Whenever you put a new SD card in your Sony a6700, it’s a good idea to format it first. If you’re just here for the menu path, it’s MENU → Shooting → Media → Format — not the Setup menu, where most cameras keep it.
While you can technically format SD cards using a computer, it’s always a good idea to do it in the camera you’ll be using it in. That sets the card up exactly how the camera wants it. With Sony cameras like the a6700, that’s especially useful because they add an extra component that most cameras don’t have: a lightweight image database system that the camera uses in its operations.
How to format the SD card in the Sony a6700
Heads up: Formatting the memory card is going to wipe the card. So be sure to have downloaded any data off it before proceeding.
It goes further than deleting images, too. Formatting also removes images you’ve marked as protected, and it erases any camera-setting registrations you’ve saved to the card as M1 through M4. If you keep setups there, write them down or re-save them to the camera before you format.
The format function on the a6700 isn’t where I’d intuitively look for it. On most cameras, it’s under a setup tab or more general settings section. On the a6700, it’s under the Shooting menu, in the Media section.
The Shooting menu is the red tab with the camera icon.
Shooting > Media
You’ll see three sub-options there. You want the first one, Format.
There’s also a shortcut that skips the menu completely. From the shooting screen, hold down the MENU button and then the trash button for about two seconds, and the camera jumps straight to the format screen.
Quick format on the Sony a6700
By default, the a6700 performs what’s known as a quick format of the SD card. This is good for day-to-day use because it frees up storage space on the card and gets it ready for reuse with minimal fuss and wear and tear on the card.
But it does it in a way that doesn’t actually wipe the underlying data. That can be a good thing if you accidentally delete something and need to try to recover it. Using data recovery software, there’s a good chance of being able to recover any photos or videos you’re missing.
But it’s less desirable if you have data on the card that you really need to be gone.
A quick format will also only minimally address any corruption issues on the card.
You’ll then see the progress bar.
And be notified when the operation is complete.
Your SD card is now good to go.
If the camera won’t let you format the card at all, two things are worth checking before you assume the card is dead. Full-size SD cards have a small write-protect slider on one edge — with it flipped to the locked position, the camera can’t write to the card, and that includes formatting. The a6700 also refuses to format when the battery is down to its last 1%, so charge it and try again.
You can see some of the photos I’ve taken with the Sony a6700 in these posts:
– Sony a6700 Sample Images / Image Quality Tests (general collection of sample images under a variety of conditions)
– Sony a6700 High ISO Sample Images (focusing on high-ISO images taken under low-light conditions)
– Sony a6700 High ISO Test Images (similar to above, but focused on sequences of images throughout ISO range for side-by-side comparison)
I also have a bunch of other posts on shooting with the Sony a6700.
Full format on the Sony a6700
It’s not glaringly obvious, and indeed I missed it at first, but the Sony a6700 also has a full format option.
The difference here is that it’s a much more thorough process that wipes the underlying data. So, it’s a more secure process that greatly diminishes the chance of the data being recoverable. This is obviously a good thing if you’ve been shooting NDA-type subjects for a client or have some other reason you really want the data gone.
A full format also does a much better job of addressing any corruption issues that might be causing the memory card to glitch.
Sony also suggests a full format if writing to the card or reading from it has started to feel slow. A quick format won’t do anything about that.
That said, it’s generally not recommended to do a full format in day-to-day use. It’s true that it’s a little slower — and the a6700 will warn you prominently of that — but the larger reason is that repeated use (over many, many times) will likely lead to wear and tear on the flash memory of the SD card.
The process for doing a full format on the a6700 is nearly identical. The only difference comes near the end. When you get to this screen, you might notice the part at the bottom where you can toggle to a full format.
You do it by pressing the trash button (bottom right of back panel of the camera).
Once you do that, you get the Full Format screen and a warning that it might take a while.
In practice, I rarely find that it takes a lot longer. But it’s all the more reason to use an SD card that’s fast enough.
If you start a full format and change your mind, you can cancel it partway through. Just don’t expect that to save anything — the data is erased either way, and the card is fine to keep using as is.
