Immediately after I’ve inserted a battery in my new camera, I ensure that I won’t accidentally take a photo without a memory card by turning off the Release Shutter Without Card setting. This step is so important that if I happen to be holding a friend’s camera and notice that they don’t have this feature disabled, I do it for them (they usually don’t seem to mind). The benefit to doing this is that if you forget to put your card in and you start shooting, the camera won’t let you take a photo. There’s nothing worse than spending time photographing something only to realize that you didn’t have any of those images saved, especially when the mishap could have easily been avoided. This feature has prevented me from losing photos on several occasions, securing it a spot on this Top Ten list.
TURNING OFF THE RELEASE SHUTTER WITHOUT CARD SETTING
- Turn the camera on.
- Press the Menu button on the back of the camera to bring up the menu list.
- Use the Multi-Controller to select the far-left menu tab.
- Now scroll down to the Release Shutter Without Card option using the Quick Control dial and press the Set button (A).
- Use the Quick Control dial to select the Disable option, and then press the Set button once again (B).
- Press the Menu button again to return to shooting mode.
Now when you try to take a photo without a memory card inserted in the camera, you will see a message at the bottom of your viewfinder that flashes the words “CARD,” which means there is no SD card in the camera. This is your clue that you need to insert your memory card before the camera will fire. The top LCD Panel will also display the “CARD” message if you activate the Shutter button.