photos from SD camera card after importing?

[sunnyl94147246]

Hello everyone, I have a basic question.

Do you delete your photos from your camera SD card after importing to Lightroom and your computer? I've taken a lot pictures for my family and I am about to run out of space.

Thanks.

[DdeGannes · Accepted solution]

Once you have copied the files to your hard drive and also created a backup of the original files, then its safe to delete the files from your SD card.

This has to be done from your Camera since Lightroom has no option to delete the file from the SD card.

[MarekMularczyk]

Not straight away. But yes, you can remove them (format your card from time to time).

You can also keep them for some time if you have big enough memory card as Lightroom won't import them again when you plug the card in.

[Just Shoot Me]

sunnyl94147246  wrote

Hello everyone, I have a basic question.

Do you delete your photos from your camera SD card after importing to Lightroom and your computer? I've taken a lot pictures for my family and I am about to run out of space.

Thanks.

No I do Not Delete images off the SD card using my computer. I use the camera to Format the card. Every digital camera has the option in the menu system to Format the card.

IMHO that is the only proper way to remove images from the memory cards used in digital cameras.

[JohanElzenga]

How you delete the photos from an SD card is a different question than whether or not you can delete them. When the images are copied to the hard disk, you can delete them from the card (in whatever way). Do make a backup of your images however. It’s best to make regular backups of the entire disk. If you only have one single copy of your images, then the question is not whether you are going to lose your images one day, but only when that day will be.

[Just Shoot Me]

  wrote

How you delete the photos from an SD card is a different question than whether or not you can delete them. When the images are copied to the hard disk, you can delete them from the card (in whatever way). Do make a backup of your images however. It’s best to make regular backups of the entire disk. If you only have one single copy of your images, then the question is not whether you are going to lose your images one day, but only when that day will be.

Give me a brake.

[JohanElzenga]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Just+Shoot+Me  wrote

JohanEl54   wrote

How you delete the photos from an SD card is a different question than whether or not you can delete them. When the images are copied to the hard disk, you can delete them from the card (in whatever way). Do make a backup of your images however. It’s best to make regular backups of the entire disk. If you only have one single copy of your images, then the question is not whether you are going to lose your images one day, but only when that day will be.

Give me a brake.

My message was obviously meant for the OP, not for you.

[bob frost]

Some people don't ever delete images from their SD cards - they just buy another when one is full. That full card is your backup and can be filed away in case you need the originals again in the future.

SD cards are relatively cheap these days, so this is not too expensive, compared to prices of cameras and lenses.

Bob Frost

[dj_paige]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/bob+frost  wrote

Some people don't ever delete images from their SD cards - they just buy another when one is full. That full card is your backup and can be filed away in case you need the originals again in the future.

SD cards are relatively cheap these days, so this is not too expensive, compared to prices of cameras and lenses.

It is my opinion that SD cards are a relatively poor choice for a backup. Cloud storage, or external HD storage, are better backup choices.

[JohanElzenga]

dj_paige  wrote

https://forums.adobe.com/people/bob+frost   wrote

Some people don't ever delete images from their SD cards - they just buy another when one is full. That full card is your backup and can be filed away in case you need the originals again in the future.

SD cards are relatively cheap these days, so this is not too expensive, compared to prices of cameras and lenses.

It is my opinion that SD cards are a relatively poor choice for a backup. Cloud storage, or external HD storage, are better backup choices.

Agreed. First of all they may be cheaper than before, but they are still very expensive compared to a hard drive. What you pay for a 128 GB SD card will also buy you a hard drive of 1TB or more. But more importantly, think about what it would mean in practise. Suppose your hard drive fails, and so you’ll have to restore all your images from multiple SD cards. That would be a nightmare, because the folder hierarchy on your hard drive was quite different from the (lack of any) hierarchy you have on these cards. And if you rename your images on import, the disaster would even be worse...